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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.

Erick Boy

researcher spotlight

Erick Boy

Erick Boy is the Chief Nutritionist in the HarvestPlus section of the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. As head of nutrition for the HarvestPlus Program since 2008, he has led research that has generated scientific evidence on biofortified staple crops as efficacious and effective interventions to help address iron, vitamin A, and zinc deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

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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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experts

Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion

Jessica Leight

Senior Research Fellow

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Jessica

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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

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Journal Article

Using a list experiment to measure intimate partner violence: Cautionary evidence from Ethiopia

2025Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Leight, Jessica; Tambet, Heleene
Details

Using a list experiment to measure intimate partner violence: Cautionary evidence from Ethiopia

While indirect response methods are increasingly used in surveys to measure sensitive behaviours such as intimate partner violence, important questions persist around how respondents understand and react to these methods. This article presents evidence from a list experiment measuring multiple forms of intimate partner violence in rural Ethiopia. We find that the list experiment does not generate estimates of intimate partner violence that are higher than direct response questions; rather, prevalence estimates using the list experiment are lower vis-à-vis prevalence estimates using the direct reports, and are sometimes even negative. We provide suggestive evidence that this pattern may reflect ‘fleeing’ behaviour by respondents who do not wish to be associated with statements indicating their exposure to intimate partner violence.

Year published

2025

Authors

Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Leight, Jessica; Tambet, Heleene

Citation

Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Leight, Jessica; and Tambet, Heleene. 2025. Using a list experiment to measure intimate partner violence: Cautionary evidence from Ethiopia. Applied Economics Letters 32(11): 1594-1600. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2024.2308579

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Domestic Violence; Behaviour; Measurement; Questionnaires

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2024.2308579 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Journal Article

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Book Chapter

Social protection programs: Building the evidence and defining priorities

2025Gilligan, Daniel O.; Ahmed, Akhter; Alderman, Harold; de Brauw, Alan; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hirvonen, Kalle; Hoddinott, John; Leight, Jessica; Roy, Shalini; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum
Details

Social protection programs: Building the evidence and defining priorities

Social protection programs to reduce poverty, food insecurity, and vulnerability in low- and middle-income countries have become increasingly prominent over the last 50 years. This chapter examines trends in the development of social protection programs and discusses the contribution of research to changing program approaches and social protection policies, highlighting IFPRI’s role in providing evidence and research. Book link: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174108

Year published

2025

Authors

Gilligan, Daniel O.; Ahmed, Akhter; Alderman, Harold; de Brauw, Alan; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hirvonen, Kalle; Hoddinott, John; Leight, Jessica; Roy, Shalini; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum

Citation

Gilligan, Daniel O.; Ahmed, Akhter; Alderman, Harold; de Brauw, Alan; Hidrobo, Melissa; et al. 2025. Social protection programs: Building the evidence and defining priorities. In Global food policy report 2025: Food policy: Lessons and priorities for a changing world, eds. Johan Swinnen and Christopher Barrett. Part Four: Transforming Lives and Livelihoods, Chapter 11, Pp. 267-292. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174304

Keywords

Social Protection; Livelihoods; Poverty; Food Security; Targeting; Cash Transfers; Food Assistance; Poverty Alleviation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

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. 2025. Short-term and long-term effects of cash for work: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Tunisia. Journal of Development Studies 61(6): 989-1014. 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

Events

From Relief to Resilience in Somalia: Harnessing Research to Inform Social Protection Policy and Practice
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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June 16, 2025, 3:30 – 5:00 pm

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

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 cuts across both more traditional social protection systems and programming targeting internally displaced people. This webinar will bring together representatives […]

Generative AI for Food Systems: A Skills Workshop for Researchers
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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June 5, 2025, 9:30 – 10:30 am

Generative AI for Food Systems: A Skills Workshop for Researchers

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 tools responsibly. As outlined in the recent blog post, AI—and more recently, the expanding […]

69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69)
IFPRI at External Event

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March 10 to 21, 2025

69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69)

The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place on March 10 to 21, 2025. The main focus of the sixty-ninth session will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the […]

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