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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.

researcher spotlight

Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Senior Research Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit. She has extensive transdisciplinary research experience in using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her work focuses on two broad (and sometimes interrelated) areas: how institutions affect how people manage natural resources, and the role of gender in development processes. 

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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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Development Strategies and Governance

Lensa Omune

Research Officer

Bio

Lensa Omune is a Research Officer in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, based in IFPRI’s Kenya office. Her research centers on the economywide analysis of interactions between policies, environmental risks/climate change, external risks, and agrifood systems using computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and social accounting matrix (SAM) multiplier analysis. In addition, she is interested in evaluating the impacts of public-private investments and policies on economic growth, job creation, and household welfare. Before joining IFPRI, she worked with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics as a statistician and was responsible for the compilation of Kenya’s National Accounts Statistics. Lensa holds a master’s degree in Economics and a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a focus on Information Technology.

Development Strategies and Governance

Publications

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Book Chapter

Assessing the resilience of Kenya’s food system: A production approach

2023Ulimwengu, John M.; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; Omune, Lensa
Details

Assessing the resilience of Kenya’s food system: A production approach

A food system includes all elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures, institutions, etc.) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food, and the outputs of these activities, including socioeconomic and environmental outcomes (HLPE 2017). Thus, a food system links society and nature (Blesh and Wittman 2015). Resilience is “the ability of people, households, communities, countries and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth” (USAID 2018). Applied to food systems, resilience is defined by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) as the ability to withstand major shocks and stressors emanating from climate/weather, conflict, disease, external economic shocks, and other sources, which, if not prevented or mitigated, would delay, or limit economic progress, transformation, prosperity, and self-reliance (AGRA 2021). In this sense, resilience of a food system may be considered a system property that plays a critical role in its sustainability (Jacobi et al. 2018), thus ensuring sustained food security. This chapter adopts this definition with the objective of assessing the resilience of Kenya’s food system and its components using systemwide metrics. Specifically, we use a production approach based on input–output linkages. This file also includes the introduction to Part Four.

Year published

2023

Authors

Ulimwengu, John M.; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; Omune, Lensa

Citation

Ulimwengu, John M.; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; and Omune, Lensa. 2023. Assessing the resilience of Kenya’s food system: A production approach. In Food Systems Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future, eds. Clemens Breisinger, Michael Keenan, Juneweenex Mbuthia, and Jemimah Njuki. Part 4: Toward more resilient food systems, Chapter 10, Pp. 261-284. https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896294561_10

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Food Systems; Resilience; Sustainability; Agricultural Production

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896294561_10 Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Book Chapter

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Book Chapter

Rising commodities prices driven by the Russia-Ukraine crisis threaten to undermine Kenya’s economy, increase poverty

2023Breisinger, Clemens; Diao, Xinshen; Dorosh, Paul A.; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; Omune, Lensa; Oseko, Edwin Ombui; Pradesha, Angga; Thurlow, James
Details

Rising commodities prices driven by the Russia-Ukraine crisis threaten to undermine Kenya’s economy, increase poverty

Much of the early attention to the Russia-Ukraine conflict’s food security impacts has been concentrated on countries highly dependent on wheat imports from the Black Sea region. Given the important role that wheat products play in the diets of people in Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, and other countries, the interruption in Black Sea wheat trade and high prices have raised serious concerns about rising levels of food insecurity, poverty, and instability around the world. But many countries are affected by price increases across a range of commodities (some predating the war), including in fertilizers, edible oils, and maize, as well as oil, natural gas, and other energy products. How are these sharp international price increases impacting countries and people, and how can countries respond? Our recent modeling study focusing on Kenya suggests higher prices, particularly for fertilizer, will reduce GDP growth and increase poverty rates in the country, putting an estimated 1.4 million additional people below the poverty line.

Year published

2023

Authors

Breisinger, Clemens; Diao, Xinshen; Dorosh, Paul A.; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; Omune, Lensa; Oseko, Edwin Ombui; Pradesha, Angga; Thurlow, James

Citation

Breisinger, Clemens; Diao, Xinshen; Dorosh, Paul A.; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; Omune, Lensa; Pradesha, Angga; and Thurlow, James. 2023. Rising commodities prices driven by the Russia-Ukraine crisis threaten to undermine Kenya’s economy, increase poverty. In The Russia-Ukraine Conflict and Global Food Security, eds. Joseph Glauber and David Laborde. Section Four: Country Impacts and Responses: Sub-Saharan Africa, Chapter 33, Pp. 170-174. https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896294394_33

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Shock; Policies; War; Coronavirus; Covid-19; Commodities; Agriculture; Markets; Trade; Coronavirinae; Russia; Food Security; Ukraine; Conflicts; Coronavirus Disease; Poverty; Prices; Climate Change

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896294394_33 Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

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Brief

Updated social accounting matrices for Kenya: An instrument for policy analysis and simulation

2023
Breisinger, Clemens; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; Omune, Lensa; Laichena, Joshua; Omanyo, Daniel; Kiriga, Benson; Malot, Kenneth; Mwatu, Shadrack; Muchiri, Benjamin; Mbatia, Hiram
…more Abuga, James; Rutto, Justin
Details

Updated social accounting matrices for Kenya: An instrument for policy analysis and simulation

The policy brief provides an overview of the updated Kenya Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs). The current Kenya SAM which incorporates latest rebased national accounts data, supply and use tables and household budget survey, is an update of the previous SAM compiled for 2009 transactions. SAMs are used in conjunction with analytical techniques to strengthen the evidence underlying policies. The updated Kenya SAM 2021 identifies 90 production activities and commodities (products) across agriculture, industry, and services sectors. As an economy-wide data framework, SAM best captures priority production sectors outlined in the government’s new development plan (Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)). For instance, priority sub-sectors highlighted in the plan include maize, dairy, cattle, tea value addition, expanding and revamping export cash crops such as coffee, cashew nuts, avocado, macadamia nuts and pyrethrum, revamping leather, cotton, pharmaceutical, and textile and clothing industries. Using this SAM data framework, analysis can be done to assess the likely impacts of implementing BETA on jobs, poverty and food security in Kenya. The SAM also in cludes 3 broad categories of production factors (land, capital and labour), and 15 household groups by quintiles. Highlight from Kenya SAM 2021 suggests that services sector contributed the largest share to GDP (57.8%), followed by Agriculture (23.4%), and Industry (18.7%). The brief also presents the share of ex ternal trade to total output and domestic demand, showing that Kenya exports more agriculture-related products while it imports more industrial products. In 2021, Kenya exported 7.1 per cent of its output while import share to domestic demand was 11 per cent, and in the agriculture sector, export to output share was 16.3 per cent. The Kenya SAM 2021 provides policymakers with the necessary data and analytical tools to design and implement effective policies to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty and inequality.

Year published

2023

Authors

Breisinger, Clemens; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; Omune, Lensa; Laichena, Joshua; Omanyo, Daniel; Kiriga, Benson; Malot, Kenneth; Mwatu, Shadrack; Muchiri, Benjamin; Mbatia, Hiram; Abuga, James; Rutto, Justin

Citation

Breisinger, Clemens; Mbuthia, Juneweenex; Omune, Lensa; Laichena, Joshua; Omanyo, Daniel; Kiriga, Benson et al. 2023. Updated social accounting matrices for Kenya: An instrument for policy analysis and simulation. NPS Project Brief June 2023. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Family Budget; Policies; Production; Commodities; Agriculture; Industry; Service Industry; Economy; Development; Jobs; Poverty; Food Security

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136774 Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Brief

Events

Kenya Discussion of IFPRI’s 2023 Global Food Policy Report: Rethinking Food Crisis Responses
Series/Special Event

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May 19, 2023, 7:00 – 9:00 am

Kenya Discussion of IFPRI’s 2023 Global Food Policy Report: Rethinking Food Crisis Responses

Virtual Event: May 19, 2023 – 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM EDT. The Kenya discussion of IFPRI’s 2023 GFPR will present key findings and recommendations of the report at global and regional levels. A distinguished set of discussants will then present their reflections on the report and provide insights on crisis response and resilience building in Kenya.

The Ukraine crisis: Unraveling the impacts and policy responses in low- and middle- income countries
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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August 31, 2022, 9:30 – 11:00 am

The Ukraine crisis: Unraveling the impacts and policy responses in low- and middle- income countries

Virtual Event: August 31, 2022 – 09:30 AM to 11:00 AM EDT. In this seminar speakers will share presentations and discussions on how policymakers and other key actors are addressing the challenges created by the Ukraine crisis in specific countries.

National Policies and Strategies for Food, Land and Water Systems Transformation (NPS)
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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May 17 to 18, 2022

National Policies and Strategies for Food, Land and Water Systems Transformation (NPS)

Virtual Event: May 17, 2022 – 9:00 AM to May 18, 2022 – 2:00 PM EAT. This event will introduce the NPS initiative and bring together key stakeholders to help plan a specific work program for Kenya in the next three years.

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