Ruth Hill

Data systems under financial strain: Findings from a rapid assessment of 41 food security, nutrition, and health information systems

The 2025 cuts to foreign assistance have weakened the crisis-information infrastructure underpinning humanitarian and development response. An IFPRI assessment, funded by Rockefeller Catalytic Capital (RFCC), examined 41 globally relevant information systems focused on predicting, monitoring, and understanding food and nutrition crises. Among systems reporting funding estimates, funding declined by an average of 31% in 2025, compared with a 23% decline in overall official development assistance (ODA). These funding cuts have sharply reduced data collection, limited analysis, and weakened forecasts. As declining aid flows make effective targeting of assistance even more critical, the information available to decision makers is eroding.

Review of evidence on the design and impact of agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries

Agricultural insurance has long been promoted as a tool to help smallholder farmers manage production and market risks, yet affordable, well-functioning coverage has proven difficult to deliver at scale. This paper reviews peer-reviewed evidence on the design, implementation, and impacts of agricultural insurance in low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on innovations that have emerged since early indemnity-based multi-peril crop insurance programs gave way to index-based and hybrid approaches. It synthesizes findings on ex ante and ex post impacts, on design features that shape cost, basis risk, and payment timing, and on distribution channels and inclusion of women and low-income households. The review finds that insurance can meaningfully protect household consumption and assets after shocks and encourage productive investment beforehand, but that these benefits depend heavily on accurate loss assessment, adequate coverage size, and trust built through distribution partners. The paper concludes with operational recommendations for policymakers and practitioners on product design, subsidies, and distribution, and identifies priority evidence gaps, including the optimal design of subsidies and insurance's potential to address non-weather-related risks.

Aligning private incentives with societal goals in smallholder agriculture