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Development Strategies and Governance

Emily Schmidt

Senior Research Fellow

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Bio

Emily Schmidt is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. Her research focuses on the intersection of development economics and geographic information systems (GIS) with an emphasis on the dynamic process of rural land transformation, rural employment diversification, and agricultural production outcomes on household welfare. Her most recent research explores household livelihood strategies in Papua New Guinea, including linkages between agriculture, poverty, and nutrition outcomes among rural smallholder farmers.

Publications

RePEc

CV

Publications

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Journal Article

The gendered effects of rainfall shocks on stunting: Evidence from Papua New Guinea

2026Leight, Jessica; Mukerjee, Rishabh; Schmidt, Emily
Details

The gendered effects of rainfall shocks on stunting: Evidence from Papua New Guinea

Rainfall fluctuations significantly reduce welfare for poor rural households in low- and middle-income countries dependent on rainfed agriculture for consumption, and the effects of these shocks can be borne disproportionately by vulnerable household members, particularly children and girls. We present new evidence around the effects of rainfall fluctuations on child anthropometric status in Papua New Guinea, an understudied context characterized by some of the highest stunting rates in the world. We show that negative fluctuations in rainfall within the first 12 months of life lead to a reduction in height-for-age and weight-for-age (though not stunting), but this effect is observed only for girls.

Year published

2026

Authors

Leight, Jessica; Mukerjee, Rishabh; Schmidt, Emily

Citation

Leight, Jessica; Mukerjee, Rishabh; and Schmidt, Emily. 2026. The gendered effects of rainfall shocks on stunting: Evidence from Papua New Guinea. Economics Letters 268(September 2026): 113123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2026.113123

Country/Region

Papua New Guinea

Keywords

Oceania; Gender; Rainfall; Shock; Stunting; Rainfall Patterns; Nutrition; Children; Anthropometric Dimensions; Climate Change Adaptation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2026.113123 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Gestational weight gain and maternal immediate perinatal and postpartum outcomes in low and middle income countries: Individual participant data meta-analyses

2026
Partap, Uttara; Costa, Janaína Calu; Liu, Enju; Cliffer, Ilana R; Wang, Dongqing; Wang, Molin; Nookala, Sudeer Kumar; Subramoney, Vishak; Briggs, Brittany; Ibraheem Abioye, Ajibola
…more Accrombessi, Manfred; Adu-Afarwuah, Seth; Ahmed, Sheraz; Akurut, Hellen; Ali, Hasmot; Ali, Asad; Alves, Joao Guilherme; Andra, Teddy; de Araújo, Carla Adriane Leal; Argaw, Alemayehu; Arifeen, Shams; Artes, Rinaldo; Ashorn, Per; Ashorn, Ulla; Azizi, Fereidoun; Banda, Bowen; Bawah, Ahmed Tijani; Bhandari, Nita; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Briand, Valerie; Calvo, Elvira Beatriz; Cardoso, Marly Augusto; de Castro, Marcia Caldas; Cecatti, Jose Guilherme; Chico-Barba, Gabriela; Chowdhury, Ranadip; Christian, Parul; Collins, Shalean; Costello, Anthony; Dewey, Kathryn G; Divala, Titus H; Dombrowski, Jamille Gregório; Drehmer, Michele; Duggan, Christopher P; Dwarkanath, Pratibha; Elliott, Alison M; Enkhmaa, Davaasambuu; Erchick, Daniel; Estrada-Gutierrez, Guadalupe; Fair, Frankie J; Friis, Henrik; Fritz, Jimena; Gandevani, Samira Behboudi; Ganmaa, Davaasumbuu; García-Guerra, Armando; Gernand, Alison D; Gomo, Exnevia; Gondwe, Austrida; González-Ludlow, Isabel; Grais, Rebecca; Guindo, Ousmane; Hallamaa, Lotta; Hamer, Davidson H; Hanley-Cook, Giles; Hien, Alain; Huybregts, Lieven; Isanaka, Sheila; Jehan, Fyezah; Kac, Gilberto; Kajubi, Richard; Kakuru, Abel; Kasaro, Margaret P; Katz, Joanne; Khatry, Subarna K; Krebs, Nancy F; Kumar, Pratap; Kurpad, Anura V; Lachat, Carl; Lama, Tsering Pema; Lamadrid-Figueroa, Hector; Lanou, Hermann; Lartey, Anna; Laufer, Miriam K; Loy, See Ling; Lipoeto, Nur Indrawaty; López, Laura Beatriz; Luzia, Liania Alves; Mahmud, Abdullah; Maiya, G Arun; Maleta, Kenneth; Manandhar, Dharma S; Manary, Mark J; Mangani, Charles; Marinho, Claudio Romero Farias; Martínez-Rojano, Hugo; Matias, Susana L; Matijasevich, Alicia; McClure, Elizabeth M; Mengue, Sotero S; Miller, Joshua D; Moore, Sophie E; Mohamad, Marhazlina; Jan Mohamed, Hamid Jan; Mridha, Malay Kanti; Mugusi, Ferdinand M; Muhammad, Ameer; Muhihi, Alfa; Muñoz-Rocha, T Verenice; Mutale, Wilbroad; Neufeld, Lynnette M; Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Nunes, Maria Angélica Antunes; Ome-Kaius, Maria; Osrin, David; Patson, Noel; Pembe, Andrea B; Perichart-Perera, Otilia; Peterson, Karen E; Premji, Zul; Prentice, Andrew M; Quezada-Sánchez, Amado D; Rahman, Najeeb; Ramachandra, Preetha; Ramakrishnan, Usha; Rizvi, Arjumand; Roberfroid, Dominique; Rodrigues, Patricia Lima; Rogerson, Stephen J; Rondó, Patricia HC; Roth, Daniel E; Sámano, Reyna; Saville, Naomi M; Schmidt, Maria Inês; Semrau, Katherine EA; Shafiq, Yasir; Shaikh, Saijuddin; Shrestha, Bhim P; Da Silva, José Roberto; Soltani, Hora; Soofi, Sajid; Martorano, Rodrigo Medeiros; Souza, Renato Teixeira; Stein, Dan J; Stringer, Jeffrey SA; Sudfeld, Christopher R; Taneja, Sunita; Tehrani, Fahimeh Ramezani; Thomas, Tinku; Tielsch, James M; Toe, Laéticia Céline; Unger, Holger W; Urassa, Willy; Vaz, Juliana dos Santos; Victor, Audêncio; Webb, Emily L; West, Keith P; Widen, Elizabeth; Workman, Lesley; Wright, Robert O; Wu, Lee Shu Fune; Young, Sera L; Zar, Heather; Zeng, Lingxia; Fawzi, Wafaie W
Details

Gestational weight gain and maternal immediate perinatal and postpartum outcomes in low and middle income countries: Individual participant data meta-analyses

Objective To estimate the associations between gestational weight gain and maternal immediate perinatal and postpartum outcomes by pooling data from low and middle income countries. Design Individual participant data meta-analyses. Data sources PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, based on three searches (Search 1: all prospective studies published from January 2000 to May 2021; Search 2: randomized controlled trials of balanced energy and protein supplementation published until June 2021; Search 3: randomized controlled trials of anti-infectious agents published until August 2021). Eligibility criteria for selecting studies Prospective studies (randomised controlled trials or observational cohort studies) with measured maternal weight during pregnancy and data available on maternal height, based in populations from low and middle income countries with no underlying conditions. Results The analyses included 156 300 women from 61 studies and 23 countries, with most participants based in South Asia (n=78 454, 50.2%) and sub-Saharan Africa (n=36 327, 23.2%). Compared with women with adequate (90-125%) gestational weight gain, women with excessive (>125%) gestational weight gain had a higher risk of caesarean delivery (risk ratio 1.10, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.13, τ2=0.000) and emergency caesarean delivery (risk ratio 1.22, 1.03 to 1.43, τ2=0.000). Women with moderately (70% to <90%) or severely inadequate (<70%) versus adequate gestational weight gain had lower risks for caesarean delivery (risk ratio in women with moderately inadequate gestational weight gain 0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.84 to 0.92, τ2=0.004; risk ratio in women with severely inadequate gestational weight gain 0.82, 0.77 to 0.88, τ2=0.010) and emergency caesarean delivery (risk ratio in moderately inadequate gestational weight gain 0.82, 0.71 to 0.95, τ2=0.004; risk ratio in severely inadequate gestational weight gain 0.73, 0.56 to 0.96, τ2=0.103). Excessive versus adequate gestational weight gain was associated with higher postpartum weight retained at any time point (mean difference 2.00 kg, 95% confidence interval 1.49 to 2.50, τ2=1.317), whereas moderately and severely inadequate gestational weight gain were associated with lower retained weight compared with adequate gestational weight gain. Similar trends were found for postpartum body mass index. Severely inadequate gestational weight gain was associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure at any time point post partum than adequate gestational weight gain. No associations were observed for other outcomes including postpartum depressive symptoms or breastfeeding. Evidence indicating an interaction between gestational weight gain and body mass index before pregnancy was found when examining the risk of caesarean delivery and postpartum weight retention, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure as outcomes. Conclusions These findings support the association between suboptimal gestational weight gain and adverse maternal outcomes in the immediate perinatal and postpartum periods. Further research examining the consequences of suboptimal gestational weight gain in low and middle income countries would be valuable to inform potential strategies to improve long term maternal health.

Year published

2026

Authors

Partap, Uttara; Costa, Janaína Calu; Liu, Enju; Cliffer, Ilana R; Wang, Dongqing; Wang, Molin; Nookala, Sudeer Kumar; Subramoney, Vishak; Briggs, Brittany; Ibraheem Abioye, Ajibola; Accrombessi, Manfred; Adu-Afarwuah, Seth; Ahmed, Sheraz; Akurut, Hellen; Ali, Hasmot; Ali, Asad; Alves, Joao Guilherme; Andra, Teddy; de Araújo, Carla Adriane Leal; Argaw, Alemayehu; Arifeen, Shams; Artes, Rinaldo; Ashorn, Per; Ashorn, Ulla; Azizi, Fereidoun; Banda, Bowen; Bawah, Ahmed Tijani; Bhandari, Nita; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Briand, Valerie; Calvo, Elvira Beatriz; Cardoso, Marly Augusto; de Castro, Marcia Caldas; Cecatti, Jose Guilherme; Chico-Barba, Gabriela; Chowdhury, Ranadip; Christian, Parul; Collins, Shalean; Costello, Anthony; Dewey, Kathryn G; Divala, Titus H; Dombrowski, Jamille Gregório; Drehmer, Michele; Duggan, Christopher P; Dwarkanath, Pratibha; Elliott, Alison M; Enkhmaa, Davaasambuu; Erchick, Daniel; Estrada-Gutierrez, Guadalupe; Fair, Frankie J; Friis, Henrik; Fritz, Jimena; Gandevani, Samira Behboudi; Ganmaa, Davaasumbuu; García-Guerra, Armando; Gernand, Alison D; Gomo, Exnevia; Gondwe, Austrida; González-Ludlow, Isabel; Grais, Rebecca; Guindo, Ousmane; Hallamaa, Lotta; Hamer, Davidson H; Hanley-Cook, Giles; Hien, Alain; Huybregts, Lieven; Isanaka, Sheila; Jehan, Fyezah; Kac, Gilberto; Kajubi, Richard; Kakuru, Abel; Kasaro, Margaret P; Katz, Joanne; Khatry, Subarna K; Krebs, Nancy F; Kumar, Pratap; Kurpad, Anura V; Lachat, Carl; Lama, Tsering Pema; Lamadrid-Figueroa, Hector; Lanou, Hermann; Lartey, Anna; Laufer, Miriam K; Loy, See Ling; Lipoeto, Nur Indrawaty; López, Laura Beatriz; Luzia, Liania Alves; Mahmud, Abdullah; Maiya, G Arun; Maleta, Kenneth; Manandhar, Dharma S; Manary, Mark J; Mangani, Charles; Marinho, Claudio Romero Farias; Martínez-Rojano, Hugo; Matias, Susana L; Matijasevich, Alicia; McClure, Elizabeth M; Mengue, Sotero S; Miller, Joshua D; Moore, Sophie E; Mohamad, Marhazlina; Jan Mohamed, Hamid Jan; Mridha, Malay Kanti; Mugusi, Ferdinand M; Muhammad, Ameer; Muhihi, Alfa; Muñoz-Rocha, T Verenice; Mutale, Wilbroad; Neufeld, Lynnette M; Nguyen, Phuong Hong; Nunes, Maria Angélica Antunes; Ome-Kaius, Maria; Osrin, David; Patson, Noel; Pembe, Andrea B; Perichart-Perera, Otilia; Peterson, Karen E; Premji, Zul; Prentice, Andrew M; Quezada-Sánchez, Amado D; Rahman, Najeeb; Ramachandra, Preetha; Ramakrishnan, Usha; Rizvi, Arjumand; Roberfroid, Dominique; Rodrigues, Patricia Lima; Rogerson, Stephen J; Rondó, Patricia HC; Roth, Daniel E; Sámano, Reyna; Saville, Naomi M; Schmidt, Maria Inês; Semrau, Katherine EA; Shafiq, Yasir; Shaikh, Saijuddin; Shrestha, Bhim P; Da Silva, José Roberto; Soltani, Hora; Soofi, Sajid; Martorano, Rodrigo Medeiros; Souza, Renato Teixeira; Stein, Dan J; Stringer, Jeffrey SA; Sudfeld, Christopher R; Taneja, Sunita; Tehrani, Fahimeh Ramezani; Thomas, Tinku; Tielsch, James M; Toe, Laéticia Céline; Unger, Holger W; Urassa, Willy; Vaz, Juliana dos Santos; Victor, Audêncio; Webb, Emily L; West, Keith P; Widen, Elizabeth; Workman, Lesley; Wright, Robert O; Wu, Lee Shu Fune; Young, Sera L; Zar, Heather; Zeng, Lingxia; Fawzi, Wafaie W

Citation

Partap, Uttara; Costa, Janaína Calu; Liu, Enju; Cliffer, Ilana R.; Wang, Dongqing; et al. 2026. Gestational weight gain and maternal immediate perinatal and postpartum outcomes in low and middle income countries: Individual participant data meta-analyses. BMJ Medicine 5(1): e001558. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjmed-2025-001558

Keywords

Weight Gain; Pregnancy; Maternal and Child Health; Developing Countries

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjmed-2025-001558 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Synopsis: Evolution of and opportunities for the fresh produce value chain in PNG

2026Schmidt, Emily; Anamo, Iga; Gimiseve, Harry; Hayoge, Glen; Kedir Jemal, Mekamu; Monoi, Belinda; Mukerjee, Rishabh; Sikas-Iha, Helmtrude
Details

Synopsis: Evolution of and opportunities for the fresh produce value chain in PNG

Enhancing the fresh produce value chain in PNG will contribute to wider development goals including rural economic growth, food and nutrition security and rural employment diversification. An important component of strengthening agriculture value chains in PNG will be increasing crop productivity and quality. However, equally important is strengthening agricultural markets and rural – urban linkages. Recognizing the importance of supporting greater domestic fresh produce marketing, the PNG government (GoPNG) continues to promote investments that link farmers to markets, primarily through the Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA) (DAL 2023). A principal mechanism for promoting rural economic growth and strengthening agriculture value chains involves enabling the more commercially oriented smallholder farming households to significantly increase their productivity through greater use of modern farming inputs over an increasing share of local arable land (Benny et al., 2022). As the income of more productive farm households grows, their demand for locally produced goods and services increases. These goods and services are generally labor-intensive, require limited capital in their production, and are typically not marketed outside of the local community. This includes construction and associated services; transport and infrastructure services; education, health, and other social services; food and beverage processing; and the like, which facilitate greater (and often higher value) labor diversification and specialization within the rural economy. Fresh produce value chains remain understudied in many low- and middle-income countries, despite their demonstrated role in promoting rural economic growth, improved welfare, and dietary diversity. This lack of information and analysis is particularly acute in Papua New Guinea (PNG), whereby dated or limited evidence exists on agriculture production and expansion, fresh produce trade flows, price formation and price variation over time, throughout seasons, and across regions. Understanding these production and market dynamics is essential for supporting value chain actors in developing profitable and sustainable systems that provide farmers with the incentives they need to supply fresh produce to trustworthy and transparent markets. This synopsis draws upon 2 detailed studies (Schmidt et al., 2025; and Minten et al., 2025) that aim to inform opportunities for investment in the fresh produce value chain by: 1) analyzing remote sensing data to estimate agricultural expansion in horticulture production areas of the PNG highlands; 2) evaluating unique market flow and fresh produce price data collected over a 15-year period by FPDA; and 3) estimating the price margins of each value chain actor in the fresh produce value chain through in-depth stakeholder interviews. The structure of this synopsis report is as follows. Section 2 provides an analysis of agriculture expansion over time and fresh produce market flows from the Highlands fresh produce corridor. Section 3 examines price trends and marketing margins across 6 key markets in diverse locations of the country. Section 4 reports on in-depth stakeholder interviews to unpackage costs along the value chain from farmgate to retailer. Section 5 concludes with key findings and implications.

Year published

2026

Authors

Schmidt, Emily; Anamo, Iga; Gimiseve, Harry; Hayoge, Glen; Kedir Jemal, Mekamu; Monoi, Belinda; Mukerjee, Rishabh; Sikas-Iha, Helmtrude

Citation

Schmidt, Emily; Anamo, Iga; Gimiseve, Harry; Hayoge, Glen; Kedir Jemal, Mekamu; et al. 2026. Synopsis: Evolution of and opportunities for the fresh produce value chain in PNG. Papua New Guinea Food Policy Strengthening Working Paper 14. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/182350

Country/Region

Papua New Guinea

Keywords

Oceania; Capacity Building; Fresh Products; Agricultural Value Chains; Value Chains; Trade; Markets

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

Half a day’s pay for a healthy household diet in Papua New Guinea
Research Post
 | 
July 21, 2026

Half a day’s pay for a healthy household diet in Papua New Guinea

By Emily Schmidt, Kristi Mahrt, and Helmtrude Sikas-Iha

Urban households face nutrition risks.

Survey: Rural Papua New Guinea faces an array of food security challenges
Research Post
 | 
October 18, 2024

Survey: Rural Papua New Guinea faces an array of food security challenges

By Emily Schmidt and Rishabh Mukerjee

Starch-heavy diets, the reach of extension instruction, and other issues.

2023 Papua New Guinea Rural Household Survey: Insights on livelihoods and the agrifood system
Research Post
 | 
April 22, 2024

2023 Papua New Guinea Rural Household Survey: Insights on livelihoods and the agrifood system

By Trudie Sikas-Iha and Emily Schmidt

New data on diets.

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Events

Informing Economic Growth and Food Security Opportunities in Papua New Guinea
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

March 21, 2025, 9:00 – 5:30 pm

Informing Economic Growth and Food Security Opportunities in Papua New Guinea

The International Food Policy Research Institute, in collaboration with Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council, Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Department of Health and the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, will host a research seminar on “Informing Economic Growth and Food Security Opportunities in Papua New Guinea”, on March 21st, 2025. As […]

2023 PNG Rural Household Survey: Report Launch
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

March 18, 2024, 12:30 – 3:30 pm

2023 PNG Rural Household Survey: Report Launch

In-person Event: March 7, 2024 – 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM GMT+10. This seminar will provide results of the rural household survey and discuss opportunities for promoting agricultural transformation for economic growth and food security in PNG. 

Linkages of Agriculture, Nutrition and Economic Development
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

June 12, 2019, 9:00 – 12:30 pm

Linkages of Agriculture, Nutrition and Economic Development

Approximately 80 percent of the population in PNG is semi-dependent on subsistence agriculture, however limited economic analysis exists to inform policy priorities aimed at sustainable growth and poverty reduction in rural areas. Renewed efforts to inform overall agricultural production and resilience in Papua New Guinea have taken place over the last several years. This workshop […]

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News

June 13, 2019 | In the News

Rural Communities Trapped in Poverty: Survey (Post-Courier)

Recent findings from an IFPRI survey on food consumption in Papua New Guinea found poor households were not getting enough food. Researcher Emily Schmidt calls for increased access to education to improve rural families' predicaments.

March 26, 2019 | In the News

New data offers insights into rural poverty and undernutrition in Papua New Guinea (Reuters)

Reuters published an opinion article by Research Fellow, Emily Schmidt, based on IFPRI’s ongoing work in Papua New Guinea. In the article, Schmidt highlighted how lack of data has hampered the country’s efforts to curb hunger and malnutrition.