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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

Eliot Jones-Garcia

Eliot Jones-Garcia is a Senior Research Analyst with the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit based in Washington, DC. His research focuses on human-AI interaction, user-centered design, and the ethical and responsible development of AI. Eliot is currently finalizing a PhD on the digitalization of agricultural advisory services at Wageningen University & Research.

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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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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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Markets, Trade, and Institutions

Aditi Chugh

Research Analyst

Bio

Aditi is a Research Analyst in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit, based in Washington, DC. With eight years of professional experience across government and international organizations, Aditi’s expertise encompasses econometrics, research and data interpretation, applied political economic studies, policy and foresight analysis, and impact evaluation. Her sectoral focus has been on various aspects of agricultural policy and development, including the collection of agricultural statistics, farmers’ income, agricultural markets, and agricultural technology and innovation.

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Publications

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Working Paper

Unpacking the political economy of fertilizer subsidy reforms

2025Chugh, Aditi; Resnick, Danielle
Details

Unpacking the political economy of fertilizer subsidy reforms

Global calls to repurpose agricultural support toward more sustainable and equitable food systems have intensified scrutiny of fertilizer subsidies. While political economy constraints often hinder reform, the exact manifestation of these constraints is rarely examined. To clarify the specific mechanisms at play, this paper systematically reviews peer-reviewed studies from 2000 to 2025 and identifies 38 fertilizer subsidy reform cases across 15 countries. We code political economy factors influencing outcomes at different stages of subsidy adoption and redesign. The analysis shows that ideational factors around self-sufficiency, the private sector, and the social contract, as well as the institutional structures impacting policymaking, are central to successful subsidy introduction. Electoral incentives play a role at both the policy introduction and redesign phases. Yet, political economy factors are not the only prominent drivers. In fact, technocratic considerations about underperformance or corruption became more prominent during redesign efforts but were also present in more than 80 percent of failed cases. This reaffirms that while technocratic factors, including the availability of research and evidence are necessary for subsidy design improvements, they are not sufficient on their own. By distinguishing which political economy factors matter and how they interact with broader policy process dynamics, this study provides a more actionable foundation for anticipating and managing challenges to fertilizer subsidy reforms and repurposing more broadly.

Year published

2025

Authors

Chugh, Aditi; Resnick, Danielle

Citation

Chugh, Aditi; and Resnick, Danielle. 2025. Unpacking the political economy of fertilizer subsidy reforms. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2397. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/180322

Keywords

Fertilizers; Subsidies; Reforms; Policies; Political Ecology

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Preprint

Governing informality: Drivers of service provision in Nigeria’s food wholesale markets

2025Resnick, Danielle; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Chugh, Aditi
Details

Governing informality: Drivers of service provision in Nigeria’s food wholesale markets

How does governance affect service provision in Nigeria’s wholesale food markets? Sufficient services, such as water, waste collection, and toilet access, are essential for enhancing the safety of healthy and nutritious foods, such as vegetables and fish, and improving the welfare of those who depend on informal trade for their livelihoods. However, these are often substandard in many informal markets, exposing traders and consumers who rely on such markets to higher levels of foodborne hazards and undermining the efficacy of other food safety interventions. Using data from 299 wholesale markets across seven states and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, this paper examines how four governance mechanisms-incentives, information, authority, and capacity-are associated with five services: waste collection, market toilet access, water provision, electricity, and security. We find that having an elected, rather than appointed, market chairperson positively influences waste collection and provision of security. By contrast, larger utility investments, such as water and electricity, are less influenced by governance structures within the markets. Markets located in local government areas (LGAs) under appointed rather than elected governments are associated with worse performance across all services, demonstrating that efforts to address market service delivery need to be embedded in a holistic understanding of multi-level governance dynamics. The findings emphasize that improving food safety and traders’ welfare via better service delivery requires empowering stakeholders in informal market governance who not only hold the authority to deliver a diverse set of services but also possess the political incentives to do so.

Year published

2025

Authors

Resnick, Danielle; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Chugh, Aditi

Citation

Resnick, Danielle; Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; and Chugh, Aditi. 2025. Governing informality: Drivers of service provision in Nigeria’s food wholesale markets. SSRN Preprint available online April 29, 2025. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5207422

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Food Safety; Governance; Markets; Waste Collection

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Preprint

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Working Paper

Impacts of personalized picture-based crop advisories: Experimental evidence from India and Kenya

2024Ceballos, Francisco; Chugh, Aditi; Kramer, Berber
Details

Impacts of personalized picture-based crop advisories: Experimental evidence from India and Kenya

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has heightened interest in digital models to strengthen agricultural extension. Such tools could help provide personalized advisories tailored to a farmer’s unique conditions at scale and at a low cost. This study evaluates the fundamental assumption that personalized crop advisories are more effective than generic ones. By means of a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT), we assess the impact of personalized picture-based advisories on farmers’ perceptions, knowledge and adoption of recommended inputs and practices, and other downstream outcomes. We find that personalizing advisories does not significantly improve agricultural outcomes compared to generic ones. While farmers who engage relatively more with advisories (i.e., those who receive and read a substantial number of messages based on self-reports) tend to achieve better outcomes, this is irrespective of whether the advisories they receive are tailored to their specific situation or not. We conclude that investments in digital extension tools should aim to enhance engagement with advisories rather than focusing solely on personalization.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ceballos, Francisco; Chugh, Aditi; Kramer, Berber

Citation

Ceballos, Francisco; Chugh, Aditi; and Kramer, Berber. 2024. Impacts of personalized picture-based crop advisories: Experimental evidence from India and Kenya. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2322. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169348

Country/Region

India; Kenya

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Africa; Eastern Africa; Agricultural Extension; Artificial Intelligence; Farmers; Inputs

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Diversification in East and Southern Africa

Record type

Working Paper