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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.

Ahmed Akhter

researcher spotlight

Akhter Ahmed

Akhter Ahmed is a Senior Research Fellow in the IFPRI’s Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit and Country Representative for IFPRI Bangladesh. He has worked on strategies for agricultural and rural development, social protection, and women’s empowerment to reduce poverty, food insecurity, and undernutrition in developing countries including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Malawi, the Philippines, and Turkey.

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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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IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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Development Strategies and Governance

Hyacinth Edeh

Country Program Manager

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Bio

Hyacinth Edeh is a Country Program Manager in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, based in IFPRI’s Abuja Office. His current research interest is in small-scale private irrigation in Nigeria. Prior to joining IFPRI, he lectured with the Pre-degree School of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, and worked with the African Institute for Applied Economics, Enugu, as an Associate Research Fellow. He earned his bachelor’s in Agricultural Economics from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology and his master’s in Agricultural Economics with a specialty in Resource and Environmental Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Publications

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Seed certification, certified seeds use and yield outcomes in Nigeria: Insights from nationally-representative farm panel data and seed company location data

2025
Takeshima, Hiroyuki; Ragasa, Catherine; Bamiwuye, Temilolu; Andam, Kwaw S.; Spielman, David J.; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Fasoranti, Adetunji; Haile, Beliyou; Nwagboso, Chibuzo; Omoigui, Lucky O.
…more Abdoulaye, Tahirou; Kumar, P. Lava; Wossen, Tesfamicheal
Details

Seed certification, certified seeds use and yield outcomes in Nigeria: Insights from nationally-representative farm panel data and seed company location data

CONTEXT Despite the importance of enhanced seed quality to agricultural productivity growth, evidence remains scarce regarding the nature and possible drivers of returns to formal sector quality assurance systems, including certified seeds production in countries like Nigeria that focus significantly on the formal-sector seed systems. OBJECTIVE This study narrows this knowledge gap by estimating the effect of the quantity of certified seeds produced and the spatial variations where they are produced on the use of certified seeds and yields. We also assess the yield effects of certified seeds use and their relationship with agroclimatic and socioeconomic conditions. METHODS We combine nationally-representative farm-household survey panel data with spatial data on the headquarters locations of seed companies, the quantity of certified seeds for maize, cowpea, and rice that they produce, and spatially explicit agroecological data. We apply panel fixed effects methods as well as instrumental-variable methods to address potential endogeneity associated with certified seeds use while also controlling for the use of improved varieties to separate their effects from the effects of certified seeds. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that the availability of certified seeds—captured by indicators of certified seeds produced by seed companies headquartered in the states of survey respondents—is associated with positive but declining marginal effects on certified seeds use and yields. These results are robust when we also consider the potential within-state heterogeneity in the proximity to seed company headquarters, as well as potential spillovers from the nearest adjacent states. The yield effects of certified seeds are heterogeneous and depend on agroclimatic conditions and farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics. The use of certified seeds is somewhat higher in areas with higher yield effects after controlling for certified seeds production. These patterns partly lead to observed non-linearities in certified seeds use because certified seeds may be more likely to be used by farmers with higher expected returns than farmers with lower expected returns. These results underscore the importance of spatially targeted efforts in enhancing certified seeds production capacity, together with the exploration of intermediate quality standards in the short term where costs of seed certification are high relative to returns. SIGNIFICANCE The study provides unique quantitative evidence in a nationally representative framework in an African country that returns to seed certification systems in the current setting significantly vary depending on contexts, including agroclimatic conditions.

Year published

2025

Authors

Takeshima, Hiroyuki; Ragasa, Catherine; Bamiwuye, Temilolu; Andam, Kwaw S.; Spielman, David J.; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Fasoranti, Adetunji; Haile, Beliyou; Nwagboso, Chibuzo; Omoigui, Lucky O.; Abdoulaye, Tahirou; Kumar, P. Lava; Wossen, Tesfamicheal

Citation

Takeshima, Hiroyuki; Ragasa, Catherine; Bamiwuye, Temilolu; Andam, Kwaw S.; Spielman, David J.; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Fasoranti, Adetunji; Haile, Beliyou; et al. 2025. Seed certification, certified seeds use and yield outcomes in Nigeria: Insights from nationally-representative farm panel data and seed company location data. Agricultural Systems 224(March 2025): 104268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104268

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Seed Certification; Seeds; Yields; Data; Agricultural Productivity; Spatial Data; Surveys

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104268 Source record

Project

Seed Equal

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Report

Does labelling differentiate products and create price premiums? The case of tomatoes from northeast Nigeria

2024Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Shi, Weilun
Details

Does labelling differentiate products and create price premiums? The case of tomatoes from northeast Nigeria

This note describes a labelling experiment introduced to crates of tomatoes cool transported from the northeast region of Nigeria to Lagos or Port Harcourt. A label was attached to a random sample of crates to ensure that the quality of tomatoes is orthogonal to the labels and the destination market was not informed of the experiment. The label contained the information on (a) the project (IFPRI), (b) the transportation method (cool transportation), and (c) the origin of tomatoes (Jos or Gombe), as shown below. The experiment was conducted in the first rounds from Jos and Gombe (Lagos), and the fifth round from Jos (Port Harcourt). As expected, the labeled crates were priced higher than the unlabeled crates. About 9 to 33% of the sale price is attributed to improved information on the quality of tomatoes via the labels.

Year published

2024

Authors

Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Shi, Weilun

Citation

Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth; and Shi, Weilun. 2024. Does labelling differentiate products and create price premiums? The case of tomatoes from northeast Nigeria. CGIAR Initiative on Rethinking Food Markets Technical Report. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168929

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Western Africa; Prices; Tomatoes; Capacity Building; Labelling; Cold Chains; Experimental Design

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Report

Impacts of cool transportation in Nigeria: Midpoint analysis

2024Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Shi, Weilun
Details

Impacts of cool transportation in Nigeria: Midpoint analysis

A randomized controlled trial was introduced to see impacts of cool transportation that connects three vegetable markets in northeast and two large demand centers in southern regions of Nigeria. This note summarizes the findings from the midpoint analysis. First, the impact of cool transportation is large and statistically significant. Sales price, revenue and profit significantly increase for marketers. Second, impacts on sales price are quantitatively large, and a larger portion of sales price increase is attributed to refrigeration, that is, quality preservation through cooling. About 70% of the increase comes from cooling; only 30% from transportation. Third, impacts on revenue and profit, relative to non-cool transportation, are also quantitatively large. In particular, the analysis shows a large proportional increase in profit.

Year published

2024

Authors

Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth O.; Shi, Weilun

Citation

Yamauchi, Futoshi; Dauda, Bawa; Balana, Bedru; Edeh, Hyacinth; and Shi, Weilun. 2024. Impacts of cool transportation in Nigeria: Midpoint analysis. CGIAR Initiative on Rethinking Food Markets Technical Report December 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168914

Keywords

Capacity Building; Coolers; Transport; Randomized Controlled Trials; Markets

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Report

Events

Improving Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition in Nigeria: Policies and Actions
Series/Special Event

 | 

July 25, 2024, 10:00 – 1:30 pm

Improving Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition in Nigeria: Policies and Actions

Despite significant progress in addressing hunger and undernutrition in the early 2000s, malnutrition, in all its forms, remains a major challenge in all regions of the world.  Unhealthy diets remain the primary drivers of many forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases.  Today, the number of people who […]

Rethinking Food Crisis Responses
Series/Special Event

 | 

May 11, 2023, 5:00 – 8:45 am

Rethinking Food Crisis Responses

Virtual Event: May 11, 2023 – 5:00 AM to 8:45 AM EDT. Please join the Nigeria presentation of the Report and the launch of the FCM Initiative on May 11 in Abuja, Nigeria, in person or virtually.