Subscribe

Back

Who we are

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

Abhijeet Mishra

Abhijeet Mishra is a Research Fellow in the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit. Abhijeet’s research interests include future sustainable pathways for the global land-use system and the trade-offs between land-based mitigation, food security, and other sustainable development goals.

Back

What we do

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

Research topics

Projects and impact

Food Security Portal

Modeling tools

What’s new

Where we work

Back

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.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country and Regional Offices

Research by country and region

Subscribe
TOPIC

Food Security

Food security means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, volatile food prices, and environmental stressors will put significant pressure on food security. Adaptation strategies and policy responses to global change—including options for handling water allocation, land use patterns, food trade, postharvest food handling and processing, and food affordability and safety—are urgently needed.

Achieving food security for all is a central goal of IFPRI’s policy research, which prioritizes meeting critical nutritional needs (including dietary diversity and micronutrients) for human well-being and development.

… read more

At the global level, our work looks at how trade and investment can increase food security sustainably. At the national level, our researchers use foresight and policy modeling tools to inform decision-makers and stakeholders on policies and investments that can contribute to food security by reducing poverty and boosting productivity sustainably. Researchers also conduct analysis of innovations to make food value chains more efficient (including by reducing food loss and waste) and programs intended to support food security, including social protection programs, to determine what works in particular national contexts. IFPRI also looks for ways to improve monitoring and analysis of food crisis risks, link humanitarian and developmental responses when addressing food crises, promote adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies and building resilience to shocks, which can promote food security, and at managing trade-offs, such as balancing the nutritional benefits of meat against the ecological costs of its production. Analysis of crisis response and impacts of migration also focuses on how policy responses can reduce food insecurity and contribute to sustainable development in fragile situations.IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1, SDG 2, and SDG 3, and the CGIAR Impact Areas Nutrition, Health, and Food Security; Poverty Reduction, Livelihoods, and Jobs; and Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion.

food_security

topics

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Healthier diets: A global economic modelling study of income and employment impacts across regions

2026Komarek, Adam M.; Willenbockel, Dirk; Dunston, Shahnila; Cenacchi, Nicola; Godfray, H. Charles J.; Mason-D’Croz, Mason; Sulser, Timothy B.; Wiebe, Keith D.
Details

Healthier diets: A global economic modelling study of income and employment impacts across regions

Interest has grown in how to achieve healthy, sustainable, and affordable human diets. The potential income and employment effects of a transition towards healthier diets have received much less attention. We simulate aggregate and sectoral income and employment for business-as-usual and healthier diets for all geographic regions up to 2050 using scenario-based modelling. These healthier diets can increase food’s share of household expenditure in some regions, for example from 18% to 25% in East and Central Africa in 2050. Our results suggest that a global shift towards healthier diets leads to a reallocation of primary factors of production, especially low-skilled labour and capital, from non-agricultural sectors to crop agriculture in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Notably, in 2050, with healthier diets, agriculture’s share of low-skilled labour increases by 3.2 percentage points in East and Central Africa and 1.5 percentage points in South Asia excluding India. Although Gross Domestic Product increases in these regions relative to business-as-usual, this reallocation raises agriculture’s share of Gross Domestic Product, consistent with a slower pace of long-run structural transformation. The reallocation leads to a mild increase in wages for low-skilled workers relative to high-skilled workers in most of these regions, compared to business-as-usual. However, in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, food price increases outweigh wage gains for low-skilled labour, reducing real purchasing power. Policies that encourage healthier diets may also alter income and employment and reduce economic welfare of poor populations in some regions, so care is needed in policy design to avoid adverse unintended consequences.

Year published

2026

Authors

Komarek, Adam M.; Willenbockel, Dirk; Dunston, Shahnila; Cenacchi, Nicola; Godfray, H. Charles J.; Mason-D’Croz, Mason; Sulser, Timothy B.; Wiebe, Keith D.

Citation

Komarek, Adam M.; Willenbockel, Dirk; Dunston, Shahnila; Cenacchi, Nicola; Godfray, H. Charles J.; et al. 2026. Healthier diets: A global economic modelling study of income and employment impacts across regions. Food Policy 142(August 2026): 103118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2026.103118

Keywords

Diet; Income; Employment; Econometric Models; Modelling; Food Affordability; Healthy Diets

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2026.103118 Source record

Project

Foresight

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

The state of global food insecurity measurement: A mix of methods, and a mix of messages

2026Headey, Derek D.
Details

The state of global food insecurity measurement: A mix of methods, and a mix of messages

Robust food insecurity indicators are needed for monitoring development targets, emergency responses, and rationally allocating foreign aid. For decades, global food security monitoring relied on the FAO’s prevalence of undernourishment, but this indicator’s fundamental limitations led the FAO to develop the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) and adopt the unaffordability of the healthy diet. In parallel, The World Bank monitors monetary poverty, arguably a food insecurity indicator in its own right. In this study we assess whether this larger suite of indicators agrees on: (a) which countries are most food insecure; and (b) whether global food insecurity is really deteriorating. Unfortunately, this new mix of methods produces mixed messages. Longstanding criticisms of the prevalence of undernourishment still apply, while rising undernourishment in the past decade is driven by modelled increases in calorie inequality that are inconsistent with income inequality trends. The FIES fares no better: severe FIES food insecurity is higher in several Latin American and Caribbean countries than in extremely food-insecure African countries such as Niger. The World Bank’s poverty and healthy diet affordability monitoring efforts are significantly constrained by systematically fewer household surveys in poorer and more crisis-affected countries. How can this situation be improved? First, experience-based indicators need to be more rigorously evaluated for cross-cultural comparability, and alternatives need to be considered. Second, international agencies and national governments should pool resources to implement coordinated, high-frequency, multi-purpose surveys – focusing on poor and crisis-affected countries – to jointly monitor food insecurity, poverty and malnutrition, as well as their root causes.

Year published

2026

Authors

Headey, Derek D.

Citation

Headey, Derek D. 2026. The state of global food insecurity measurement: A mix of methods, and a mix of messages. Food Policy 142(August 2026): 103121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2026.103121

Keywords

Food Insecurity; Malnutrition; Prevalence of Undernourishment; Poverty; Stunting

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2026.103121 Source record

Project

Climate Resilience

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Women’s experiences of the food environment and their association with fruit and vegetable intake: Insights from northern Tanzania

2026
Singh, Nishmeet; Bliznashka, Lilia; Azupogo, Fusta; Marshall, Quinn; Kumar, Neha; Malindisa, Evangelista; Jeremiah, Kidola; Hess, Sonja Y.; Kinabo, Joyce L.; Olney, Deanna K.
…more Jaacks, Lindsay M.; Bellows, Alexandra L.
Details

Women’s experiences of the food environment and their association with fruit and vegetable intake: Insights from northern Tanzania

This analysis examined associations between factors in the food environment and fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake among women living in rural Northern Tanzania. We used cross-sectional data from 2597 women and 1275 food sources. Women’s self-reported factors included buying frequency, sources, availability, and convenience. We also measured women’s access to F&V sources using geospatial measures of distance and time from home to the reported typical sources. Data from a 30-day F&V food frequency questionnaire were used to calculate two scores that captured intake frequency and variety. We conducted a descriptive analysis of indicators of women’s experience and tested their associations with the scores using multivariable and Poisson regression models, controlling for covariates. On average, 5% and 35% of women reported buying F&V daily, respectively. Fruit was mostly bought from markets: F: 80%, V: 40%. Two-thirds of respondents perceived F&V as available (F: 65%, V: 60%). Median (IQR) distance and time to fruit sources were 9 km (2,19), 39 min (19,78), and to vegetable sources were 3 km (1,10), 32 min (8-69). Compared to women who reported making daily purchases of F&V, those who purchased weekly or monthly reported lower frequency and variety of F&V intake. Women’s perceptions that F&V were less available and at a longer distance were associated with lower frequency and variety of vegetable intake.Buying frequency, perceived availability, and distance to markets were associated with women’s frequency and variety of F&V intake, underscoring the need to consider these and other factors in food environments to increase F&V intake.

Year published

2026

Authors

Singh, Nishmeet; Bliznashka, Lilia; Azupogo, Fusta; Marshall, Quinn; Kumar, Neha; Malindisa, Evangelista; Jeremiah, Kidola; Hess, Sonja Y.; Kinabo, Joyce L.; Olney, Deanna K.; Jaacks, Lindsay M.; Bellows, Alexandra L.

Citation

Singh, Nishmeet; Bliznashka, Lilia; Azupogo, Fusta; Marshall, Quinn; Kumar, Neha; et al. 2026. Women’s experiences of the food environment and their association with fruit and vegetable intake: Insights from northern Tanzania. Health and Place 100(July 2026): 103694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2026.103694

Keywords

Tanzania; Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Capacity Building; Gender; Women; Food Environment; Fruits; Vegetables; Feeding Preferences; Rural Areas

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2026.103694 Source record

Project

Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Country-level analysis: Iran War increasing global poverty and food insecurity
Issue Post
 | 
June 16, 2026

Country-level analysis: Iran War increasing global poverty and food insecurity

By James Thurlow and Eleanor Jones

Impacts of high fuel and fertilizer prices continue to reverberate.

Reducing ozone pollution can offset the food security cost of climate action
Research Post
 | 
May 15, 2026

Reducing ozone pollution can offset the food security cost of climate action

By Abhijeet Mishra, Timothy Sulser, Keith Wiebe, and Eleanor Jones

Uncovering an additional benefit of mitigation.

Iran war regional impacts: Growing food security risks in Afghanistan
Issue Post
 | 
April 28, 2026

Iran war regional impacts: Growing food security risks in Afghanistan

By Sediqa Zaki

A shock that may trigger humanitarian disaster.

View all Blogs

Events

Fisheries for Economic Recovery and Food Security in Yemen
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

May 20, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am

Fisheries for Economic Recovery and Food Security in Yemen

Fisheries in Yemen have suffered from years of conflict, underinvestment, weak regulations, and high fuel prices. Fish production has fallen by an estimated 40 percent from its peak in 2004. Before the recent conflict, fisheries were Yemen’s second-largest export sector and an important contributor to national GDP and foreign revenue earnings. Given rich fish resources […]

When Data Is Everywhere: Digital Research Methods Transforming Food Systems Science
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

May 14, 2026, 9:00 – 10:00 am

When Data Is Everywhere: Digital Research Methods Transforming Food Systems Science

In an era of data abundance, novel digital research methods are reshaping how we study and improve food systems. Building on earlier sessions focused on speech-based AI and farmer-generated data, this discussion broadens the lens, bringing together two researchers who are applying cutting-edge digital tools to address complex questions in the food domain.  First, Bia […]

A Narrow Strait, Global Consequences: Hormuz Strait and Fertilizer Markets
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

April 23, 2026, 9:30 – 11:00 am

A Narrow Strait, Global Consequences: Hormuz Strait and Fertilizer Markets

Fertilizer markets have entered a phase of heightened uncertainty, where geopolitical risks intersect with highly concentrated production, energy dependence, and fragile logistics. These risks are no longer hypothetical. The Strait of Hormuz represents a critical chokepoint for fertilizer trade, with around 35 percent of global urea flows, over one quarter of ammonia trade, just above […]

View all Events

News

June 23, 2026 | In the News

Iran-US war in numbers (The Independent)

The Independent reports on the global economic fallout from the ongoing US‑Israel war on Iran, highlighting significant implications for food security and poverty, with reference to IFPRI analysis: “The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) notes how higher fuel and fertiliser prices will dent the national GDP of reliant countries, in particular Vietnam (-0.8%), Mozambique […]

June 18, 2026 | Press Release

IFPRI’s Liangzhi You named among World Food Prize Foundation’s 2026 Top Agri-food Pioneers

The 2026 TAP list recognizes 40 exceptional scientists, policymakers, innovators, and community leaders advancing solutions to global food security challenges

June 05, 2026 | In the News

West Asia crisis: Why India needs a fertiliser security strategy (The Economic Times)

The Economic Times (India) published an op-ed by Barun Deb Pal and Anjani Kumar, IFPRI South Asia Office, and Smita Sirohi, ICAR-National Professor, MS Swaminathan Chair.

View all News

Projects

Irrigation as a Service for Small-Scale Producers: Advancing Equity and Women’s Empowerment

Irrigation as a Service for Small-Scale Producers: Advancing Equity and Women’s Empowerment

Small-scale irrigation provides benefits for productivity, income, food security, nutrition, and resilience to climate shocks. However, women often face greater constraints than men to accessing……

School Meals and School-based Actions for People and the Planet

School Meals and School-based Actions for People and the Planet

…

BRIGHT Sri Lanka

BRIGHT Sri Lanka

…

Ultra-Poor graduation in Somalia

Ultra-Poor graduation in Somalia

In this project, IFPRI conducted a randomized trial evaluating the Ultra-Poor Graduation intervention in Baidoa, Somalia, designed to enable ultra-poor households who were internally displaced……

View all Projects

Our experts

James Thurlow

James Thurlow

Director, Foresight and Policy Modeling (FPM), Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Akhter Ahmed

Akhter Ahmed

Senior Research Fellow / Country Representative, IFPRI Bangladesh, Poverty,
Gender, and Inclusion

Olivier Ecker

Olivier Ecker

Senior Research Fellow, Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Antoine Bouet

Antoine Bouet

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Nicholas Minot

Nicholas Minot

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Markets,
Trade, and Institutions

Charlotte Hebebrand

Charlotte Hebebrand

Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Communications
and Public Affairs (CPA)