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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

Elodie Becquey

Elodie Becquey is a Senior Research Fellow in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit, based in IFPRI’s West and Central Africa office in Senegal. She has over 15 years of research experience in diet, nutrition, and food security in Africa, including countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Tanzania.

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Innovation Policy and Scaling

Arun Baral

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), HarvestPlus

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Bio

Arun Baral has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HarvestPlus since 2019, succeeding HarvestPlus founder Howarth Bouis. As CEO, Baral oversees the interdisciplinary, global efforts of HarvestPlus to develop and deliver micronutrient-rich staple food crops to reduce micronutrient deficiency (known as “hidden hunger”) among malnourished populations. He champions biofortification within the CGIAR system, the private sector, and among national agricultural research centers, as well as in the international agriculture and nutrition communities. He focuses on developing effective partnerships to scale up biofortification and support development of sustainable biofortified food systems that provide access to nutritious food for all. Baral also spearheaded the establishment of HarvestPlus Solutions, a non-profit entity working with partners in the private and public sector to fill gaps in biofortified food value chains to scale up biofortified products.

Baral joined HarvestPlus in 2017 as Chief Financial Officer, after more than 30 years in the international agriculture sector, with roles in commercial operations, profit and loss management, strategy, finance, business development, and marketing. He has been based in Asia, Africa, and the United States, and has also traveled extensively for work in Latin America. Prior to joining HarvestPlus, Baral spent over 24 years with DuPont Pioneer as Asia Regional Business Director, where he was instrumental in developing and executing a strategy that significantly grew the Asia business. Baral holds an MBA from Drake University in Iowa, and a bachelor’s of Commerce from Delhi University in India.

HarvestPlus

Innovation Policy and Scaling

Publications

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Opinion Piece

How nutrition-smart agriculture can help build resilience against the “Three C” crises of climate, conflict and COVID-19

2022Baral, Arun
Details

How nutrition-smart agriculture can help build resilience against the “Three C” crises of climate, conflict and COVID-19

We hear a growing chorus of warnings from members of the food and nutrition security community about the dire consequences of the war in Ukraine on global rates of hunger and malnutrition. Arif Husain, chief economist at the World Food Programme, noted recently that threats in numerous countries to food production and availability from the “Three C’s” — climate, conflict, and COVID-19 — are rapidly being compounded by the “Three F’s” — spiking food, fuel, and fertiliser prices. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the number of undernourished people worldwide could increase by 8 to 13 million this year alone. Even households which may not be particularly dependent on imported or purchased foods — including hundreds of millions of smallholder farming families in Africa and Asia — are likely to feel the effects of the downward spiral of global trade on their ability to produce food. This is in large part due to higher prices for key farming inputs — particularly fertilisers — which were already on the upswing prior to the war in Ukraine and are now increasing even more quickly.

Year published

2022

Authors

Baral, Arun

Citation

Baral, Arun. 2022. How nutrition-smart agriculture can help build resilience against the “Three C” crises of climate, conflict and COVID-19. Farming First. First available online on May 16, 2022. https://farmingfirst.org/2022/05/how-nutrition-smart-agriculture-can-help-build-resilience-against-the-three-c-crises-of-climate-conflict-and-covid-19/

Keywords

Crises; Biofortification; Covid-19; Climate; Capacity Development; Nutrition; Conflicts; Resilience

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Opinion Piece

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Brief

Catalyzing the scale-up of crop biofortification

2020Baral, Arun; Birol, Ekin
Details

Catalyzing the scale-up of crop biofortification

Globally, an estimated two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies that contribute to weakened immune systems, disease, disability, and even death.1 One of the main causes of micronutrient deficiencies – also known as hidden hunger – is low-quality diets that rely on calorie-rich but micronutrient-poor staple crops, and include very little nutrientdense foods such as animal-sourced foods and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Year published

2020

Authors

Baral, Arun; Birol, Ekin

Citation

Baral, Arun; and Birol, Ekin. 2020. Catalyzing the scale-up of crop biofortification. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133959.

Keywords

Biofortification; Seeds; Policies; Crops; Stakeholders; Knowledge and Information Systems; Trace Elements; Partnerships; Seed Multiplication; Knowledge

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133959 Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Brief

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Journal Article

Resilient agri-food systems for nutrition amidst COVID-19: evidence and lessons from food-based approaches to overcome micronutrient deficiency and rebuild livelihoods after crises

2020Heck, S.; Campos, Hugo; Barker, I.; Okello, J.J.; Baral, Arun; Boy, Erick; Brown, Lynn; Birol, Ekin
Details

Resilient agri-food systems for nutrition amidst COVID-19: evidence and lessons from food-based approaches to overcome micronutrient deficiency and rebuild livelihoods after crises

COVID-19 has had an instant effect on food systems in developing countries. Restrictions to the movement of people and goods have impaired access to markets, services and food. Unlike other concurrent crises, rather than threatening the material hardware of food systems, COVID-19 has so far affected the ‘software’ of food systems, highlighting again that connectivity is at the heart of these systems. Drops in demand, the loss of markets and employment and growing concerns about international cooperation are indications of possible deeper disruptions to come. Amidst this uncertainty, strategies to safeguard food and nutrition security of the world’s poor need to prioritize diversification of production and markets. Nutritious, biofortified crops such as potato, sweetpotato, but also wheat, maize and beans among others, can play a more significant role to provide key micronutrients (vitamin A, iron, zinc) at large scale. Strong local market chains, robust smallholder production systems and increasing commercial utilization make these crops powerful vehicles for securing nutrition when markets and mobility look uncertain. We posit that the evolving impacts of COVID-19 provide an opportunity to focus agricultural innovations, including the development and delivery of biofortified crops, on new and more specifically defined ‘jobs to be done’ throughout the food system. This will help bridge some of the current disruptions in supply and demand and will help prepare food systems for future crises.

Year published

2020

Authors

Heck, S.; Campos, Hugo; Barker, I.; Okello, J.J.; Baral, Arun; Boy, Erick; Brown, Lynn; Birol, Ekin

Citation

Heck, S.; Campos, H.; Barker, I.; Okello, J.J.; Baral, A.; Boy, E.; Brown, L.; Birol, E. (2020). Resilient agri-food systems for nutrition amidst COVID-19: evidence and lessons from food-based approaches to overcome micronutrient deficiency and rebuild livelihoods after crises. Food Security. ISSN 1876-4525. Published online 25Jul2020.

Keywords

Africa; Innovation; Potatoes; Sweet Potatoes; Biofortification; Trace Element Deficiencies; Humanitarian Organizations; Covid-19; Nutrition; Trace Elements; Agrifood Systems; Livelihoods; Resilience; Food Systems

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01067-2 Source record

Project

Roots, Tubers and Bananas

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

HarvestPlus: Twenty years of enriching diets with biofortification
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 28, 2023

HarvestPlus: Twenty years of enriching diets with biofortification

By Arun Baral

A key tool in the battle for better nutrition and health.

Events

Shaping Food Policy in a Changing World: Research Priorities for Greater Impact
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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December 15, 2025, 9:00 – 4:00 pm

Shaping Food Policy in a Changing World: Research Priorities for Greater Impact

Also streaming on Please type your questions into the chat box with name, affiliation, and country. The event video, presenter slides, and podcast will be available in the days following the event. In today’s fast-changing world and evolving food systems, the need for evidence-based food policy has never been more urgent – demanding research that […]

Micronutrient Forum: 6th Global Conference
IFPRI at External Event

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October 16 to 20, 2023

Micronutrient Forum: 6th Global Conference

Hybrid Conference: October 16, 2023 – 8:30 AM to October 20, 2023 – 5:00 PM CEST. IFPRI is pleased to participate in this year’s Micronutrient Forum 6th Global Conference, being held at the World Forum in The Hague October 16–20, with a focus on “Nutrition for Resilience (N4R).

Africa’s Food Systems Forum (AGRF) 2023 Summit
IFPRI at External Event

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September 5 to 8, 2023

Africa’s Food Systems Forum (AGRF) 2023 Summit

Event: September 5, 2023 – 3:00 AM to September 8, 2023 – 7:30 AM EDT. IFPRI is participating in Africa’s Food Systems Forum (AGRF) 2023 Summit.

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