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With research staff from more than 70 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

Timothy Thomas

Timothy Thomas is a Senior Research Fellow in the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit. His research focuses on the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity. Tim’s work involves developing innovative methods for simulated climate futures and model coordination between climate, crop, water, energy, and economics.

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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 480 employees working in over 70 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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experts

Director General’s Office (DGO)

Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Research Fellow Emeritus

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Bio

Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Research Fellow Emeritus in the Director General’s Office. She has extensive transdisciplinary research experience in using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her work focuses on two broad (and sometimes interrelated) areas: how institutions affect how people manage natural resources, and the role of gender in development processes. This has led her to study land and water policy, property rights, collective action and other governance arrangements, games for experiential learning, and the impact of development interventions, drawing on fieldwork in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Ruth is a co-creator of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and recipient of the Elinor Ostrom Collective Governance of the Commons 2019 Senior Scholar Award. She holds a PhD in development sociology from Cornell University.

Languages spoken: English, Tamil

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Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

A gender-just food systems transition

2026Bryan, Elizabeth; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Details

A gender-just food systems transition

Year published

2026

Authors

Bryan, Elizabeth; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.

Citation

Bryan, Elizabeth; and Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. 2026. A gender-just food systems transition. One Earth 9(8): 101806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101806

Keywords

Gender; Food Systems; Healthy Diets

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101806 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

The gendered game: Effects of experiential learning on decision-making and water saving in India

2026Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Falk, Thomas; ElDidi, Hagar; Sanil, Richu; Kosec, Katrina; Carrillo, Lucia
Details

The gendered game: Effects of experiential learning on decision-making and water saving in India

This paper addresses two key questions related to gender equity, agricultural production, and sustainable natural resource management. First, given the importance of women’s decision-making in agriculture for their own empowerment and better agricultural outcomes, what are effective ways to strengthen women’s participation in agricultural decision-making? Second, is women’s participation in agricultural decisions associated with more water-conserving production choices? We analyze these questions by examining the impact of a novel experiential learning intervention with games, debriefing, and crop water budgeting, designed to address groundwater depletion in India. Results of a randomized control trial in 472 communities indicate that playing the game significantly increased women’s participation in choosing the crops their household grows in the post-monsoon season—specifically, their likelihood of deciding alone. Men who played the game were also more likely to make crop choice decisions alone, though the effect was smaller. Path analysis shows women’s involvement in crop decision-making is associated with more water-conserving decisions: women who decide alone report their household grows significantly less water-consumptive crops and irrigates less land in the post-monsoon season, when groundwater is scarce. Even when women decide jointly with their husbands, households grow less water-consumptive crops, though the effect is smaller. By contrast, when men and women decide with other relatives, households cultivate more area overall, suggesting that the learning from the game is less effective when more people are involved in decisions. Experiential learning games are thus a promising strategy to strengthen women’s agricultural decision-making, and this may also lead to more sustainable resource management.

Year published

2026

Authors

Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Falk, Thomas; ElDidi, Hagar; Sanil, Richu; Kosec, Katrina; Carrillo, Lucia

Citation

Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Falk, Thomas; ElDidi, Hagar; Sanil, Richu; Kosec, Katrina; and Carrillo, Lucia. 2026. The gendered game: Effects of experiential learning on decision-making and water saving in India. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2436. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/185049

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Capacity Building; Women; Gender; Women's Empowerment; Sustainability; Experiential Learning; Groundwater; Decision Making; Water Management; Water Conservation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Repairing the mosaic: The political economy of landscape-level agroecological transitions in India

2026Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Singh, Sonali
Details

Repairing the mosaic: The political economy of landscape-level agroecological transitions in India

Year published

2026

Authors

Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Singh, Sonali

Citation

Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; and Singh, Sonali. 2026. Repairing the mosaic: The political economy of landscape-level agroecological transitions in India. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 50(5): 1056-1085. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2025.2568498

Country/Region

India

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Agroecology; Agrifood Systems; Political Aspects; Resilience; Stakeholders

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2025.2568498 Source record

Project

Agroecology

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Women’s participation yields benefits for water management: Insights from village dams in India
Research Post
 | 
September 29, 2025

Women’s participation yields benefits for water management: Insights from village dams in India

By Thomas Falk, Ivo Steimanis, Lara Bartels, Vishwambhar Duche, Björn Vollan, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick

A pathway to improve community stewardship.

Costs and benefits of using social learning games to support Indian communities in better managing their dams
Research Post
 | 
September 26, 2025

Costs and benefits of using social learning games to support Indian communities in better managing their dams

By Thomas Falk, Ivo Steimanis, Lara Bartels, Vishwambhar Duche, Björn Vollan, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Fostering stewardship of a key resource.

Six synergies to consider for groundwater governance
Research Post
 | 
December 11, 2024

Six synergies to consider for groundwater governance

By Ruth Meinzen-Dick and Bryan Bruns

Advantages of “both/and” solutions.

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Events

IFPRI @ Tropentag 2026
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

September 16 to 18, 2026

IFPRI @ Tropentag 2026

IFPRI is pleased to participate in Tropentag 2026, taking place September 16–18, 2026, in Göttingen, Germany. The annual interdisciplinary conference focuses on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management, and rural development. This year’s conference will be held under the theme “Towards multi-functional agro-ecosystems promoting climate-resilient futures.” Tropentag 2026 will highlight interdisciplinary research […]

Inequality within and outside the household: Reflections from Agnes Quisumbing's career
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

June 24, 2026, 10:00 – 11:30 am

Inequality within and outside the household: Reflections from Agnes Quisumbing’s career

Throughout a career spanning more than four decades, Agnes Quisumbing has made major contributions to research on intrahousehold allocation, poverty and economic mobility, women’s empowerment, and the design and implementation of gender-sensitive agricultural programs. Stemming from her long-standing interest in inequality, Agnes’s work on gender, property rights, and women’s empowerment examines how inequality within the […]

Conceptualizing and measuring dimensions of tenure security: Gendered analysis from Malawi, Bangladesh, and Nepal
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

April 22, 2026, 9:00 – 10:00 am

Conceptualizing and measuring dimensions of tenure security: Gendered analysis from Malawi, Bangladesh, and Nepal

Women’s property rights and tenure security are recognized as critical for development policy and practice. Yet there is no consensus on how to conceptualize or measure these concepts.  In this paper, we explore the relationships among perceived tenure security (as reported by survey respondents), documentation, and the bundle of rights that are often used to […]

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News

February 04, 2020 | In the News

How can data build a truer picture of the gender gap in food insecurity? (Devex)

Devex published an article on the challenges of an accurate picture of the differences in food security between men and women when using typical household survey methods. Research Fellow Jessica Heckert stated that “countrywide surveys offer the advantage of gathering data on a wider variety of topics, but because of that breadth in a single […]

November 19, 2019 | In the News

The latest report of the International Food Policy Research Institute shows that gender norms affect the overall performance of agriculture (Cvonet)

Cvonet (China) reported on the 2019 Annual Trends and Outlooks Report.  Senior Research Fellow and co-author of the Report, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, stated that without gender considerations and efforts to achieve gender equality, Malabo’s commitments might not be implemented.” 

November 12, 2019 | In the News

The 19th Annual ReSAKSS Conference Opens Monday In Lomé (Togo 24)

Togo 24 reported on the opening of the conference and the 2019 Annual trends and outlook report: Gender equality in rural Africa: From commitments to outcomes. (2019 ATOR). The Report presents an Africa-wide analysis on a topic of strategic importance to the CAADP agenda. The ATOR 2019 report examines the progress and results of research […]

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