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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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experts

Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

Jessica Leight

Senior Research Fellow

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Jessica

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@leightjessica
ORCiD

Bio

Jessica Leight is a Senior Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit. Her research focuses on questions linked to social protection, multifaceted livelihoods interventions, agriculture, gender, health, and structural transformation. She conducts fieldwork in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Mozambique.

Before joining IFPRI, Jessica was an assistant professor of economics at American University and at Williams College. Jessica received a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MPhil in economics from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, and a BA from Yale University.

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Publications

Resource thumbnail

Data Paper

SELEVER study data

2025
Gelli, Aulo; Becquey, Elodie; Ganaba, Rasmané; Leight, Jessica; Heckert, Jessica; Huybregts, Lieven; Toé, Laetica; Awonon, Josué; Diatta, Ampa Dogui; Diop, Loty
…more Santacroce, Marco; Pedehombga, Abdoulaye; Hein, Alain; Somé, Henri
Details

SELEVER study data

The SELEVER study was a cluster randomized controlled trial aiming to evaluate the effects of an inte-grated agriculture–nutrition intervention package (including poultry value chain development, women’s empowerment activities, and a behavior change communications strategy to promote improved diets and feeding, care, and hygiene practices) on the diets, health, and nutritional status of women and chil-dren in rural Burkina Faso (1). Four rounds of data collection were carried out in rural communities of three regions of Burkina Faso: Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre-Ouest and Haut-Bassins between March 2017 and August 2020. The first round (Baseline) took place between March and June 2017 during the post-harvest season in a sam-ple of 1800 households. The second (Follow-up) and third (Follow-up 2) rounds took place during the lean season in 2017 (September-October) and 2019 (September-October) in a subsample of 1080 households. The last survey round (Endline) took place between March and August 2020 (including a break due to covid-19 restrictions).

Year published

2025

Authors

Gelli, Aulo; Becquey, Elodie; Ganaba, Rasmané; Leight, Jessica; Heckert, Jessica; Huybregts, Lieven; Toé, Laetica; Awonon, Josué; Diatta, Ampa Dogui; Diop, Loty; Santacroce, Marco; Pedehombga, Abdoulaye; Hein, Alain; Somé, Henri

Citation

Gelli, Aulo; Becquey, Elodie; Ganaba, Rasmané; Leight, Jessica; et al. 2025. SELEVER study data. Data Paper. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Country/Region

Burkina Faso

Keywords

Western Africa; Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Value Chains; Poultry; Women’s Empowerment; Maternal Nutrition; Water; Hygiene; Health; Child Nutrition; Health Communication; Dietary Assessment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Data Paper

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Short-term and long-term effects of cash for work: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Tunisia

2025Leight, Jessica; Mvukiyehe, Eric
Details

Short-term and long-term effects of cash for work: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Tunisia

JEL Classification: O12, O15

Year published

2025

Authors

Leight, Jessica; Mvukiyehe, Eric

Citation

Leight, Jessica; and Mvukiyehe, Eric. Short-term and long-term effects of cash for work: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Tunisia. Journal of Development Studies. Article in press. First available online on February 10, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2025.2451875

Country/Region

Tunisia

Keywords

Africa; Northern Africa; Public Works; Employment; Women’s Empowerment; Assets; Consumption

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2025.2451875 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Men can cook: Effectiveness of a men’s engagement intervention to change attitudes and behaviors in rural Ethiopia

2025Alderman, Harold; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Leight, Jessica; Mulford, Michael; Tambet, Heleene
Details

Men can cook: Effectiveness of a men’s engagement intervention to change attitudes and behaviors in rural Ethiopia

Graduation model interventions seek to address multiple barriers constraining households’ exit from poverty, however, few explicitly target restrictive gender norms. Using a randomized controlled trial design, combined with three rounds of data, we investigate the impacts on gender equitable attitudes and behaviors of a graduation program that seeks to address multiple constraints for those in poverty and improve restrictive gender norms in Ethiopia. We find that at 1-year follow-up all treatment arms lead to improvements in men’s gender equitable attitudes and their engagement in household domestic tasks as reported by both men and women; but at 3-year follow-up, impacts are only sustained in the treatment arms that introduced men’s engagement groups after the 1-year follow-up survey to further promote improvements in equitable gender norms.

Year published

2025

Authors

Alderman, Harold; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Leight, Jessica; Mulford, Michael; Tambet, Heleene

Citation

Alderman, Harold; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Leight, Jessica; Mulford, Michael; and Tambet, Heleene. 2024. Men can cook: Effectiveness of a men’s engagement intervention to change attitudes and behaviors in rural Ethiopia. World Development 185(January 2025): 106781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106781

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Behaviour; Cooking; Men; Rural Areas

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106781 Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Journal Article

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June 17, 2025, 3:30 – 5:00 pm

From Relief to Resilience in Somalia: Harnessing Research to Inform Social Protection Policy and Practice

Click HERE to join the livestream on June 17, 2025 at 3:30 to 5:00pm EAT / 8:30 to 10:00am EDT. Policymakers and program implementers in Somalia are increasingly recognizing the importance of complementing short-term support in the form of cash or in-kind transfers with interventions targeting longer-term development goals and poverty exit, a goal that […]

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June 5, 2025, 9:30 – 10:30 am

Generative AI for Food Systems: A Skills Workshop for Researchers

Click HERE to join the livestream on June 5, 2025 at 9:30 to 10:30am EDT. This opening webinar launches IFPRI’s new series, AI for Food Systems Research. The series explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is being integrated into food, agriculture, and development research, with a focus on building the skills and critical understanding needed to use these […]

69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69)
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March 10 to 21, 2025

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