The Natural Resources and Resilience Unit works at the intersection of nature, agriculture, and development to support tangible progress toward more equitable, resilient, and environmentally sustainable food systems that thrive on healthy ecosystems and deliver nutrition, better livelihoods, and economic opportunities for men and women. The highly interdisciplinary research group includes a range of social and biophysical scientists who work at local, national, and global scales to tackle the entrenched challenges of preserving nature while improving food security and nutrition. Their research uses a gender and social equity lens in addressing food and environmental system challenges. The group works with government agencies, NGOs, grassroots women’s organizations, and university partners to design and implement policy-relevant research in areas including behavioral change interventions, participatory institutional analysis, impact evaluations of gender-responsive climate change interventions, optimization of water/irrigation-energy-food-environmental systems, the economics of biodiversity conservation, and digital innovations in the food systems space. All of the Unit’s work includes a focus on measurable improvements in the resources, agency, and achievements of the world’s poorest women and men farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Predecessor IFPRI Division page is available at :

• ENVIRONMENT AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY (EPTD)