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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

Eliot Jones-Garcia

Eliot Jones-Garcia is a Senior Research Analyst with the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit based in Washington, DC. His research focuses on human-AI interaction, user-centered design, and the ethical and responsible development of AI. Eliot is currently finalizing a PhD on the digitalization of agricultural advisory services at Wageningen University & Research.

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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

Melissa Hidrobo

Senior Research Fellow

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Bio

Melissa Hidrobo is a Senior Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit. She is an applied microeconomist working at the intersection of gender, rural livelihoods, poverty reduction, and social protection. Her gender research focuses on how different interventions affect intrahousehold dynamics and how intrahousehold dynamics affect agricultural production. Her recent research involves impact evaluations of nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs, social protection and economic inclusion programs, and edutainment to change gender norms in Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Senegal. Melissa holds a PhD in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Language: English (fluent), Spanish (fluent), French (proficient)

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Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Can a light-touch graduation model enhance livelihood outcomes? Evidence from Ethiopia

2026Leight, Jessica; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Alderman, Harold; Mulford, Michael
Details

Can a light-touch graduation model enhance livelihood outcomes? Evidence from Ethiopia

Year published

2026

Authors

Leight, Jessica; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Alderman, Harold; Mulford, Michael

Citation

Leight, Jessica; Gilligan, Daniel O.; Hidrobo, Melissa; Alderman, Harold; and Mulford, Michael. 2026. Can a light-touch graduation model enhance livelihood outcomes? Evidence from Ethiopia. Journal of Development Economics 179(February 2026): 103682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103682

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Models; Livelihoods; Poverty; Cash Transfers; Livestock; Food Security; Savings Group; Social Protection

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103682 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Impact assessments of gender transformative interventions in Tanzania: Pre-analysis plan

2025Cole, Steve; Ferguson, Nathaniel; Heckert, Jessica; Hidrobo, Melissa; Mwakanyamale, Devis; Nwagboso, Chibuzo
Details

Impact assessments of gender transformative interventions in Tanzania: Pre-analysis plan

Transforming gender norms improves women’s wellbeing and may help close the agricultural productivity gap, yet evidence on pairing them with agriculture interventions is limited. We will test an innovative approach to developing and delivering gender transformative interventions with cassava producers in Tanzania. Using a cluster-randomized controlled trial, we examine the impact of these gender transformative interventions paired with standard agricultural service, compared to agricultural services alone, on the primary (gender norms, decision making, and women’s leadership) and secondary (agricultural productivity, women’s savings, and women’s access to land) outcomes. Qualitative methods will examine changes in intra-couple dynamics (communication, decision making, and division of labor).

Year published

2025

Authors

Cole, Steve; Ferguson, Nathaniel; Heckert, Jessica; Hidrobo, Melissa; Mwakanyamale, Devis; Nwagboso, Chibuzo

Citation

Cole, Steve; Ferguson, Nathaniel; Heckert, Jessica; Hidrobo, Melissa; Mwakanyamale, Devis; and Nwagboso, Chibuzo. 2025. Impact assessments of gender transformative interventions in Tanzania: Pre-analysis plan. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179364

Keywords

Tanzania; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Gender; Policies; Impact Assessment; Women; Cluster Randomized Trials; Qualitative Analysis

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Gender Equality

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh

2025Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini
Details

Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh

Findings from this study will provide greater insight as to how and why transfer programs have mixed post-intervention effects across different contexts, and how gender and livelihood opportunities may influence these trajectories. These insights will help inform the future design of transfer programs that aim to support sustainable poverty reduction and gender-equitable livelihoods, including to guide modifications tailored to the local context.

Year published

2025

Authors

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; Roy, Shalini

Citation

Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Hidrobo, Melissa; Hoddinott, John F.; Rakshit, Deboleena; and Roy, Shalini. 2025. Evolution of consumption and livelihood impacts from cash and food transfer programs: Eight-year post-program experimental evidence from Bangladesh. IFPRI Project Note. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179365

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Asia; Social Protection; Cash Transfers; Food Security; Evaluation; Consumption; Livelihoods; Food Assistance

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

Events

SPIR II RFSA Learning Event: Impact results workshops
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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December 9 to 10, 2024

SPIR II RFSA Learning Event: Impact results workshops

December 9, 2024 | 9:30am to 12:00pm (Africa/Addis_Ababa) | Video Recording | Presentation December 9, 2024 | 1:00pm to 3:30pm (Africa/Addis_Ababa) | Video Recording | Presentation December 10, 2024 | 9:30am to 12:45pm (Africa/Addis_Ababa) | Video Recording | Presentation Click HERE to view the agenda. The Strengthen PSNP Institutions and Resilience (SPIR II) Resilience Food […]

Deepening Social Protection Systems: Enhancing livelihoods and health in Ethiopia
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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April 17, 2024, 10:30 – 12:00 pm

Deepening Social Protection Systems: Enhancing livelihoods and health in Ethiopia

Hybrid Event: April 17, 2024 at 10:30am-12:00pm EDT. This event will present findings from a randomized controlled trial of Strengthening PSNP Institutions and Resilience (SPIR), a graduation model program embedded within the PSNP that is led by World Vision, in collaboration with CARE and ORDA, and with support from the Ethiopian government and USAID.

SPIR II Learning Event
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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May 16 to 17, 2023

SPIR II Learning Event

May 16 and 17, 2023 (9:00am – 5:00pm Addis Ababa): The Strengthen PSNP5 Institutions and Resilience (SPIR II) Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) in Ethiopia is a five-year project (2021-2026) that supports implementation of the fifth phase of the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP5) in Amhara and Oromia regions and provides additional graduation model programming through complementary gender-sensitive livelihood, nutrition, and climate resilience activities to strengthen the program and expand its impacts.

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News

October 22, 2019 | In the News

Cash transfers and intimate partner violence (Agrilinks)

Agrilinks reported on an IFPRI study. The authors identify three policy-relevant knowledge gaps related to the potential of transfer programs to reduce intimate partner violence, drawing on case studies from Bangladesh, Ecuador, and Mali.

February 08, 2019 | In the News

Opinion: Measuring the unintended benefits of a development program (Devex)

Devex published an op-ed by Akhter Ahmed, Melissa Hidrobo, and Shalini Roy about the additional impact development programs may have on wellbeing.  Evaluating the Transfer Modality Research initiative in Bangladesh, research showed that cash transfers and behavior change communications can reduce intimate partner violence and lead to improved nutrition knowledge. 

November 12, 2018 | In the News

How a $50-a-year nutrition program cut domestic violence in Bangladesh (Vox)

Vox published a news editorial about the ability of cash transfer initiatives to reduce rates of intimate partner violence. The article included the recent research of IFPRI research fellows Shalini Roy, Melissa Hidrobo, and Akhter Ahmed because their findings are different from past research, where they examine intimate partner violence using cash transfer programs and […]

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