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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Elodie Becquey

Elodie Becquey is a Senior Research Fellow in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit, based in IFPRI’s West and Central Africa office in Senegal. She has over 15 years of research experience in diet, nutrition, and food security in Africa, including countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Tanzania.

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Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

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IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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Natural Resources and Resilience

Elizabeth Basauri Bryan

Research Fellow

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Bio

Elizabeth Bryan is a Research Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit, where she conducts policy-relevant research on gender, sustainable agricultural production, climate-smart agriculture, and small-scale irrigation using mixed methods. She currently leads the Gender, Climate Change, and Nutrition Integration (GCAN) Initiative, co-leads the Methods Module of the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform, and contributes to the CGIAR Research Initiatives on Nature-Positive Solutions and Gender Equality (HER+). She has considerable experience integrating gender into large, interdisciplinary research programs, including the Feed the Future Innovation Labs on Small-Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) and Policy Research, Capacity, and Influence (PRCI).

Elizabeth has published numerous articles based on her research and regularly presents research results to diverse audiences, including at policy workshops, trainings, and international conferences.

Before joining IFPRI, Elizabeth worked as a consultant for the Poverty Reduction Group of the World Bank and as a program assistant in the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She holds a PhD in agricultural sciences from the University of Hohenheim, an MA in development economics from American University, and a BA in international affairs from Wagner College.

Google Scholar Citations

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Does small-scale irrigation affect women’s time allocation? Insights from Ethiopia

2025Lee, Yeyoung; Bryan, Elizabeth; Mason, Nicole M.; Hassen, Ibrahim Worku; Theriault, Veronique; Ringler, Claudia
Details

Does small-scale irrigation affect women’s time allocation? Insights from Ethiopia

Small-scale irrigation (SSI) interventions have received increasing attention as a potential pathway for women’s empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa. One key aspect of women’s empowerment that SSI can influence is women’s time burden. Hypothesized benefits of SSI for women are less energy exertion and reduced labor in agriculture. Yet, these hypotheses have not been tested empirically. We explore how household adoption of different SSI technologies affects the time allocation of women in the household, using two rounds of intrahousehold panel survey data from Ethiopia. Two different approaches are used to address potential endogeneity issues related to time-constant and time-varying factors that may be correlated with both SSI and time use: an instrumental variables-correlated random effects approach and a fractional multinomial logit-correlated random effects with control function approach. The results suggest that household use of SSI in general is associated with an increase in women’s leisure time. The results further suggest that household use of motor pumps is associated with an increase in women’s leisure time and reductions in the time they spend on farming and personal care. Given that women often provide the labor for irrigation using manual, labor-intensive methods, such as watering cans, buckets, or hand- or foot-powered treadle pumps, the results suggest that SSI using motorized methods has the potential to free up women’s time in farming and enable more leisure time. These findings have broad implications for women’s empowerment and labor allocation. Future research using new and more comprehensive data could explore the mechanisms for the findings in this study and determine if SSI enables women to improve their ability to allocate their time to activities they prefer.

Year published

2025

Authors

Lee, Yeyoung; Bryan, Elizabeth; Mason, Nicole M.; Hassen, Ibrahim Worku; Theriault, Veronique; Ringler, Claudia

Citation

Lee, Yeyoung; Bryan, Elizabeth; Mason, Nicole M.; Hassen, Ibrahim Worku; Theriault, Veronique; and Ringler, Claudia. 2025. Does small-scale irrigation affect women’s time allocation? Insights from Ethiopia. World Development 196(December 2025): 107106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107106

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Small-scale Irrigation; Women; Time Use Patterns; Women’s Empowerment; Gender; Logit Analysis; Water Management; Free Time

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.107106 Source record

Project

Water, Land and Ecosystems

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia

2025Bryan, Elizabeth; van Biljon, Chloé; Lee, Yeyoung; Ringler, Claudia; Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Details

The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia

While small-scale irrigation is largely designed and developed for agricultural production, irrigation water is used for multiple other purposes in rural low- and middle-income settings where dedicated water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) are not available. Therefore, expanding access to irrigation can potentially improve the WASH environment leading to health and nutrition benefits. This study examines the linkages between irrigation, use of irrigation water sources for multiple purposes, and WASH and health outcomes. We find that irrigation is associated with better household access to water and improved sanitation facilities. This relationship is driven by households that use groundwater for both irrigation and domestic uses. Moreover, our results show that hygiene practices and health outcomes are not influenced by irrigation or multiple uses of the same water source. To strengthen hygiene behavior, behavioral change communication will be important. For small-scale irrigation to effectively support WASH and, thus, to strengthen nutrition and health outcomes, systems would need to be co-designed by irrigation and health specialists, and women farmers who are largely responsible for providing WASH services at the household level would need to be empowered to participate in the design and management of these dual-purpose systems.

Year published

2025

Authors

Bryan, Elizabeth; van Biljon, Chloé; Lee, Yeyoung; Ringler, Claudia; Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework

Citation

Bryan, Elizabeth; van Biljon, Chloé; Lee, Yeyoung; Ringler, Claudia; and Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework. 2025. The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia. Journal of Water and Health 23(11): 1341-1354. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2025.053

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Agricultural Production; Hygiene; Small-scale Irrigation; Water Supply

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2025.053 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Gender-just mitigation in the agrifood systems sector: Potential and pitfalls

2025Nassif, Gabriella; Ringler, Claudia; Bryan, Elizabeth
Details

Gender-just mitigation in the agrifood systems sector: Potential and pitfalls

Mitigation action in agrifood systems is essential for addressing growing negative impacts from climate change. It remains unclear, however, to what extent mitigation in the agrifood systems space addresses gender inequalities and involves women as agents of climate action. This article reviews the literature to identify the main linkages between gender and mitigation in agrifood systems, examines the key barriers preventing women from equitably participating in and benefiting from mitigation actions in agrifood systems, and concludes with best practices to mainstream gender in mitigation actions in a substantive and sustainable way. Promising approaches include strengthening women’s land rights; supporting women’s economic empowerment through access to finance, information, and opportunities; and supporting women’s groups. JEL codes: Q10, Q18, Q20, Q24, Q54

Year published

2025

Authors

Nassif, Gabriella; Ringler, Claudia; Bryan, Elizabeth

Citation

Nassif, Gabriella; Ringler, Claudia; and Bryan, Elizabeth. 2025. Gender-just mitigation in the agrifood systems sector: Potential and pitfalls. Annual Review of Resource Economics 17: 493-511. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-112923-094228

Keywords

Gender; Climate Change Mitigation; Agrifood Systems; Women; Land Rights; Women’s Empowerment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-112923-094228 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Integrating gender perspectives to prevent or reduce climate crisis impacts
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 07, 2023

Integrating gender perspectives to prevent or reduce climate crisis impacts

By Muzna Alvi, Claudia Ringler, and Elizabeth Bryan

Why women are key to building resilience.

Call to action: Addressing gender inequality in agrifood systems for effective responses to climate change
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 10, 2023

Call to action: Addressing gender inequality in agrifood systems for effective responses to climate change

By Elizabeth Bryan and Claudia Ringler

Launching an Innovation Sprint on Gender and Climate Action.

Feeding Africa: how small-scale irrigation can help farmers to change the game
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 02, 2023

Feeding Africa: how small-scale irrigation can help farmers to change the game

By Elizabeth Bryan and Claudia Ringler

Strong evidence of the relationship between small-scale irrigation, food security, diet quality, and nutrition.

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Events

Global Climate-Smart Agriculture Conference
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

November 7, 2025, 11:30 – 1:00 pm

Global Climate-Smart Agriculture Conference

Achieving the goals of climate smart agriculture (CSA)—increased profitability, adaptation, and mitigation—and scaling climate action require explicit consideration of gender and other intersectional identities. Failing to design climate actions to include and benefit women and other vulnerable groups misses opportunities to build resilience capacities, which would enable these groups to contribute to more sustainable and […]

2025 Gender Conference: Accelerating Equality in Food, Land, and Water Systems
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

October 7 to 9, 2025

2025 Gender Conference: Accelerating Equality in Food, Land, and Water Systems

Join the CGIAR Accelerator Gender Equality & Inclusion, in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Western Cape Government, in Cape Town for the 2025 Gender Conference, a pivotal gathering at the intersection of gender equality and sustainable development. This year’s theme, “Accelerating Equality in Food, Land, and Water Systems,” highlights the urgent need […]

IFPRI @ CGIAR Science Week
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

April 7 to 12, 2025

IFPRI @ CGIAR Science Week

When humanity has faced its greatest challenges, science and innovation have provided solutions. Today, major and connected global challenges threaten the sustainability of food, land, and water systems, with the most vulnerable people and communities at greatest risk. Recognizing the urgency of these challenges, CGIAR and the Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) are […]

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News

December 03, 2023 | Press Release

CGIAR and partners launch Innovation Sprint on Gender and Climate Action

December 3, 2023, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). CGIAR and partners have committed US$31 million over four years (2023-2027) to ensure that climate innovations in agrifood systems are designed to work for women and rolled out in ways that address underlying gender inequalities. Together with 20 partners, CGIAR launched the AIM for Climate Innovation Sprint on […]

April 18, 2023 | In the News

Feeding Africa: How small-scale irrigation can help farmers to change the game (The Conversation)

The importance of small-scale irrigation to farmers and its numerous benefits, including increasing agricultural productivity and incomes. It can contribute more rapidly to the achievement of national agricultural and development goals compared to large irrigation schemes and can improve nutritional outcomes in several important ways are discussed In an op-ed in The Conversation (United States edition) […]