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With research staff from more than 70 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

Timothy Thomas

Timothy Thomas is a Senior Research Fellow in the Foresight and Policy Modeling Unit. His research focuses on the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity. Tim’s work involves developing innovative methods for simulated climate futures and model coordination between climate, crop, water, energy, and economics.

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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 480 employees working in over 70 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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experts

Agrifood Innovation and Resilience

Sedi Boukaka

Research Coordinator

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Bio

Sedi is a Research Coordinator in the Agrifood Innovation and Resilience Unit, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to 2023, she worked as a consultant for IFPRI for two years and supervised data collection, data analysis, and preparation of impact assessment reports under the International Fund for Agricultural Development–funded program on assessing the gendered impact of rural development projects in four countries. She is a development economist with research experience in household welfare measurement and impact assessments of complex rural and agricultural development programs, with a focus on Africa. She is now coordinating several household surveys and working on the implementation of experiments under the CGIAR Research Initiatives Nature+ and Digital Innovation.

Sedi received a PhD in economics from the University of Rome Tor Vergata.

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Publications

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Working Paper

Assessing environmental and social burdens in agrifood systems: Insights from Colombia and Peru

2026Benfica, Rui; Davis, Kristin E.; Azzarri, Carlo; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Geoffrey, Baragu; Fadda, Carlo
Details

Assessing environmental and social burdens in agrifood systems: Insights from Colombia and Peru

Agrifood systems (AFS) in Colombia and Peru generate substantial economic value but also impose significant environmental and social externalities that remain unpriced and largely invisible in policy and market decisions. Using the Global Impact Database (GID) and a True Cost Accounting (TCA) framework, this paper quantifies the hidden costs embedded in 19 AFS sectors, with a focus on seven major crop sectors. As one of the first cross-country applications of GID data in Latin America, the analysis offers a harmonized and comprehensive assessment of the true costs of food production, processing, and distribution. Results show that externalities are equivalent to 12 percent of AFS output in Colombia and 13 percent in Peru—a substantial burden that is not captured by conventional economic indicators. Environmental externalities dominate in both countries, driven primarily by land occupation, climate change, air pollution, and use of scarce water. Social externalities—especially underpayment, child labor, and gender wage gaps—are smaller in aggregate but become markedly more significant within crop sectors, as labor intensity and informality characterize production systems. Livestock, dairy, and bovine meat products consistently emerge as the most externality‑intensive sectors, while cereals, rice, sugarcane, oilseeds, and fruits and vegetables exhibit comparatively lower externality costs. Value‑chain decomposition shows that most externalities originate at the production stage (at farm level). These findings highlight several clear leverage points for targeted policy and investment: reducing environmental pressures in livestock systems, improving labor conditions in crop sectors, and integrating TCA metrics into national planning and sustainability strategies. Making the hidden costs visible is essential for advancing more sustainable, equitable, inclusive, and resilient food systems in Colombia and Peru.

Year published

2026

Authors

Benfica, Rui; Davis, Kristin E.; Azzarri, Carlo; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Geoffrey, Baragu; Fadda, Carlo

Citation

Benfica, Rui; Davis, Kristin; Azzarri, Carlo; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Baragu, Geoffrey; and Fadda, Carlo. 2026. Assessing environmental and social burdens in agrifood systems: Insights from Colombia and Peru. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2428. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/183786

Country/Region

Colombia; Peru

Keywords

Latin America; South America; Agrifood Systems; Environmental Impact; Socioeconomic Impact; Value Chains; True Cost Accounting

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Assessment of potato tuber quality in Kenya: Baseline quality assessment survey report

2026Geoffrey, Baragu; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Azzarri, Carlo
Details

Assessment of potato tuber quality in Kenya: Baseline quality assessment survey report

Potato is the second most important staple crop in Kenya after maize, supporting its food security and providing livelihoods for millions in the value chain, including over 800,000 smallholder farmers. However, fragmented marketing systems, inadequate post-harvest infrastructure, and limited access to quality inputs constrain the performance of the sector and result in severe post-harvest losses. This qualitative study provides empirical analysis on potato tuber quality among 233 farmers in Nakuru and Nyandarua counties, and among traders six different main markets in Kenya. Our findings establish a baseline for potato quality at the farm-level and in major markets, tracking individual shipments to measure degradation during transit due to lack of crucial market conditions and logistical bottlenecks. Our main results reveal some important elements that need to be addressed. Overall, potato quality is compromised at the farm gate, but this initial damage is dramatically amplified post-harvest, with skin abrasions more than doubling and rotting increasing threefold as produce moves along the value chain. Critically, these losses are compounded by limited quality-based sorting and the inadequate use of storage infrastructure, with negligible adoption of cold storage. The study also demonstrates that local/traditional handling practices and poor infrastructure quality are bigger drivers of loss than transport distance. Our research concludes that most economic losses could be addressed, being the direct result of identifiable failures in infrastructure, handling, access to information, and quality governance throughout the value chain. Most aspects of which can be mitigated with digital tools. Indeed, digital tools can enhance farmer-buyer linkages, promote digital education and advisory services -also through collaboration with Farmer Service Centers, encourage cold storage via digital incentives. These recommendations position digital tools as a catalyst for transforming the potato value chain, both directly and indirectly mitigating post-harvest losses while boosting resilience and incomes.

Year published

2026

Authors

Geoffrey, Baragu; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Azzarri, Carlo

Citation

Geoffrey, Baragu; Boukaka, Sedi Anne; and Azzarri, Carlo. 2025. Assessment of potato tuber quality in Kenya: Baseline quality assessment survey report. SFS4Youth Working Paper 13. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/181383

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Potatoes; Quality; Surveys; Tubers; Quality Assurance; Value Chains

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Digital Innovation

Record type

Working Paper

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Digital tool integration, biodiversity, and the potato value chain in Kenya: Results from a baseline survey

2025Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Geoffrey, Baragu; Azzarri, Carlo
Details

Digital tool integration, biodiversity, and the potato value chain in Kenya: Results from a baseline survey

Potato farmers in Kenya grapple with various challenges along the value chain, including limited access to quality planting materials such as seeds and fertilizers, insufficient storage and postharvest handling facilities, fluctuating market prices, and unreliable market information systems. For women and youth, these challenges are further exacerbated by persistent social gaps in the agriculture sector. Digital tools can play a vital role in addressing these challenges by providing access to valuable agricultural information, weather forecasts, and best practices that help farmers make informed decisions and improve crop management. However, challenges persist in digital tool adoption within agricultural value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. This study assesses the impact of digital tool adoption and support on socioeconomic and agriculture-related outcomes in Kenya’s potato value chain. It piggybacks on an ongoing digital tool integration program, Business Development and Coaching (BDEC), conducted by the Farm to Market Alliance (FtMA), which targets agripreneurs in Farmer Service Centers (FSCs). By comparing a treatment group that receives this training with a control group continuing business as usual, the study evaluates the effects of agripreneurs’ adoption and expanded use of digital tools on farmers’ agriculture based livelihoods, income generation, and job creation metrics, with a focus on youth employment and gender disparities.

Year published

2025

Authors

Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Geoffrey, Baragu; Azzarri, Carlo

Citation

Boukaka, Sedi Anne; Geoffrey, Baragu; and Azzarri, Carlo. 2025. Digital tool integration, biodiversity, and the potato value chain in Kenya: Results from a baseline survey. SFS4Youth Research Note 3. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178814

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Biodiversity; Digital Technology; Potatoes; Agricultural Value Chains; Farmers

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Digital Innovation

Record type

Brief

Blogs

Making food system costs visible: A policy imperative for Colombia and Peru
Research Post
 | 
June 04, 2026

Making food system costs visible: A policy imperative for Colombia and Peru

By Kristin Davis, Rui Benfica, Carlo Azzarri, Sedi Boukaka, Carlo Fadda, and Baragu Geoffrey

Evaluating hidden environmental and social impacts.

The hidden costs of gendered inequities: Findings from true cost accounting of cropping systems in Kenya
Research Post
 | 
December 09, 2025

The hidden costs of gendered inequities: Findings from true cost accounting of cropping systems in Kenya

By Rui Benfica, Baragu Geoffrey, Sedi Boukaka, Kristin Davis, Carlo Azzarri, Carlo Fadda, Martin Oulu, and Céline Termote

Who benefits and who bears the burdens?

Events

Making Food System Costs Visible: A Policy Imperative for Multifunctional Landscapes
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

September 29, 2026, 9:30 – 10:30 am

Making Food System Costs Visible: A Policy Imperative for Multifunctional Landscapes

Around the world, agrifood systems generate jobs, support foreign exchange, and form the backbone of rural economies. Yet beneath this economic engine lies a quieter reality: the environmental and social burdens that never show up on balance sheets. These unpriced externalities — degraded soils, polluted water, greenhouse gas emissions, underpaid workers, and children engaged in […]

IFPRI @ Tropentag 2026
IFPRI at External Event

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September 16 to 18, 2026

IFPRI @ Tropentag 2026

IFPRI is pleased to participate in Tropentag 2026, taking place September 16–18, 2026, in Göttingen, Germany. The annual interdisciplinary conference focuses on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management, and rural development. This year’s conference will be held under the theme “Towards multi-functional agro-ecosystems promoting climate-resilient futures.” Tropentag 2026 will highlight interdisciplinary research […]

IFPRI @ 9th KIPPRA Annual Regional Conference
IFPRI at External Event

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May 20 to 22, 2026

IFPRI @ 9th KIPPRA Annual Regional Conference

IFPRI is pleased to participate in the 9th edition of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) Annual Regional Conference, taking place May 20–22, 2026 in Mombasa, Kenya. The 2026 conference theme is Strengthening Value Chains for Inclusive Growth in Kenya. The KIPPRA Annual Regional Conference is Kenya’s foremost platform for evidence-based […]

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