In Focus: Fragility and Conflict

India’s national maternity benefit cash transfer program and child anthropometry:
India’s Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana is the world’s largest rights-based conditional cash transfer program targeting women during their first pregnancy. Using National Family Health Survey data from 2005 to 2021, Soumyajit Ray, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Sumantra Pal, Samuel Scott, Purnima Menon, and Suman Chakrabarti assess changes in growth in a nationally representative sample of children, before and after program implementation. (Scientific Reports)

Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS):
Agnes Quisumbing, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Hazel Malapit, Jessica Heckert, Flor Paz, Emily Meyers, and colleagues developed and tested the WEMNS survey module for use by national statistical offices and survey organizations in low- and middle-income countries to measure women’s and men’s empowerment. (PLoS One)

Targeting social assistance in fragile settings: Community-based targeting that uses community leaders as targeting agents is often preferred for their local information advantages, especially when data-driven methods are not feasible. Kibrom Abay, Guush Berhane, Daniel Gilligan, Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, and Kibrom Tafere find that, when resources are limited, community leaders prefer to increase the number of beneficiaries by reducing the average transfer amounts. Community leaders appear to minimize exclusion errors even at the expense of increased inclusion errors. (Journal of Development Economics)

💻 Blog Series: AI For Food Systems Research
 

IFPRI and AFAAS partner across four countries to test AI tools for farmer advisory services
New collaboration with African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) will explore how generative AI can strengthen agricultural extension systems across Africa. By prioritizing trust, usability, language accessibility, and local relevance, this effort aims to ensure AI complements—not replaces—the human relationships at the heart of agricultural advisory services. (Press release)

Iran war forces farmers to seek fertilizer alternatives from cow dung to compost
AP quotes IFPRI: “The Gulf region produces 30% of globally traded chemical fertilizer, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, and global prices have increased by 50%, according to the World Bank’s fertilizer price index.”

China Focus: China’s sustained poverty reduction efforts offer global experience 
Xinhua (China) reports about the launch of the Global Partnership for Poverty Alleviation and Development (GPPAD) in Beijing. IFPRI’s Kevin Chen noted at the forum that China combined top-down surveys with bottom-up grassroots participation to build a dynamic poverty registry.

‘Hidden Hunger’: Climate crisis reduces food nutrients and widens global inequalities
O Globo (Brazil) spoke with Timothy Sulser about adaptation strategies for agricultural systems, such as improved seeds. Sulser noted that in order for these varieties to reach vulnerable populations, coordinated efforts by public and private institutions are necessary. (Read more)

Zamfara transforming education through school meals — IFPRI, WFP
Vanguard News and The Punch (Nigeria) highlight findings from a recent IFPRI and WFP assessment of Zamfara State’s school feeding program. The articles quote a recent IFPRI piece by Oliver Kirui, Chibuzo Nwagboso, Asabe Maidawa, and Aisha Ololade, “How school meals are transforming education in Zamfara State, Nigeria.” (Read more)

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