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Who we are

With research staff from more than 60 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

Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Senior Research Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit. 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. 

Where we work

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Where we work

IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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The University of Bonn Faculty of Agriculture is dedicated to tackling the problems facing agriculture such as global shortage of energy and raw materials, competing use of land for energy or food production, and more. The Faculty of Agriculture is ideally placed to develop the scientific basis for the sustainable safeguarding of energy supply and needs-based nutrition through the unique combination of agricultural, nutritional and food science, and to support its implementation in practice.

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Publications

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Journal Article

Context matters: Oil palm production and women’s dietary diversity in the tropical forest of Cameroon

2024Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.
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Context matters: Oil palm production and women’s dietary diversity in the tropical forest of Cameroon

Oil palm is one of the most rapidly expanding food and cash crops in many tropical regions with significant environmental implications, but also economic gains. Previous analyses have established that this expansion is associated with changing gender roles and time allocation for women. Time allocation is an important determinant of maternal and child nutrition as well as well-being. We use a rich farm household survey from a native oil palm production hotspot, Cameroon, to examine the associations between oil palm production and women’s dietary diversity. Using different estimation and identification strategies with some sensitivity checks, we show that oil palm is associated with lower dietary diversity for women, measured as the minimum dietary diversity for women and the minimum adequacy diversity diet. We explore heterogeneity in the various food groups consumed by women and show that oil palm production is associated with lower consumption of mainly pulses, fruits and vegetables. These findings contrast with the literature that has established some positive dietary diversity implications of oil palm expansion in Southeast Asia. We carefully discuss these findings and argue that context matters and may explain these differences. Particularly, we show that oil palm production is negatively associated with farm production diversity in Cameroon. Notwithstanding, we also confirm previous findings that highlight that oil palm production is associated with higher income. These insights add to the debate on the implications of oil palm expansion in tropical environments. Moreover, they can guide policy in designing more tailored interventions that address nutrition issues and improve rural development.

Year published

2024

Authors

Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.

Citation

Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr. 2024. Context matters: Oil palm production and women’s dietary diversity in the tropical forest of Cameroon. Journal of Agricultural Economics 75(1): 323-340. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12559

Country/Region

Cameroon

Keywords

Western Africa; Cash Crops; Child Nutrition; Dietary Diversity; Environmental Impact; Elaeis Guineensis; Maternal Nutrition; Maternal and Child Health; Oil Palms; Surveys; Women; Food Production; Income; Rural Income; Employment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12559 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Oil palm expansion, food security and diets: Comparative evidence from Cameroon and Indonesia

2023Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.; Alamsyah, Zulkifli; Sibhatu, Kibrom T.
Details

Oil palm expansion, food security and diets: Comparative evidence from Cameroon and Indonesia

Farm households in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas continue to rapidly adopt oil palm, often at the expense of rainforests and traditional food crops. The environmental and income implications of oil palm expansion have been extensively documented, albeit primarily using data from Southeast Asia. Beyond a few case studies, research on the links between oil palm adoption, food security and dietary diversity among smallholders is scarce. This research gap is partly addressed in this study using data from Cameroon and Indonesia, two countries with different backgrounds in oil palm production, history and marketing systems. Oil palm is native to Cameroon but is an exotic crop in Indonesia that was commercialized a few decades ago. Household food insecurity experience scales and dietary diversity scores are computed, and descriptive and regression estimations are employed for the empirical analysis. Opposing results are revealed, reflecting the contextual differences between the two oil palm production frontiers. Oil palm farmers in Cameroon consume less diverse food than non-oil palm farmers. In Indonesia, on the other hand, oil palm farmers perform better than their non-oil palm counterparts and consume more diversified foods, possibly explaining why smallholders in Southeast Asia continue to adopt the crop rapidly. No statistically significant relationship is obtained between oil palm production and food security. The findings also suggest that income, employment, and farm production diversity may explain the observed relationship between oil palm adoption, food security and diets. Given this, oil palm production may not be a universally suitable strategy to improve food and nutrition insecurity but may be useful in some production frontiers. Context-specific and tailored policies are needed to make oil palm cultivation and food systems more nutrition-sensitive and environment-friendly.

Year published

2023

Authors

Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.; Alamsyah, Zulkifli; Sibhatu, Kibrom T.

Citation

Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.; Alamsyah, Zulkifli; and Sibhatu, Kibrom T. 2023. Oil palm expansion, food security and diets: Comparative evidence from Cameroon and Indonesia. Journal of Cleaner Production 418418(15 September 2023): 138085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138085

Country/Region

Cameroon; Indonesia

Keywords

Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; South-eastern Asia; Asia; Middle Africa; Agricultural Production; Oil Palms; Policies; Crops; Smallholders; Food Security; Poverty; Dietary Diversity

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138085 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

COVID-19 in rural Africa: Food access disruptions, food insecurity and coping strategies in Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania

2022Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.; Gebrekidan, Bisrat Haile; Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel; Börner, Jan; Heckelei, Thomas
Details

COVID-19 in rural Africa: Food access disruptions, food insecurity and coping strategies in Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania

This study assesses the extent of COVID-19-related food insecurity in Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia. Using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, we measure food insecurity in various dimensions and document several food access disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic between April and July 2020. Furthermore, we assess the association of COVID-19 countermeasures with the adoption of various strategies in line with the coping strategies index. We rely on a unique phone survey that followed households who participated in an earlier field-based survey. First, through Ordinary Least-Squares and Probit regressions, we show a strong and statistically significant association between COVID-19 countermeasures and food access disruptions and food insecurity in each of the three countries. We then use a multivariate probit regression model to understand the use of the various coping strategies, including reducing food intake, increasing food search, and relying more on less nutritious foods. We provide evidence on the complementarities and trade-offs in using these coping strategies. COVID-19 and related lockdown measures coincided with a deleterious increase in food insecurity in rural Africa.

Year published

2022

Authors

Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.; Gebrekidan, Bisrat Haile; Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel; Börner, Jan; Heckelei, Thomas

Citation

Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.; Gebrekidan, Bisrat Haile; Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel; Börner, Jan; and Heckelei, Thomas. COVID-19 in rural Africa: Food access disruptions, food insecurity and coping strategies in Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania. Agricultural Economics 53(5): 719-738. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12709

Country/Region

Kenya; Namibia

Keywords

Tanzania; Southern Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Covid-19; Households; Food Access; Food Security; Rural Areas

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12709 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Events

Virtual Event - Hindsight is 2020: Reflecting on IFPRI’s ‘2020 Vision Initiative’
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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July 8, 2020, 9:30 – 11:00 am

Virtual Event – Hindsight is 2020: Reflecting on IFPRI’s ‘2020 Vision Initiative’

Discussion on the achievements and remaining challenges since IFPRI’s landmark series that aimed to catalyze global action to eradicate hunger & malnutrition while protecting the environment.
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Transforming Food Systems to Deliver Healthy, Sustainable Diets : The View from the World’s Science Academies
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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February 14, 2019, 12:15 – 1:45 pm

Transforming Food Systems to Deliver Healthy, Sustainable Diets : The View from the World’s Science Academies

The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), a global network of science academies, recently brought together regional networks of science academies from four continents—Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. This project aimed to spark a new global commitment to research the opportunities and challenges facing food and nutrition security and agriculture today.   This seminar will provide details […]

Bioeconomy – the new transformation of agriculture, food, and bio-based industries – implications for emerging economies
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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October 24, 2017, 12:15 – 1:15 pm

Bioeconomy – the new transformation of agriculture, food, and bio-based industries – implications for emerging economies

Speaker: Moderator: Bioeconomy is the knowledge-based production and utilization of biological resources, innovative biological processes and principles to sustainably provide goods and services across all economic sectors. It employs biomimicry, and utilizes biosciences to transform established economic sectors, such as chemical industries, pharmaceuticals, food, and construction industries into sustainable ones. The bioeconomy has been rapidly […]

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