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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.

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Kinya Kaibung’a

Kinya Kaibung’a is a Research Officer with the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has a keen interest in leveraging machine learning, AI, and other cutting-edge technologies to boost climate resilience and food security in smart agriculture systems.

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experts

Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

Hazel Malapit

Senior Research Coordinator

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Bio

Hazel Malapit is a Senior Research Coordinator in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). She is a gender and development economist whose work focuses on women’s empowerment, agrifood systems, and the use of evidence to improve policy and practice.

Hazel leads Area of Work 2, Accelerating Change Through Evidence, of the CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion (GENDER) Accelerator, where she helps shape a portfolio focused on evidence quality, learning across research investments, and strengthening capacity to produce and use gender evidence.

A major focus of Hazel’s research has been the development and application of tools to measure women’s empowerment, including the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and the Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS). Her current work also examines how innovations and evidence that advance gender equality can be adapted, scaled, and used more effectively in policy and practice.

Previously, Hazel led the Gender, Equity and Empowerment unit of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health and co-led the Methods Module of the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform. She holds a PhD in Economics from American University and a master’s degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

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Publications

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Journal Article

Food systems performance evaluated against targets and benchmarks reveals urgent gaps and a path to 2050

2026
Carducci, Bianca; Schneider Lecy, Kate; Nordhagen, Stella; Beal, Ty; Béné, Christophe; Gonzalez Fischer, Carlos; Herforth, Anna; Tubiello, Francesco N.; Ambikapathi, Ramya; Arunkumar, Krishna
…more Campeau, Christine; Dasgupta, Shouro; DeClerck, Fabrice; del Pino Álvarez, Inmaculada; Guarín, Alejandro; McLaren, Rebecca; Vivero-Pol, Jose Luis; Aburto, Nancy; Barquera, Simón; Battersby, Jane; Cafiero, Carlo; Conforti, Piero; Caron, Patrick; Cattaneo, Andrea; Covic, Namukolo; Elouafi, Ismahane; Fabi, Carola; Gephart, Jessica A.; Fremier, Alexander; Foley, Pat; Golden, Christopher D.; Hendriks, Sheryl L.; Huang, Jikun; Kennedy, Gina; Laar, Amos; Lal, Rattan; Lidder, Preetmoninder; Loken, Brent; Malapit, Hazel J.; Marshall, Quinn; Masuda, Yuta J.; Remans, Roseline; Resnick, Danielle; Saisana, Michaela; Sumaila, U. Rashid; Torero Cullen, Maximo; Webb, Patrick; Wiebe, Keith D.; Haddad, Lawrence; Rosero Moncayo, José; Fanzo, Jessica; Herrero, Mario
Details

Food systems performance evaluated against targets and benchmarks reveals urgent gaps and a path to 2050

Despite national and international commitments to food systems transformation and an increasing adoption of common indicators, no comprehensive targets have been established against which progress can be measured. Here, building on the Food Systems Countdown Initiative framework, we identify existing targets—based on internationally agreed commitments and normative goals—and establish benchmarks—based on empirically derived peer performance reference values at the global, regional and income group levels—for 44 Food Systems Countdown Initiative indicators. We also assess countries’ historical progress and the rate of change required to achieve targets and benchmarks over two different timescales. We show that current progress is insufficient to meet 2030 targets and benchmarks at global level. Comparing countries’ status to regional and income benchmarks, which are generally less ambitious, yields better performance across indicators and regions, although gaps remain. Achieving most targets and benchmarks by 2050 is possible if countries correct course and accelerate progress, but certain indicators will require considerable investment and intervention.

Year published

2026

Authors

Carducci, Bianca; Schneider Lecy, Kate; Nordhagen, Stella; Beal, Ty; Béné, Christophe; Gonzalez Fischer, Carlos; Herforth, Anna; Tubiello, Francesco N.; Ambikapathi, Ramya; Arunkumar, Krishna; Campeau, Christine; Dasgupta, Shouro; DeClerck, Fabrice; del Pino Álvarez, Inmaculada; Guarín, Alejandro; McLaren, Rebecca; Vivero-Pol, Jose Luis; Aburto, Nancy; Barquera, Simón; Battersby, Jane; Cafiero, Carlo; Conforti, Piero; Caron, Patrick; Cattaneo, Andrea; Covic, Namukolo; Elouafi, Ismahane; Fabi, Carola; Gephart, Jessica A.; Fremier, Alexander; Foley, Pat; Golden, Christopher D.; Hendriks, Sheryl L.; Huang, Jikun; Kennedy, Gina; Laar, Amos; Lal, Rattan; Lidder, Preetmoninder; Loken, Brent; Malapit, Hazel J.; Marshall, Quinn; Masuda, Yuta J.; Remans, Roseline; Resnick, Danielle; Saisana, Michaela; Sumaila, U. Rashid; Torero Cullen, Maximo; Webb, Patrick; Wiebe, Keith D.; Haddad, Lawrence; Rosero Moncayo, José; Fanzo, Jessica; Herrero, Mario

Citation

Carducci, Bianca; Schneider Lecy, Kate; Nordhagen, Stella; Beal, Ty; Béné, Christophe; et al. 2026. Food systems performance evaluated against targets and benchmarks reveals urgent gaps and a path to 2050. Nature Food 7(8): 802-812. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01379-0

Keywords

Food Systems; Frameworks; Transformation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01379-0 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS): Development and psychometric assessment of a face-to-face survey module

2026
Yount, Kathryn M.; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Malapit, Hazel J.; Hassan, Md. Zahidul; Kanyanda, Shelton S. E.; Sharma, Sudhindra; Hassan, Md. Imrul; Heckert, Jessica; Paz, Florencia
…more Pokhrel, Pankaj; Vundru, Wilbert D.; Doss, Cheryl; Seymour, Greg; Moylan, Heather; Kilic, Talip; Myers, Emily; Faas, Simone; Cheong, Yuk Fai; Sinharoy, Sheela S.
Details

Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS): Development and psychometric assessment of a face-to-face survey module

Data to monitor progress towards gender-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain limited. A comprehensive, concise set of metrics is needed for routine national data collection to monitor progress toward these goals. Our team developed and tested the Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS) survey module for use by national statistical offices and survey organizations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to measure women’s and men’s empowerment. This paper summarizes the process of developing the WEMNS module and presents detailed results of a psychometric assessment of face-to-face surveys in Bangladesh, Malawi, and Nepal. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the pooled sample confirmed that most of the 13 item sets had adequately identified factor structures aligned with specific empowerment constructs and gender-related SDGs. In multi-group CFA assessing measurement equivalence of item sets across gender and countries, configural invariance was observed for 9 of 13 item sets across genders and across country settings. At least partial scalar invariance was observed for one item set across genders and no item sets across country settings. Spearman pairwise correlations among WEMNS factor scores derived from final CFA models showed weak associations, suggesting item sets were weakly related and distinct. Overall, Spearman pairwise correlations of 13 WEMNS-derived factor scores with external measures for basic needs, resources, agency, and subjective well-being were weak, but five moderately high correlations were conceptually aligned. In sum, the WEMNS measures require refinement and further psychometric assessment to confirm their use to make valid comparisons of empowerment across country settings and gender.

Year published

2026

Authors

Yount, Kathryn M.; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Malapit, Hazel J.; Hassan, Md. Zahidul; Kanyanda, Shelton S. E.; Sharma, Sudhindra; Hassan, Md. Imrul; Heckert, Jessica; Paz, Florencia; Pokhrel, Pankaj; Vundru, Wilbert D.; Doss, Cheryl; Seymour, Greg; Moylan, Heather; Kilic, Talip; Myers, Emily; Faas, Simone; Cheong, Yuk Fai; Sinharoy, Sheela S.

Citation

Yount, Kathryn M.; Quisumbing, Agnes R.; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Malapit, Hazel J.; Hassan, Md. Zahidul; et al. 2026. Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS): Development and psychometric assessment of a face-to-face survey module. PLoS One 21(5): e0345742. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0345742

Keywords

Africa; Asia; Women’s Empowerment; Surveys; Data Collection; Factor Analysis; Gender

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0345742 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Working Paper

Improving the documentation and classification of gender-research tools: insights from eight thematic reviews

2025Magalhaes, Marilia; Bryan, Elizabeth; Malapit, Hazel J.; Lecoutere, Els; Makhija, Simrin
Details

Improving the documentation and classification of gender-research tools: insights from eight thematic reviews

This synthesis paper analyses the landscape of gender-research tools and methods in agrifood systems by bringing together insights from eight thematic reviews developed under the CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion (GENDER Accelerator). The analysis highlights the wide range of tools and methods available for gender research in agrifood systems, while also identifying gaps in documentation, classification and dissemination. Drawing on lessons from the synthesis process, as well as a review of metadata best practices, this work underscores the need for clearer terminology, harmonized metadata and more consistent approaches to organizing gender-research tools. It also highlights the importance of adopting standard tagging practices and improving metadata quality and completeness to strengthen the visibility, interoperability and reuse of gender research resources across repositories and platforms. The paper discusses the challenges encountered in curating and categorizing diverse resources and emphasizes the importance of collaboration between researchers and knowledge management specialists to improve discoverability and reuse. The paper concludes with recommendations to strengthen future tool development, tagging and documentation practices to support more coherent, visible and methodologically robust gender research.

Year published

2025

Authors

Magalhaes, Marilia; Bryan, Elizabeth; Malapit, Hazel J.; Lecoutere, Els; Makhija, Simrin

Citation

Magalhaes, M., Bryan, E., Malapit, H., Lecoutere, E. and Makhija, S. 2025. Improving the documentation and classification of gender-research tools: Insights from eight thematic reviews. CGIAR GENDER Working Paper #031. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

Keywords

Gender; Research; Documentation; Food Systems

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

Applying the Women's Empowerment Metric in National Statistical Systems (WEMNS) to build gender equity
Event Post
 | 
May 07, 2025

Applying the Women’s Empowerment Metric in National Statistical Systems (WEMNS) to build gender equity

By Emily Myers, Jessica Heckert, Hazel Malapit, Agnes Quisumbing, Flor Paz, Chiara Brunelli, and Chiara Gnetti

A tool to collect key data sometimes missing from household surveys.

Introducing the Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS)
Research Post
 | 
October 13, 2023

Introducing the Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS)

By Emily Myers, Jessica Heckert, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Hazel Malapit, Greg Seymour, and Agnes Quisumbing

A new tool to address the gender data gap in agricultural development.

Making a difference: Dumplings and development
Research Post
 | 
July 28, 2023

Making a difference: Dumplings and development

By Emily Myers, Eleanor Jones, and Hazel Malapit

This blog discusses the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), a versatile survey tool used in various regions and contexts to measure women’s inclusion in agriculture and its impact on agricultural diversity, nutrition, and poverty. WEAI offers different modules and indicators to suit local needs and enhance women’s empowerment in the agricultural sector.

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Events

Measuring Women’s Agency: New Tools, Takeaways, and What Comes Next
Series/Special Event

 | 

September 30, 2026, 9:30 – 12:00 pm

Measuring Women’s Agency: New Tools, Takeaways, and What Comes Next

Please type your questions into the chat box with name, affiliation, and country. The event recording will be available in the days following the event. This half-day forum, hosted by the Measures for Advancing Gender Equality (MAGNET) initiative, will share new findings about measuring women’s agency across three dimensions—control over assets, goal-setting and decision-making, and […]

Inequality within and outside the household: Reflections from Agnes Quisumbing's career
IFPRI Policy Seminar

 | 

June 24, 2026, 10:00 – 11:30 am

Inequality within and outside the household: Reflections from Agnes Quisumbing’s career

Throughout a career spanning more than four decades, Agnes Quisumbing has made major contributions to research on intrahousehold allocation, poverty and economic mobility, women’s empowerment, and the design and implementation of gender-sensitive agricultural programs. Stemming from her long-standing interest in inequality, Agnes’s work on gender, property rights, and women’s empowerment examines how inequality within the […]

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

 | 

December 15, 2025, 9:00 – 4:00 pm

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

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 is timely, inclusive, and tailored to context. Reliable data and rigorous analysis are essential, but research must also evolve – and become more timely, more relevant, and more inclusive of diverse voices […]

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News

April 19, 2023 | In the News

Crisis resilience ‘critical’ to stem rising hunger (SciDev.Net)

“A shift towards permanent ‘crisis resilience’ from short-term aid is crucial to mitigate increasingly frequent shocks to the global food system and tackle rising global hunger, say food policy researchers,” writes SciDev.Net in a piece featuring IFPRI’s 2023 Global Food Policy Research.  “Crises, shocks, and volatility are no longer exceptions and may become the new normal,” says Johan Swinnen, […]

April 07, 2020 | Press Release

2020 Global Food Policy Report: Inclusive Food Systems Needed to Boost Development, Resilience

Washington, D.C. – The rapid spread of COVID-19 and efforts to contain it are generating growing concerns that food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty may escalate, particularly among marginalized people in the developing world. To build more resilient, climate-smart, and healthy food systems that help people withstand these types of shocks policymakers must prioritize making them […]

August 10, 2019 | In the News

Use agri index to measure women empowerment, agencies urged (Philippines News Agency)

Philippines News Agency reported on the pro-Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and the importance of using this index in agricultural development projects. The article quoted Senior Research Coordinator, Hazel Malapit, who elaborated on pro-WEAI and added that for a project to empower women, its goal must be to strengthen the beneficiaries’ ability to make […]

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