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Erick Boy

researcher spotlight

Erick Boy

Erick Boy is the Chief Nutritionist in the HarvestPlus section of the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. As head of nutrition for the HarvestPlus Program since 2008, he has led research that has generated scientific evidence on biofortified staple crops as efficacious and effective interventions to help address iron, vitamin A, and zinc deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

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Development Strategies and Governance

Lara Cockx

Research Fellow

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Lara Cockx

Bio

Lara Cockx is a Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, currently based at IFPRI’s Malawi Country Office in Lilongwe. Prior to joining IFPRI, Lara was a research fellow at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Spain, where she studied different aspects of food systems in West Africa.

She has also served as assistant professor of economics at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. She is an applied microeconomist with research interests in development and agricultural economics. Lara holds a PhD in Economics from KU Leuven in Belgium, and has published on topics including urbanization, internal migration, food security, and agricultural development.

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Publications

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Journal Article

Urbanization shapes West African diets throughout the rural-urban continuum

2025Cockx, Lara; Boti, Bolou Bi David
Details

Urbanization shapes West African diets throughout the rural-urban continuum

Our understanding of how urbanization interacts with food consumption has been hindered by the lack of a unified definition of what constitutes an “urban” area. The use of a binary designation also fails to capture the complexity and diversity of settlement types and results in a focus on the “rural-urban divide”. This study combines nationally representative survey data on household food consumption from eight West African countries with geospatial data capturing the urbanization gradient following the global definition of the Degree or Urbanization. This allows us to analyse consumption of different food groups, diet quality, and macronutrient intakes throughout the rural-urban continuum. We find robust evidence of an increasing rural-urban gradient in total food consumption, as well as a gradual shift away from traditional staple foods, towards increased consumption of foods that require less or no preparation. Residing in more urbanized areas is associated with greater diet diversity and increased consumption of vegetables and animal-source foods. Yet, rising intakes of unhealthy foods and fats in particular along the rural-urban continuum contribute to a deterioration of diet quality. While the estimated effects are strongest in cities, these diet transitions also take place in peri-urban areas and rural areas. This confirms the importance of moving beyond a simple rural-urban dichotomy in research and policy related to food consumption. The demonstrated importance of foods eaten away from home across the entire rural-urban continuum further underscores the need for more research to better understand this sector and explore how it can contribute to both employment and food security.

Year published

2025

Authors

Cockx, Lara; Boti, Bolou Bi David

Citation

Cockx, Lara; and Boti, Bolou Bi David. 2025. Urbanization shapes West African diets throughout the rural-urban continuum. Global Food Security 45: 100858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2025.100858

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Urbanization; Food Consumption; Spatial Data; Diet Quality; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2025.100858 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Brief

Economic and welfare implications of the reduction of US foreign assistance in Malawi

2025Cockx, Lara; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Jamali, Andrew; Nagoli, Joseph; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James
Details

Economic and welfare implications of the reduction of US foreign assistance in Malawi

For over a decade, the US has consistently ranked as either the largest or second-largest donor to Malawi. Annual foreign assistance disbursements have averaged over $360 million between 2020 and 2023. In January 2025 the US government suspended all US-funded foreign aid programs. As of April 2025, the available information suggests that funding for many of these programs in Malawi has been withdrawn, resulting in an estimated decline in US foreign assistance to Malawi of around 59% for 2025. As a result, Malawi faces a potential decline in foreign exchange inflows of around $177 million in 2025, a loss equivalent to approximately 6.3% of the annual merchandise import bill. With Malawi’s economy currently highly vulnerable, lacking the buffers needed to absorb shocks, the eco nomic and welfare implications of these recent events are concerning. The suspensions may lead to an economic contraction from reduced activities by US implementing partners, immediate pressure on the exchange rate (endangering the affordability or availability of critical imports) and declining productivity in key sectors such as agriculture. Deteriorating health and education outcomes could further affect the productivity of workers in the longer run. In this policy note we combine qualitative and quantitative information gathered in-country with modeled results of the possible economywide impacts of the reduction of US foreign assistance on key economic and welfare indicators over the next six years. We also discuss policy options that could help mitigate some of the adverse impacts.

Year published

2025

Authors

Cockx, Lara; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Jamali, Andrew; Nagoli, Joseph; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James

Citation

Cockx, Lara; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Jamali, Andrew; Nagoli, Joseph; Pauw, Karl; and Thurlow, James. 2025. Economic and welfare implications of the reduction of US foreign assistance in Malawi. MaSSP Policy Note 53. Lilongwe, Malawi: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174201

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Welfare; Aid Programmes; Economic Situation; Agriculture; Shock; Development Aid

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

Research

Topics/Countries