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Who we are

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.

researcher spotlight

Agnes Quisumbing

Agnes Quisumbing is a Senior Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit. She co-leads a research program that examines how closing the gap between men’s and women’s ownership and control of assets may lead to better development outcomes.

Where we work

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Where we work

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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experts

Development Strategies and Governance

James Warner

Research Fellow/Program Leader, Rwanda

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Bio

James Warner is a Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, and is the Program Leader for Rwanda. He first joined IFPRI in 2013 as a Research Coordinator based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has also been the office head of IFPRI’s Eastern and Southern Africa Office, which provided both analytical support and capacity building to regional partners. Before joining IFPRI, James worked extensively in eastern and southern Africa as both an academic and economic policy consultant. He lectured at four African universities and worked for a variety international development projects and institutions, including the Centre for the Study of African Economies, Orgut (a Swedish development firm), Harvard University, and UNICEF. In addition, he was a tenured Associate Professor of Economics at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. His education includes a PhD from the University of Utah, master’s degrees from the University of New Hampshire and University of California, Riverside, and an bachelor’s degree from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Publications

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Publications

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Brief

Synopsis: Enhancing smallholder farmers’ profitability through increased crop commercialization in Rwanda

2024Mugabo, Serge; Warner, James
Details

Synopsis: Enhancing smallholder farmers’ profitability through increased crop commercialization in Rwanda

This study analyzes the costs, returns, and profitability of smallholder agriculture in Rwanda using a gross margin approach (definitions are provided below) and reveals that over 80 percent of farmers generate positive gross economic margins. However, only around 40 percent achieve positive gross marketing margins from crop sales. This difference is directly attributable to the fact that two-thirds of production is directly consumed by households. The analysis further identifies that farm households allocate about 80 percent of their total crop input expenditures to fertilizer, seed, and hired labor, while the remaining expenses associated with fixed production costs that are almost exclusively related to land rental costs. Furthermore, per hectare analysis reveals decreasing returns to scale for land size, disputing the notion that larger areas lead to efficiency gains. Instead, for example, smaller commercial farmers of less than 0.1 hectare, comprising 5.5 percent of our sample, sell over 50 percent of their crop value. Despite existing trends, this indicates that commercialization can take place on any size land holdings for relative income gains. Additionally, the study highlights the impact of factors like labor decisions and crop choice can significantly influence economic outcomes. The findings suggest that smallholder farming remains economically viable in Rwanda, though market participation is somewhat limited. With appropriate support and risk mitigation, farmers of all land sizes can commercialize production, boost incomes, and enhance household welfare by reorienting towards higher-value market crops.

Year published

2024

Authors

Mugabo, Serge; Warner, James

Citation

Mugabo, Serge; and Warner, James. 2024. Synopsis: Enhancing smallholder farmers’ profitability through increased crop commercialization in Rwanda. Rwanda SSP Policy Note 14. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

Rwanda

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Commercialization; Crops; Smallholders; Profitability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Brief

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Working Paper

Costs and returns in Rwandan smallholder agricultural production: Gross margins and profitability analyses

2024Mugabo, Serge; Warner, James
Details

Costs and returns in Rwandan smallholder agricultural production: Gross margins and profitability analyses

This paper explores crop commercialization among smallholder agricultural households in Rwanda from a cost and revenue perspective to determine profitability at the farm level. We use standard revenue and cost equations to assess the commercial viability of the smallholders. In general, we find that a household’s total crop production creates positive returns even if implicit costs, such as own family labor and fertilizer subsidies, are included. Specifically, over 80 percent of our sample households generated positive economic returns from farming— referred to as demonstrating a positive gross economic margin (GEM). However, if only crop market sales and market input costs are used in the calculations, only 40 percent of agricultural households generated positive returns—referred to as demonstrating a positive gross marketing margin (GMM). Most of the explanation for this difference is that the typical farm household sells only about one-third of its crop production by value. This outcome suggests that many agricultural households continue to focus on cultivating food crops for their own consumption and do not specialize in commercial production. This is to be expected in an economic context where input, credit, and commodity markets are still developing, production decisions are still shaped by high levels of weather and market risk, and production risk management options are limited, among many other factors. The results of this research provide a better understanding of how Rwandan smallholders might move towards higher value production, with the ultimate goal being to increase household revenues and welfare and accelerate the country’s economic transformation.

Year published

2024

Authors

Mugabo, Serge; Warner, James

Citation

Mugabo, Serge; and Warner, James. 2024. Costs and returns in Rwandan smallholder agricultural production: Gross margins and profitability analyses. Rwanda Strategy Support Program Working Paper 14. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148697

Country/Region

Rwanda

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Crops; Commercialization; Smallholders; Agriculture; Profitability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Working Paper

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Brief

Real-time market price monitoring: Current dynamics in southern Rwanda

2024Warner, James; Manners, Rhys
Details

Real-time market price monitoring: Current dynamics in southern Rwanda

Recent collaborative CGIAR research has developed a prototype for tracking district-level costs of a healthy diet using monthly eSoko data.1 High frequency monitoring of diets allows for near real-time generation of insights on price impacts on diet costs. The temporal richness of this data allows for immediate analytics of current food system events. This research provides an analysis of district-level price movements of healthy diet compositions, as well as food prices that compose the diet. We use this prototype to demonstrate how eSoko data could be used for monitoring an economic shock and how to evaluate the effects in near real time. The general goal is to demonstrate a potential early warning system that could improve the menu of policy choices for enhanced resilience.

Year published

2024

Authors

Warner, James; Manners, Rhys

Citation

Warner, James; and Manners, Rhys. 2024. Real-time market price monitoring: Current dynamics in southern Rwanda. Rwanda SSP Policy Note 12. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144172

Country/Region

Rwanda

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Market Prices; Healthy Diets; Data; Trade

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Brief

Blogs

Is Ethiopia missing a golden opportunity for addressing hidden hunger? The opportunities and challenges of biofortification
IFPRI Blog
 | 
August 18, 2023

Is Ethiopia missing a golden opportunity for addressing hidden hunger? The opportunities and challenges of biofortification

By Taddese Zerfu, Fantu Bachewe, Tirsit Genye, Meron Girma, Aregash Samuel, James Warner, and Cornelia van Zyl

A promising approach to micronutrient deficiencies.

Events

Using Satellite Imagery for Early Warning of Productivity Constraints
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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October 31, 2019, 11:00 – 12:30 pm

Using Satellite Imagery for Early Warning of Productivity Constraints

On October 31, the NASA Harvest Consortium in collaboration with the Food Security Portal will hold a webinar to discuss the potential of satellite imagery for food crisis early warning systems. This webinar will provide an opportunity to share the current state of knowledge and to identify areas new or further collaboration.  The 2019 Global […]

17th International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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July 18 to 20, 2019

17th International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy

IFPRI is participating in the Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA) 17th International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy. The EEA is a not-for-profit association serving the professional interests of members working in agricultural and broadly related fields of applied economics.  Members of the EEA are employed by academic or government institutions, as well as in industry and not-for-profit […]

2018 ReSAKSS (Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System) Annual Conference
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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October 24 to 26, 2018

2018 ReSAKSS (Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System) Annual Conference

The International Food Policy Research Institute, in partnership with the African Union Commission, is convening the 2018 ReSAKSS Annual Conference to promote review and dialogue on the CAADP implementation agenda among policymakers, development partners, researchers, advocacy groups, farmers’ organizations, the private sector, and other key stakeholders from within and outside Africa. The conference will take […]