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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.

researcher spotlight

Lilia Bliznashka

Lily Bliznashka is a Research Fellow in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit. Her research focuses on assessing the effectiveness of multi-input nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions and the mechanisms through which they work to improve maternal and child health and nutrition globally. She has worked in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda.

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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 480 employees working in over 70 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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John M. Ulimwengu

Senior Research Fellow

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Bio

John Ulimwengu is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit who currently works on food systems mapping in selected African countries. His research interests include food systems dynamics, resilience, and spatial typology for food and nutrition security. Since 2007, John has been involved in strategic research on the transformation of food systems in Africa under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) agenda and has served as the Africa-wide coordinator of the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS). He has codeveloped an interactive spatial typology tool for food and nutrition security that is being used in several countries. He holds a PhD in agricultural economics and a master’s degree in economics from Ohio State University, as well as a master’s degree in development economics from Williams College.

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Publications

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Working Paper

The making of a non-parametric multi-shock index (MSI)

2026Ulimwengu, John M.
Details

The making of a non-parametric multi-shock index (MSI)

Households in low- and middle-income countries increasingly face overlapping economic, climatic, health, and conflict-related shocks that jointly erode welfare and food security. Yet many empirical and operational tools still measure shocks one at a time or aggregate them using ad hoc rules that assume equal severity and linear effects. This paper proposes a non-parametric multi-shock index (MSI) that summarizes household exposure to multiple shocks using an assumption-light, data-driven approach. The MSI construction proceeds in two steps: (i) shocks are empirically filtered based on their observed negative association with food security outcomes (anchored to the Food Consumption Score), and (ii) retained shocks are aggregated using alternative weighting schemes, including unweighted, population-weighted, and prevalence-weighted variants. We validate the MSI using multiple food security measures—Food Consumption Score (FCS), Reduced Coping Strategy Index (rCSI), Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), and Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS). An application using FAO’s Data in Emergencies (DIEM) household survey for Nigeria illustrates the approach and shows that cumulative exposure—especially systemic and compound exposure—is strongly associated with deteriorating food security outcomes. Among tested variants, the prevalence-weighted MSI provides the clearest discriminatory power and distributional sensitivity, supporting its use for targeting, monitoring, and shock-responsive programming (FAO, 2016; Maxwell et al., 2014; World Bank, 2018).

Year published

2026

Authors

Ulimwengu, John M.

Citation

Ulimwengu, John M. 2026. The making of a non-parametric multi-shock index (MSI). IFPRI Discussion Paper 2407. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/181990

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Western Africa; Food Security; Diet; Resilience; Modelling; Indicators; Surveys

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Book Chapter

Moving the technology frontiers in African agrifood systems: An analytical framework

2026Henning, Christian; Ulimwengu, John M.
Details

Moving the technology frontiers in African agrifood systems: An analytical framework

The transformation of African agrifood systems stands as one of the most urgent and complex development challenges of the 21st century. With over 60 percent of the continent’s population relying on agriculture for their livelihoods, the sector holds tremendous potential to serve as a catalyst for broad-based economic growth, poverty alleviation, and food and nutrition security. This potential, however, remains largely untapped. Agricultural productivity across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to stagnate; despite decades of reform efforts and policy commitments, it lags significantly behind other regions of the world (Ulimwengu et al. 2025).

Year published

2026

Authors

Henning, Christian; Ulimwengu, John M.

Citation

Henning, Christian; and Ulimwengu, John. 2026. Moving the technology frontiers in African agrifood systems: An analytical framework. In Moving the Technology Frontiers in African Agrifood Systems, eds. Christian Henning, Menale Kassie, and Racine Ly. Chapter 2, Pp. 5-24. Kigali, Rwanda: AKADEMIYA2063. https://doi.org/10.54067/9798991636940

Keywords

Africa; Food Systems; Technology; Frameworks; Innovation

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.54067/9798991636940 Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

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Brief

Food processing and nutrition in Africa: Improving diets under the Kampala Declaration

2026Nakitto, Aisha Musaazi S.; Ulimwengu, John M.
Details

Food processing and nutrition in Africa: Improving diets under the Kampala Declaration

Africa’s food systems are undergoing rapid transformation, yet they remain burdened by a dual nutrition crisis: widespread undernutrition alongside rising obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Food processing stands at the intersection of this challenge—offering both risks and opportunities. This policy brief argues that when guided by nutrition-sensitive strategies, food processing can be harnessed to improve dietary quality, enhance food safety, reduce postharvest losses, and create economic opportunities, particularly for women- and youth-led enterprises. However, the proliferation of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) threatens to worsen public health outcomes unless appropriate regulation and consumer education accompany industrial growth. Drawing on evidence from the Malabo Montpellier Panel’s 2024 VALUE-UP report and innovative case studies across Africa, the brief recommends a multi-pronged approach: supporting fortified and minimally processed foods, strengthening small and medium-sized processing enterprises, advancing food safety systems, and investing in public-private partnerships for nutrition-focused innovation. Linking agrifood processing to better nutrition outcomes is essential to achieving the goals of the Kampala Declaration and the CAADP Strategy (2026–2035).

Year published

2026

Authors

Nakitto, Aisha Musaazi S.; Ulimwengu, John M.

Citation

Nakitto, Aisha Musaazi S.; and Ulimwengu, John M. 2026. Food processing and nutrition in Africa: Improving diets under the Kampala Declaration. Kampala Policy Brief Series 12. Kigali, Rwanda: Akademiya2063. https://doi.org/10.54067/kpbs.12

Keywords

Africa; Food Processing; Diet; Ultraprocessed Foods; Nutrition; Non-communicable Diseases; Health; Food Security; Nutrition-sensitive Agriculture

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.54067/kpbs.12 Source record

Record type

Brief

Events

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

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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 […]

Africa Food Systems Forum 2025 Summit
IFPRI at External Event

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August 31 to September 5, 2025

Africa Food Systems Forum 2025 Summit

The Africa Food Systems Forum will host its annual summit in Dakar, Senegal, from August 31 to September 5, 2025. Africa’s Food Systems Forum, formerly AGRF, is the world’s premier forum for African agriculture and food systems, bringing together stakeholders to take practical actions and share lessons that will move African food systems forward. Africa […]

UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake (UNFSS+4)
IFPRI at External Event

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July 27 to 29, 2025

UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake (UNFSS+4)

The 2nd UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) will take place from July 27–29, 2025, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, co-hosted by Ethiopia and Italy. As we approach four years since the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), UNFSS+4 will provide a platform for reflecting on progress, strengthening collaboration, and unlocking finance and investments to accelerate […]

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News

August 29, 2025 | Press Release

IFPRI at Africa Food Systems Forum 2025

IFPRI’s delegation at AFSF 2025—including Director General and senior researchers—will participate in plenary sessions, high-level panels, side and special events as part of the wider CGIAR delegation at AFSF.

September 06, 2023 | In the News

Unpacking the 2023 Africa agriculture assessment report (CNBC Africa) 

CNBC Africa interviewed John Ulimwengu, IFPRI Senior Research Fellow and the technical editor and lead researcher of the Africa Agriculture Status Report 2023, launched on September 6 at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AGRF). .  The Report titled “Empowering Africa’s Food Systems for the Future” highlights the ways in which Africa is uniquely positioned to redefine its future and […]

August 24, 2018 | In the News

Congo’s maiden agro-industrial park isn’t perfect, but it isn’t a failure (DEVEX)

Devex published an op-ed by IFPRI Senior Research Fellow John Ulimwengu, who detailed Congo’s move towards structural transformation in the agricultural sector with the establishment of their first special economic zone in Bukanga Lonzo.  Created to boost production, encourage private and foreign capital investments, and increase agricultural exports, the agrobusiness park is home to tremendous […]

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