A conversational tool that enables policymakers and researchers to interactively explore how economic shocks and policy changes could affect a country’s economy and examine possible policy and investment responses.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is expanding public access to RIAPA.ai, giving policymakers, researchers, and development partners a new way to explore economic policy questions through conversation. The online platform connects an AI assistant to IFPRI’s country economic models, helping users develop scenarios, run simulations, and examine the results without the need to write model code.
Interested users can now more easily explore questions such as:
- How might higher international fuel and fertilizer prices impact a country’s economy?
- How could a change in agricultural productivity affect food supply and household consumption?
- What trade-offs need to be considered in the aftermath of possible adjustments to import tariffs?
RIAPA.ai helps users turn questions like these into explicit scenarios and investigate their potential effects across sectors and population groups.
The platform builds on IFPRI’s Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) modeling framework. The economic model captures linkages between producers, consumers, government, and trade. Users describe a question in everyday language, work with the assistant to specify the scenario, and review the assumptions before running the model. They can then ask follow-up questions about the results or request a technical report.
“Policy decisions often have effects far beyond the sector where they begin. RIAPA.ai makes it easier for more people to explore those connections, understand the trade-offs, and bring economic evidence into the discussion,” says James Thurlow, Director of IFPRI’s Foresight and Policy Modeling unit.
The innovation lies in linking a conversational interface with a formal economic model. The model generates numerical simulation results while the AI assistant allows users to explore scenarios and interpret findings. This brings several stages of economic analysis into one guided workflow and reduces the technical barrier to using the model.
“We want users to be able to start with the question they care about – expressed in their words, work through the assumptions, and examine what the model says. This conversation makes the analysis more accessible while allowing users to review the scenario assumptions and model results,” according to Askar Mukashov, Research Fellow at IFPRI and the RIAPA.ai project lead.
Results depend on the scenario, country data, and model assumptions. They are intended to support examination of potential outcomes and trade-offs and should not be interpreted as forecasts or particular policy recommendations. Users should review assumptions and AI-generated explanations carefully, especially when drawing conclusions for policy discussions.
“RIAPA.ai is a useful tool for quick exploratory analysis and for interacting with CGE model results. It can help users explore scenarios and examine results from different perspectives, while more detailed model analysis remains important for validating and understanding the results,” says Naveen Adhikari, Assistant Professor at the Central Department of Economics, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, who has already used RIAPA.ai.
Channing Arndt, Director of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) and Robert and Karen Thompson Chair in International Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, adds: “RIAPA.ai is a useful supplementary tool for policy analysis. It provides a quick way to explore policy questions, examine model results, and get a second perspective on how those results can be interpreted.”
To get started, visit the IFPRI RIAPA.ai project page for access instructions, research documentation, and contact information, or visit riapa.ai.
Read more about RIAPA.ai on IFPRI Blog: Exploring scenarios and policy responses in a matter of minutes: Ask, simulate, understand with RIAPA.ai
RIAPA.ai is supported by the Gates Foundation and by CGIAR via its Digital Transformation Accelerator and Policy Innovations Science Program.
Project inquiries: ifpri-fpm-riapa-ai@cgiar.org
Media inquiries: Evgeniya Anisimova, e.anisimova@cgiar.org
About IFPRI: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI’s strategic research aims to identify and analyze alternative international and country-led strategies and policies for meeting food and nutrition needs in low- and middle-income countries, with particular emphasis on poor and vulnerable groups in those countries, inclusive development, and sustainability. It is a research center of CGIAR; a worldwide partnership engaged in agricultural research for development. http://www.ifpri.org