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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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Where we work

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

Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

Deboleena Rakshit

Senior Research Analyst

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Deboleena Rakshit

Bio

Deboleena Rakshit is a Senior Research Analyst in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit. She works on rigorous evaluation of the gendered impacts of social protection programs on resilience, health, and general well-being, with a regional focus on South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining IFPRI, she worked with Equimundo (formerly Promundo-US) in Washington, DC, as a Quantitative Researcher, and with Quest Alliance in Bangalore as a Program Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. She holds a master’s degree in International Development, with a focus on Development Economics, from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Jadavpur University.

Languages spoken: English, Bengali, Hindi, French

Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Are low-income households conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game

2026Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Rakshit, Deboleena
Details

Are low-income households conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game

Year published

2026

Authors

Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Rakshit, Deboleena

Citation

Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; and Rakshit, Deboleena. Are low-income households conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game. Applied Economics Letters. Article in press. First published online on 19 August 2026. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2026.2716401

Country/Region

Mozambique

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Southern Africa; Public Goods; Cooperative Activities; Community Involvement; Low Income Groups; Households; Rural Areas; School Feeding

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2026.2716401 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2025Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini
Details

Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Findings from this study will provide greater insight as to how and why transfer programs have mixed post-intervention effects across different contexts, and how gender and livelihood opportunities may influence these trajectories. These insights will help inform the future design of transfer programs that aim to support sustainable poverty reduction and gender-equitable livelihoods, including to guide modifications tailored to the local context.

Year published

2025

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; and Roy, Shalini. 2025. Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Project Note. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179365

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Social Protection; Cash Transfers; Food Security; Evaluation; Consumption; Livelihoods; Food Assistance

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Are poor people conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game

2025Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Rakshit, Deboleena
Details

Are poor people conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game

We study conditional cooperation using a field-adapted conditional contributions game in rural Mozambique, eliciting community members’ willingness to contribute to a new public program conditional on how many others contribute. While past studies suggest most people are conditional cooperators (contributing more as others do), most of our sample (57%) are undefined by standard classifications. Instead, our sample's most common types are largely absent from the literature: counter conditional cooperators (contributing less as others do) and v-shaped cooperators, both for monetary donations (30% and 19%) and volunteering (35% and 12%). Our findings motivate future research in both non-laboratory and low-income settings.

Year published

2025

Authors

Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Rakshit, Deboleena

Citation

Allen IV, James; Karachiwalla, Naureen; and Rakshit, Deboleena. 2025. Are poor people conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2364. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176850

Country/Region

Mozambique

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Southern Africa; Cooperation; Low Income Groups; Poverty; School Feeding

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Events

From Relief to Resilience: Supporting Displaced and Shock-Affected Households in Somalia
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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October 20, 2026, 10:00 – 11:00 am

From Relief to Resilience: Supporting Displaced and Shock-Affected Households in Somalia

Policymakers and program implementers in Somalia are increasingly recognizing the importance of complementing short-term support in the form of cash or in-kind transfers with interventions targeting longer-term development goals and poverty exit, a goal that cuts across both more traditional social protection systems and programming targeting internally displaced people. This webinar will present evidence on […]

Building pathways out of poverty: Midline findings from a randomized controlled trial
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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July 31, 2024, 9:00 – 10:00 am

Building pathways out of poverty: Midline findings from a randomized controlled trial

This webinar will provide evidence around the effects of the Ultra Poor Graduation program implemented in Baidoa, Somalia by World Vision and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). The project seeks to enable ultra-poor internally displaced households to graduate from extreme poverty and begin an upward trajectory […]