Subscribe

Back

Who we are

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

Timothy Thomas

Timothy Thomas is a Senior Research Fellow in the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit. His research focuses on the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity. Tim’s work involves developing innovative methods for simulated climate futures and model coordination between climate, crop, water, energy, and economics.

Back

What we do

Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

Research topics

Projects and impact

Food Security Portal

Modeling tools

What’s new

Where we work

Back

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.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country and Regional Offices

Research by country and region

Subscribe

experts

Markets, Trade, and Institutions

Chris Hillbruner

Program Head, Global Food Security Program

Follow

Chris

at:

ORCiD

Bio

Chris Hillbruner leads the Global Food Security Program and is experienced in food security analysis, early warning, and evidence-based decision support. His work focuses on strengthening connections between research and government decision-making, particularly around managing food system risks and food security crises, including through early warning and risk assessment, forward-looking analysis of emerging shocks, and the use of modeling and other analytical tools to inform food security investments.

Prior to joining IFPRI, Chris was the Director of the Feed the Future Office of Policy, Analysis, and Engagement at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He also served as Deputy Chief of Party for Analysis with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), where he directed food security early warning analysis across more than 30 countries.

Chris holds a master’s degree in Nutrition from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

LinkedIn

ResearchGate

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Data systems under financial strain: Findings from a rapid assessment of 41 food security, nutrition, and health information systems

2026Hillbruner, Chris; Hill, Ruth Vargas; McNamara, Brian; Scott, Zoe
Details

Data systems under financial strain: Findings from a rapid assessment of 41 food security, nutrition, and health information systems

The 2025 cuts to foreign assistance have weakened the crisis-information infrastructure underpinning humanitarian and development response. An IFPRI assessment, funded by Rockefeller Catalytic Capital (RFCC), examined 41 globally relevant information systems focused on predicting, monitoring, and understanding food and nutrition crises. Among systems reporting funding estimates, funding declined by an average of 31% in 2025, compared with a 23% decline in overall official development assistance (ODA). These funding cuts have sharply reduced data collection, limited analysis, and weakened forecasts. As declining aid flows make effective targeting of assistance even more critical, the information available to decision makers is eroding.

Year published

2026

Authors

Hillbruner, Chris; Hill, Ruth Vargas; McNamara, Brian; Scott, Zoe

Citation

Hillbruner, Chris; Hill, Ruth Vargas; McNamara, Brian; and Scott, Zoe. 2026. Data systems under financial strain: Findings from a rapid assessment of 41 food security, nutrition, and health information systems. IFPRI Policy Note. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/186068

Keywords

Data; Financial Situation; Food Security; Nutrition; Health; Information Systems; Vulnerability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Agrifood system transformation in low- and middle-income countries: Cross-country evidence from Africa and Asia

2026Diao, Xinshen; Hillbruner, Chris; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James
Details

Agrifood system transformation in low- and middle-income countries: Cross-country evidence from Africa and Asia

This paper contributes to the agrifood-systems literature by providing one of the largest cross-country assessments of agrifood-system structure and transformation currently available. Using a consistent economywide framework based on social accounting matrices across 27 African and Asian countries, the synthesis reveals three broad patterns of agrifood-system transformation. First, agrifood systems account for substantial shares of GDP and employment not only in low-income countries but also in relatively advanced lower-middle-income economies. While agrifood systems continue to grow in absolute terms, their relative importance declines with economic diversification, accounting for smaller shares of GDP and employment at higher income levels, both across countries and within countries over time. Second, agrifood systems remain major sources of employment, but the composition of new jobs is shifting beyond farming. Off-farm activities account for an increasing share of new agrifood jobs, particularly in middle-income countries, with much of this employment created in service-related off-farm activities. Third, agricultural labor productivity increased in most countries, providing encouraging evidence of ongoing transformation. However, growth in off-farm labor productivity was much less widespread across countries. Maintaining agricultural productivity growth is essential, but stronger productivity growth in off-farm agrifood activities will be increasingly important for sustaining income growth and long-term structural transformation.

Year published

2026

Authors

Diao, Xinshen; Hillbruner, Chris; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James

Citation

Diao, Xinshen; Hillbruner, Chris; Pauw, Karl; and Thurlow, James. 2026. Agrifood system transformation in low- and middle-income countries: Cross-country evidence from Africa and Asia. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2454. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords

Africa; Asia; Sub-saharan Africa; South-eastern Asia; Southern Asia; Agrifood Systems; Agricultural Transformation; Employment; Labor; Productivity

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

Double shock: El Niño and rising global commodity prices in Kenya
Issue Post
 | 
October 09, 2026

Double shock: El Niño and rising global commodity prices in Kenya

By Emerta Aragie, Shadrack Mwatu, Adan Shibia, and Chris Hillbruner

A model shows risks of rising poverty and undernourishment. Third in a series.

El Niño and rising fertilizer costs: How vulnerable is Malawi in 2027?
Issue Post
 | 
September 11, 2026

El Niño and rising fertilizer costs: How vulnerable is Malawi in 2027?

By Chris Hillbruner, Karl Pauw, and Weston Anderson

Impacts of overlapping shocks.

Events

Double exposure: How El Niño and the Iran crisis could reshape food security
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

October 8, 2026, 9:30 – 11:00 am

Double exposure: How El Niño and the Iran crisis could reshape food security

Both El Niño and the ongoing crisis in Iran threaten to disrupt the global food system and affect food prices through impacts on agricultural production, energy and fertilizer markets, and trade. National governments and international partners face pressure to respond to effects on global markets and prices, as well as the more immediate shocks to […]