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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

Agnes Quisumbing

Agnes Quisumbing is a Senior Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit. She co-leads a research program that examines how closing the gap between men’s and women’s ownership and control of assets may lead to better development outcomes.

Where we work

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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

Mariam Raouf

Senior Research Associate

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Bio

Mariam Raouf is a Senior Research Associate in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. Her research interests include macroeconomics, economic growth, national accounts, and international finance. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the impact of financial openness on total factor productivity growth in selected countries in the MENA region.  Mariam worked previously in the Institute of National Planning and the Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform, Egypt. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as her PhD in Economics from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science (FEPS), Cairo University.

Publications

Publications

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Working Paper

Egypt’s Haya Karima Initiative: An assessment of its rural and economywide impacts

2023Raouf, Mariam; Kurdi, Sikandra; Cicowiez, Martin; Lofgren, Hans; Yassa, Basma; Kamaly, Ahmed; Helmy, Gamel
Details

Egypt’s Haya Karima Initiative: An assessment of its rural and economywide impacts

Egypt’s Haya Karima (HK) Initiative aims at improving the quality of life in the country’s rural communities through interventions related to human development, infrastructure, and economic sectors. This presidential initiative, whose name translates to “Decent Life” in English, has four strategic goals, all targeting Egypt’s rural population: building human capital, improving quality of life, improving the standard of living for the most vulnerable, and providing decent and productive job opportunities. The initiative is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the objectives of Egypt Vision 2030. HK aims to not only curb material poverty but also multidimensional poverty by expanding the umbrella of comprehensive social protection, with a focus on education, health, infrastructure, and employment. It also focuses on achieving the goal of geographical equity by addressing regional disparities that affect rural areas such as Upper Egypt. Here, we describe a recently completed study that assesses the economywide effects of the first phase of HK. The analysis was done by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in collaboration with Egypt’s Ministry of Economic Planning and Development (MPED) under the project Evaluating Impact and Building Capacity (EIBC), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Year published

2023

Authors

Raouf, Mariam; Kurdi, Sikandra; Cicowiez, Martin; Lofgren, Hans; Yassa, Basma; Kamaly, Ahmed; Helmy, Gamel

Citation

Raouf, Mariam; Kurdi, Sikandra; Cicowiez, Martin; Lofgren, Hans; Yassa, Basma; Kamaly, Ahmed; and Helmy, Gamel. 2023. Egypt’s Haya Karima Initiative: An assessment of its rural and economywide impacts. MENA Policy Note December 2023. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137015

Country/Region

Egypt

Keywords

Middle East; Northern Africa; Africa; Rural Population; Development; Infrastructure; Economic Aspects; Poverty; Social Protection

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137015 Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

The economy-wide impact of Sudan’s ongoing conflict: Implications on economic activity, agrifood system and poverty

2023Siddig, Khalid; Raouf, Mariam; Ahmed, Mosab O. M.
Details

The economy-wide impact of Sudan’s ongoing conflict: Implications on economic activity, agrifood system and poverty

The armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan entered its sixth month since it erupted on April 15th, 2023, with no signs of ending soon. The war has caused severe humanitarian catastrophe, destroyed key infrastructure, and constrained trade and production activities. Moreover, it disrupted access to public utilities, financial services, and markets, hence, triggering considerable scarcity of goods and services. In this paper, we utilize a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) Multiplier modeling framework to assess the economywide implications of these disruptions of economic activity, productive resources, and livelihoods. Results reveal that the economy would shrink to nearly half its size before the war, household incomes decline by more than 40 percent in urban and rural areas, and the number of poor people increase by 1.8 million if the war continues until the end of the year. The impact would have been two thirds less should the war have ended before July 2023 and would be one third less if it would end before October 2023. This study therefore calls for rapid interventions from all relevant parties to help reach an end to the fighting.

Year published

2023

Authors

Siddig, Khalid; Raouf, Mariam; Ahmed, Mosab O. M.

Citation

Siddig, Khalid; Raouf, Mariam; and Ahmed, Mosab O. M. 2023. The economy-wide impact of Sudan’s ongoing conflict: Implications on economic activity, agrifood system and poverty. Sudan SSP Working Paper 12. Khartoum, Sudan: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136843

Country/Region

Sudan

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Northern Africa; Financial Institutions; Models; Production; Household Income; Markets; Trade; Economic Activities; Infrastructure; Livelihoods; Conflicts; Poverty

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136843 Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Sudan’s agrifood system: Structure and drivers of transformation

2023Diao, Xinshen; Pauw, Karl; Raouf, Mariam; Siddig, Khalid; Thurlow, James
Details

Sudan’s agrifood system: Structure and drivers of transformation

Based on a set of economywide databases for Sudan that have detailed content on agricultural production and processing, this study diagnoses the transformation of Sudan’s agrifood system against a background of broad economic growth and transformation. Sudan’s agrifood system registered only modest GDP growth between 2011 and 2019. Moreover, little change was seen in the structure of the system over this period. The share of total employment in agriculture fell significantly, contributing to some structural change in the broad economy. However, agriculture continues to absorb almost half of Sudan’s total employment, while having the lowest labor productivity across the main economic sectors. The growth in Sudan’s agrifood system between 2011 and 2019 was mainly driven by expansion in domestic market-oriented value chains. Agrifood value chains that are focused on exportable or imported commodities remain small with below average growth. Comparing sources of future growth in Sudan’s agrifood system across ten different agrifood value chains shows that fruits, root crops, and cereals rank highest in their potential to contribute to a range of development outcomes, including reductions in poverty, improvement in diet quality, job creation, and growth in national GDP. Although the livestock ranks lower per unit of growth, it is distinct from the higher-ranked value chains in that it has a sizable impact on all four development outcomes, while as a large and established sector in Sudan even small gains in productivity can have significant impacts in absolute terms.

Year published

2023

Authors

Diao, Xinshen; Pauw, Karl; Raouf, Mariam; Siddig, Khalid; Thurlow, James

Citation

Diao, Xinshen; Pauw, Karl; Raouf, Mariam; Siddig, Khalid; and Thurlow, James. 2023. Sudan’s agrifood system: Structure and drivers of transformation. Sudan SSP Working Paper 9. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136809

Country/Region

Sudan

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Northern Africa; Value Chains; Economic Aspects; Agricultural Production; Commodities; Employment; Capacity Development; Labour Productivity; Agrifood Systems; Diet Quality; Gross National Product; Poverty

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136809 Source record

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

Model: Sudan’s ongoing conflict could reduce economic output by half and push 1.8 million into poverty
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 23, 2023

Model: Sudan’s ongoing conflict could reduce economic output by half and push 1.8 million into poverty

By Khalid Siddig, Mariam Raouf, and Mosab Ahmed

Impacts of an unfolding humanitarian emergency.

Economic impact of COVID-19 on tourism and remittances: Insights from Egypt
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 01, 2020

Economic impact of COVID-19 on tourism and remittances: Insights from Egypt

By Clemens Breisinger, Abla Abdel Latif, Mariam Raouf, and Manfred Wiebelt

Modeling results show monthly declines in GDP, with the poor hit hardest.

تأثير الاقتصادي الناجم عن فيروس كورونا على السياحة والتحويلات المالية
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 01, 2020

تأثير الاقتصادي الناجم عن فيروس كورونا على السياحة والتحويلات المالية

By Clemens Breisinger, Abla Abdel Latif, Mariam Raouf, and Manfred Wiebelt

Modeling results show monthly declines in GDP, with the poor hit hardest.

Events

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.

Middle East and North Africa Discussion of IFPRI’s 2021 Global Food Policy Report: Transforming Food Systems After COVID-19
Series/Special Event

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June 9, 2021, 9:00 – 10:30 am

Middle East and North Africa Discussion of IFPRI’s 2021 Global Food Policy Report: Transforming Food Systems After COVID-19

Virtual Event: JUNE 09, 2021- 09:00 AM to 10:30 AM EDT. Middle East and North Africa's perspective on the world's response to COVID-19 and food system changes. 

Virtual Event - COVID-19’s Short-term Impacts on Economies, Food Systems and Poverty in African and Asian Countries: Economywide Estimates from Economywide Models
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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August 11, 2020, 9:30 – 10:45 am

Virtual Event – COVID-19’s Short-term Impacts on Economies, Food Systems and Poverty in African and Asian Countries: Economywide Estimates from Economywide Models

Using economywide models, presenters discuss the varied effects of different policies and economic structures on food systems and poverty during COVID-19 in Nigeria, Myanmar, and Sudan.
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