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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

Markets, Trade, and Institutions

Kate Ambler

Senior Research Fellow

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Bio

Kate Amber is a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit. Kate’s research broadly focuses on interventions that can increase incomes for smallholders and other microenterprises in agrifood value chains, with a specific focus on the inclusion of women. This includes work on programming in fragile settings, innovations in agricultural finance, and regulatory solutions for food safety. She also studies policies and programs that can improve women’s agency, migration and remittances, and measurement issues.

Kate has experience with research conducted using randomized controlled trials, framed field experiments, and secondary data, and she has worked on projects in Africa south of the Sahara, Central and South America, and Asia. She has also been an adjunct professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. She completed a PhD in economics at the University of Michigan, specializing in development economics and economic demography.

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Publications

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Book Chapter

Fragility and conflict: Addressing crises and building resilient food systems

2025Abay, Kibrom A.; Ambler, Kate; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; Kosec, Katrina; Siddig, Khalid
Details

Fragility and conflict: Addressing crises and building resilient food systems

More than ever before, hunger and malnutrition are concentrated in fragile and conflict-affected areas around the world. This chapter reflects on the evolution of food policy research conducted in these areas over the past 50 years and looks ahead at how policy solutions will need to evolve to address the critical challenges that fragility and conflict present for building resilient food systems. Book link: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174108

Year published

2025

Authors

Abay, Kibrom A.; Ambler, Kate; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; Kosec, Katrina; Siddig, Khalid

Citation

Abay, Kibrom A.; Ambler, Kate; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; Kosec, Katrina; and Siddig, Khalid. 2025. Fragility and conflict: Addressing crises and building resilient food systems. 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 13, Pp. 317-340. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174348

Keywords

Conflicts; Resilience; Social Resilience; Food Systems; Emergency Relief; Survey Methods; Peacebuilding

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Fragility, Conflict, and Migration

Record type

Book Chapter

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Journal Article

The unmet financial needs of intermediary firms within agri-food value chains in Uganda and Bangladesh

2025Adong, Annet; Ambler, Kate; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; de Brauw, Alan; Herskowitz, Sylvan; Islam, A.H.M. Saiful; Wagner, Julia
Details

The unmet financial needs of intermediary firms within agri-food value chains in Uganda and Bangladesh

JEL Codes: L14, L81, O13, Q13

Year published

2025

Authors

Adong, Annet; Ambler, Kate; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; de Brauw, Alan; Herskowitz, Sylvan; Islam, A.H.M. Saiful; Wagner, Julia

Citation

Adong, Annet; Ambler, Kate; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; de Brauw, Alan; Herskowitz, Sylvan; Islam, A.H.M. Saiful; and Wagner, Julia. 2025. The unmet financial needs of intermediary firms within agri-food value chains in Uganda and Bangladesh. Food Policy 132(April 2025): 102838. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2025.102838

Country/Region

Uganda; Bangladesh

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Asia; Southern Asia; Agrifood Systems; Arabica Coffee; Potatoes; Rice; Soybeans; Value Chains; Capital Markets; Financial Inclusion

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2025.102838 Source record

Project

Rethinking Food Markets

Record type

Journal Article

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Brief

Formative study on slaughterhouse hygiene in Western Kenya: Summary Report

2024Otoigo, Lilian; Alumasa, Lorren; Majiwa, Hamilton; Hoffmann, Vivian; Ambler, Kate; Kiarie, Alice; Cook, Elizabeth A.J.
Details

Formative study on slaughterhouse hygiene in Western Kenya: Summary Report

Slaughterhouses in Western Kenya face critical challenges, including inadequate hygiene practices, poor infrastructure, insufficient water supply, and weak enforcement of regulatory standards. These deficiencies contribute to meat contamination and the transmission of zoonotic diseases such as Rift Valley Fever, brucellosis, and anthrax, as well as foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella sp. and pathogenic E.coli. Globally, foodborne illnesses result in millions of illnesses and hundreds of thousands of deaths annually, particularly among children under five. The public health and economic consequences of these risks in low and middle-income countries are significant (Havelaar et al., 2015; Jaffee et al., 2018). A qualitative study, based on interviews of key informants in the slaughter industry in Western Kenya and associated regulatory authorities, was undertaken in 2022 to document the state of slaughterhouse infrastructure and practices, explore barriers to compliance with regulatory standards, and identify practical solutions for improving conditions and enabling safer meat handling practices. This report summarizes the findings of that study and presents recommendations for interventions to improve slaughter hygiene practices.

Year published

2024

Authors

Otoigo, Lilian; Alumasa, Lorren; Majiwa, Hamilton; Hoffmann, Vivian; Ambler, Kate; Kiarie, Alice; Cook, Elizabeth A.J.

Citation

Otoigo, Lilian; Alumasa, Lorren; Majiwa, Hamilton; Hoffmann, Vivian; Ambler, Kate; Kiarie, Alice; and Cook, Elizabeth A.J. 2024. Formative study on slaughterhouse hygiene in Western Kenya: Summary Report. IFPRI Project Note December 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168525

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Abattoirs; Meat Industry; Hygiene; Food Safety; Contamination; Diseases; Regulations

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

One Health

Record type

Brief

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 […]

Rethinking Food Crisis Responses
Series/Special Event

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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.

Food Industries for People and Planet
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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June 26, 2018, 9:00 – 5:30 pm

Food Industries for People and Planet

The International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) new research program on “Food industries for people and planet” (FIPP) will expand traditional ways of thinking about the global food system and will provide evidence-based policy assessments aimed at making agri-food industries and food systems more inclusive in terms of employment and income opportunities, more efficient in […]

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