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With research staff from more than 70 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

David Spielman

David Spielman is the director of IFPRI’s Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit and has been with the institute since 2004. His research agenda covers a range of topics including agriculture and rural development policy; agricultural science, technology, and innovation; plant genetic resources and seed systems; agricultural extension and advisory services; and community-driven rural development.

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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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Where we work

IFPRI currently has more than 480 employees working in over 70 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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experts

Communications and Public Affairs (CPA)

Charlotte Hebebrand

Director of Communications and Public Affairs

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Charlotte Hebebrand

Bio

Charlotte Hebebrand is the Director of Communications and Public Affairs. She has extensive experience researching as well as writing and communicating about food and agricultural policy topics.

Charlotte served most recently as Director General of the Paris-based International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), a 500+ member association composed of different companies in the fertilizer value chain and other organizations with an interest in plant nutrition, with some two-thirds of the membership based in emerging and developing economies. During her tenure, she worked to modernize the governance structure of the association, to update the market intelligence and conference offerings, and to strengthen outreach to UN agencies and other international organizations. Working closely with the membership and external stakeholders, she led a strategic review that resulted in a major pivot to sustainability/ESG in IFA’s work program. She was formerly the President of the Washington, DC-based International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council, a membership organization composed of former trade negotiators, academics, and private sector players dedicated to the pursuit of an open and fair trading system for food and agricultural products.

Charlotte began to work on food and agricultural topics at the EU Delegation in Washington, where she held positions in the Development, Trade and Agriculture & Food Safety divisions. Charlotte has served on the board of the International Fertilizer Development Center, on the advisory board of ag tech start-up Phospholutions, on the independent steering committee of the CGIAR’s Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and on DuPont’s Advisory Committee on Agricultural Innovation & Productivity for the 21st Century. She holds an MA in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Languages spoken: English, German, French, Spanish

Publications

Videos

CV

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Global shocks to fertilizer markets: Impacts on prices, demand and farm profitability

2025Vos, Rob; Glauber, Joseph W.; Hebebrand, Charlotte; Rice, Brendan
Details

Global shocks to fertilizer markets: Impacts on prices, demand and farm profitability

During 2021–2022, spiking fertilizer prices raised fears that fertilizer application would drop around the world, leading to lower crop production, higher food prices, and greater food insecurity. Even writing mid-2024, a paucity of data impedes a full assessment of how the underlying global market shocks may have affected farmers and food production around the world. Using proxy indicators for fertilizer demand and farm profitability, we find that despite the steep increase in input costs, global demand for fertilizer fell only modestly during the 2022–2023 crop cycle, suggesting many (commercial) farmers were able and willing to absorb increased input costs in the context of generally good harvest prospects and, at the time, high crop prices. However, we also find the fertilizer price spikes have not been felt equally, with many farmers in Africa estimated to have been affected more adversely, even though with varied impacts also amongst those farmers.

Year published

2025

Authors

Vos, Rob; Glauber, Joseph W.; Hebebrand, Charlotte; Rice, Brendan

Citation

Vos, Rob; Glauber, Joseph W.; Hebebrand, Charlotte; and Rice, Brendan. 2025. Global shocks to fertilizer markets: Impacts on prices, demand and farm profitability. Food Policy 133(May 2025): 102790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102790

Keywords

Shock; Fertilizers; Markets; Prices; Profitability; Global Value Chains; Supply Chain Disruptions

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102790 Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Journal Article

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Audio

What kind of financing does agriculture need to create jobs and prevent climate change?

2024Balogun, Ayodeji; Hebebrand, Charlotte; Munene, Fred; Shetty, Shobha
Details

What kind of financing does agriculture need to create jobs and prevent climate change?

It is expected that in 2050 there will be nearly 10 billion people in the world. As the population grows, we will need more farmers to produce more food. But the world’s food system is also a huge contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. This episode discusses how we can support small farmers and enterprises by providing the finance they need to produce food and supporting the jobs of the future, while reducing emissions.

Year published

2024

Authors

Balogun, Ayodeji; Hebebrand, Charlotte; Munene, Fred; Shetty, Shobha

Citation

Balogun, Ayodeji; Hebebrand, Charlotte; Munene, Fred; and Shetty, Shobha. 2024. What kind of financing does agriculture need to create jobs and prevent climate change? Table for 10 Billion Episode 12. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/podcast/2024/12/06/what-kind-of-financing-does-agriculture-need-to-create-jobs-and-prevent-climate-change

Keywords

Farmers; Financing; Agriculture; Climate Change; Population Growth; Food Systems; Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Audio

Resource thumbnail

Book Chapter

Overview and Recent Challenges [In Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor 2024]

2024Odjo, Sunday; Zaki, Chahir; Traoré, Fousseini; Hebebrand, Charlotte
Details

Overview and Recent Challenges [In Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor 2024]

The Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor (AATM) is an annual flagship publication of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and AKADEMIYA2063. This seventh edition provides an overview of short- and long-term trends and drivers behind Africa’s global trade, intra-African trade, and trade within Africa’s regional economic communities (RECs), with a focus on the nexus of trade and climate change. The six chapters of this 2024 AATM report are as follows. This first chapter offers an overview of the food security concerns in African countries in the wake of the global crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia–Ukraine war, and the global resurgence of protectionist policies. It examines trade through a food security lens, including availability, utilization, accessibility, and stability of food supplies, as well as the effects of tariffs, nontariff measures (NTMs), and deep trade agreements on food security in Africa. Special attention is paid to fertilizers, given the importance of these inputs for agricultural productivity and food security. As a result of Africa’s heavy dependence on fertilizer imports, farmers, and particularly smallholders, were severely challenged in the recent crisis when spikes in international fertilizer prices were compounded by high rates of domestic inflation.

Year published

2024

Authors

Odjo, Sunday; Zaki, Chahir; Traoré, Fousseini; Hebebrand, Charlotte

Citation

Odjo, Sunday; Traoré, Fousseini; Zaki, Chahir; and Hebebrand, Charlotte. 2024. Overview and Recent Challenges. In Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor 2024 , Odjo, Sunday, ed.; Traoré, Fousseini, ed.; and Zaki, Chahir, ed. Chapter 1. Kigali and Washington, DC: AKADEMIYA2063 and International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151909

Keywords

Africa; Food Security; Policies; Trade; Tariffs; Fertilizers; Agricultural Production

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

Blogs

Global fertilizer trade 2021-2023: What happened after war-related price spikes
Issue Post
 | 
April 05, 2024

Global fertilizer trade 2021-2023: What happened after war-related price spikes

By Charlotte Hebebrand and Joseph Glauber

Impacts of shifting market flows.

Grappling with compounding crises in domestic fertilizer markets in Africa: The case of Ethiopia
Research Post
 | 
January 16, 2024

Grappling with compounding crises in domestic fertilizer markets in Africa: The case of Ethiopia

By Kibrom Abay, Thomas W. Assefa, Guush Berhane, Gashaw Tadesse Abate, and Charlotte Hebebrand

Local effects of global shocks persist.

Fertilizer policies amid global supply and price shocks
Issue Post
 | 
December 11, 2023

Fertilizer policies amid global supply and price shocks

By Kibrom Abay, Jordan Chamberlin, Pauline Chivenge, Charlotte Hebebrand, and David J. Spielman

Global prices have moderated but many countries still face difficulties.

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Events

Agricultural Insurance: Innovations, Policies, and Pathways to Scale
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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April 16, 2026, 11:00 – 12:30 pm

Agricultural Insurance: Innovations, Policies, and Pathways to Scale

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. Farm households face numerous risks that can discourage investments and trap them in poverty. Insurance should be a useful tool to reduce these […]

Tackling extreme poverty and financing for food systems in Africa
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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October 17, 2025, 9:30 – 11:30 am

Tackling extreme poverty and financing for food systems in Africa

Join speakers from IFPRI, IFAD, UNU-WIDER and the World Bank for a high-level seminar exploring two major African priorities – poverty reduction and food systems transformation in sub-Saharan Africa. Speakers will highlight the need to make progress on reducing poverty in fragile and conflict-affected areas across the continent, and the need to examine how most […]

The EU Deforestation Regulation: Policy Implications and Research Frontiers
Series/Special Event

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October 14, 2025, 9:30 – 11:00 am

The EU Deforestation Regulation: Policy Implications and Research Frontiers

In June 2023, the European Union (EU) adopted its Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR)—a landmark policy designed to reduce global deforestation and forest degradation driven by EU consumption. Under the regulation, key commodities with the biggest impacts on deforestation—soy, cattle, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, wood, and natural rubber—cannot be placed on the EU market or […]

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News

September 03, 2025 | Press Release

Celebrating 50 Years of Impact and Informing Food Policies Across Africa

IFPRI marks its 50th anniversary with a special event at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar.

August 29, 2025 | Press Release

IFPRI at Africa Food Systems Forum 2025

IFPRI’s delegation at AFSF 2025—including Director General and senior researchers—will participate in plenary sessions, high-level panels, side and special events as part of the wider CGIAR delegation at AFSF.

June 12, 2025 | Press Release

New special issue of Food Policy examines fertilizer and soil health policies in the wake of global crises

Key findings were presented and discussed during the IFPRI policy seminar on June 11.

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