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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.

Erick Boy

researcher spotlight

Erick Boy

Erick Boy is the Chief Nutritionist in the HarvestPlus section of the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit. As head of nutrition for the HarvestPlus Program since 2008, he has led research that has generated scientific evidence on biofortified staple crops as efficacious and effective interventions to help address iron, vitamin A, and zinc deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

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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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Shahidur Rashid

Director, South Asia Office

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Bio

Shahidur Rashid is the Director for the South Asia Office, part of the Development Strategies and Governance Unit, and is based in New Delhi. He is committed to seeing tangible change take place in South Asia. Dr. Rashid has worked on agriculture and food policy issues in Asia and Africa for more than 20 years at IFPRI. As a Senior Research Fellow, he managed several large multi-country projects, fundraising, and influencing policymaking and investment priorities in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. He was based in IFPRI’s regional office in Addis Ababa for five years to conduct research on countries in East and Southern Africa. Dr. Rashid’s research work at IFPRI has included institutional analysis of micro-finance, agricultural wage dynamics, food aid leakage, food grain markets integration, distortions to agricultural incentives, and agricultural price policies in Asia.

Dr. Rashid has also served as a member of the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). Among other research, he contributed to a set of diagnostic studies for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that provided the basis for the establishment of the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) in Ethiopia. He also co-led the African Agriculture Management Program (AAMP), jointly managed by IFPRI and the Michigan State University. He has co-edited several books.

A native of Bangladesh, Dr. Rashid received his master’s degree in Economics from the Chittagong University, Bangladesh in 1987 and a PhD in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1999.

Publications

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Publications

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Book Chapter

Regional developments: South Asia [in 2025 GFPR]

2025Rashid, Shahidur; Dev, S. Mahendra; Joshi, Pramod Kumar; Menon, Purnima
Details

Regional developments: South Asia [in 2025 GFPR]

Food systems in South Asia have evolved tremendously over the past 50 years, marked by progress in establishing agricultural growth linkages, policymaking and investments in agriculture, and institutional innovations. This chapter examines this evolution, highlighting how policy research has played a critical role in shaping national policies on food security, rural development, and nutrition. Looking ahead to 2050, research on climate change, digitalization, and diets and nutrition will be needed to support South Asia in continuing to build sustainable and resilient food systems that deliver equitable and sustainable outcomes. Book link: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174108

Year published

2025

Authors

Rashid, Shahidur; Dev, S. Mahendra; Joshi, Pramod Kumar; Menon, Purnima

Citation

Rashid, Shahidur; Dev, S. Mahendra; Joshi, Pramod Kumar; and Menon, Purnima. 2025. Regional developments: South Asia. In Global food policy report 2025: Food policy: Lessons and priorities for a changing world, eds. Johan Swinnen and Christopher Barrett. Part Six: Regional Developments and Priorities, Chapter 21, Pp. 507-524. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174359

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Food Systems; Food Policies; Poverty; Nutrition; Gender; Development; Green Revolution

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

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Working Paper

Adapting to climate change: The case of saline tolerant seed varieties in coastal Bangladesh

2024Pal, Barun Deb; Kapoor, Shreya; Rashid, Shahidur
Details

Adapting to climate change: The case of saline tolerant seed varieties in coastal Bangladesh

Salt water intrusion and rising soil salnity are threatening food and livelihood security of paddy farmers in coastal Bangladesh. Visible manifestations of these challenges are degraded soils and chronic decline in tradtional farming, as it is becoming an increasingly infeasible means of livelihood. Promoting saline-tolerant paddy varieties (STRV) has been one of the major focuses of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and the attention to the problem has been intensified in recent years through a partnerhsip with a consortium of CGIAR centers. Howewer, robust empirical analysis has hitherto been limited. Using farm level data, this paper analyzes the determinants and impacts of the adopting these new varieties. We use a multi-variate logit model to identify the constraints to adoption, and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Endogeneous Switching Regression methods to assess the impacts on yeilds, and net income of the paddy farmers. Results show that adopting saline-tolerant rice varieties raises crop yield by an average of 1 to 2 tons per hectare, equivalent to a net income increase of about US$100 per hectare of cultivated land. Yet, adoption rates remain low due to several institutional constraints and perhaps a lack of nudging farmers in the scaling up strategies. Robustness of the results are tested, and the implications are discussed.

Year published

2024

Authors

Pal, Barun Deb; Kapoor, Shreya; Rashid, Shahidur

Citation

Pal, Barun Deb; Kapoor, Shreya; and Rashid, Shahidur. 2024. Adapting to climate change: The case of saline tolerant seed varieties in coastal Bangladesh. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2291. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/159540

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Asia; Southern Asia; Climate Change Adaptation; Impact; Livelihoods; Saltwater Intrusion; Rice; Seeds; Soil; Technology Adoption

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Foresight

Record type

Working Paper

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Working Paper

Feasibility of nationwide warehouse receipt system: An assessment of the potential for a nationwide warehouse receipt system and recommendation for the requisite legal and regulatory framework

2024Narayanan, Sudha; Hussain, Siraj; Rashid, Shahidur
Details

Feasibility of nationwide warehouse receipt system: An assessment of the potential for a nationwide warehouse receipt system and recommendation for the requisite legal and regulatory framework

Warehouse receipts systems (WRS) have been used to tackle multiple challenges faced by farmers. In the absence of adequate collateral and consequent credit constraints, a WRS enables the use of inventory as collateral for loans, thus removing a key constraint farmers face. With growing digital reach, electronic based Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWR) that can be swapped, exchanged and traded and can assist in deepening financial markets while maintaining the integrity of the system. While e-NWRS can potentially address farmer level constraints, they can also be viewed from a larger policy perspective as a system that aids government plans for food security and manage public procurement operations better and more nimbly; it can also play a key role for enhancing the efficiency and food quality and safety along value chains by enabling mid-stream players like traders and importers to manage these chains better. This report seeks to inform the policy process around e-NWRS by focusing on the potential of Ware house Receipt Financing, more broadly, in the agricultural development of Bangladesh. To do this we review global evidence as well as evidence closer to home, within South Asia, to understand the pre-conditions and prerequisites for a successful system.

Year published

2024

Authors

Narayanan, Sudha; Hussain, Siraj; Rashid, Shahidur

Citation

Narayanan, Sudha; Hussain, Siraj; and Rashid, Shahidur. 2024. Feasibility of nationwide warehouse receipt system: An assessment of the potential for a nationwide warehouse receipt system and recommendation for the requisite legal and regulatory framework. IFPRP Working Paper 15. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149086

Country/Region

Bangladesh

Keywords

Southern Asia; Storehouses; Smallholders; Credit; Digital Agriculture; Markets; Policies; Agricultural Development

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

The importance of the agricultural transformation agency in Ethiopia
IFPRI Blog
 | 
May 24, 2024

The importance of the agricultural transformation agency in Ethiopia

By Tamsin Zandstra, Gashaw Tadesse Abate, Shahidur Rashid, and Nicholas Minot

IFPRI’s work in catalyzing innovation.

India’s edible oil imports from Nepal: Policy implications of current tariffs and free trade agreements
IFPRI Blog
 | 
September 12, 2023

India’s edible oil imports from Nepal: Policy implications of current tariffs and free trade agreements

By Abul Kamar, Devesh Roy, and Shahidur Rashid

Explaining a case of tariff arbitrage.

Survey: A major food transfer program in Bangladesh fell short during the COVID-19 pandemic
IFPRI Blog
 | 
April 27, 2021

Survey: A major food transfer program in Bangladesh fell short during the COVID-19 pandemic

By Shyamal Chowdhury, Nahian Bin Khaled, Kalyani Raghunathan, Shahidur Rashid, and Honor Dearlove

What happened with a key social protection effort during lockdown.

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Events

South Asia Launch | Nepal | 2024 Global Food Policy Report: Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition
Series/Special Event

 | 

August 8 to 9, 2024

South Asia Launch | Nepal | 2024 Global Food Policy Report: Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition

Despite significant progress in addressing hunger and undernutrition in the early 2000s, malnutrition, in all its forms, remains a major challenge in all regions of the world. Unhealthy diets remain the primary drivers of many forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and diet- related noncommunicable diseases. Today, the number of people […]

32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

August 2 to 7, 2024

32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists

The triennial International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE-2024), centred on the theme “Transformation Towards Sustainable Agri-Food Systems” is scheduled from August 2-7, 2024, in New Delhi, India. The conference offers a distinctive platform, providing a golden opportunity for the agricultural academic institutions and researchers to convene in person, exchange knowledge, and actively contribute to the […]

2024 GFPR India Launch
Series/Special Event

 | 

July 4, 2024, 10:00 – 5:20 pm

2024 GFPR India Launch

Unhealthy diets are a major driver of all forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity. At the same time, our food systems contribute about a third of greenhouse gas emissions and degrade natural resources. The 2024 Global Food Policy Report examines policies, innovations, and governance solutions to strengthen diet quality and […]

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News

March 15, 2023 | In the News

Recalibrate BIMSTEC (Hindu Business Line)

In an op-ed published by Hindu Business Line, IFPRI South Asia’s Devesh Roy, Shahidur Rashid, and Mamata Pradhan write, “Trade and investment are major instruments to attain food security across the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) member-states, particularly in a climate-affected, post-pandemic world. However, trade and market integration is an area where the […]

March 06, 2023 | In the News

Food diplomacy, active private sector keys to sourcing good’ (The Financial Express) 

The Financial Express (Bangladesh) features signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the International Food Policy Institute and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) held in Dhaka on March 5. IFPRI Director General Dr Johan Swinnen and BIMSTEC Secretary General Tenzin Lekphell signed the MoU on behalf of their organizations.  Swinnen said […]

March 06, 2023 | In the News

BIMSTEC at 25: Let Bangladesh lead the way for greater agri-food trade (The Daily Observer) 

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is the bridge between South and Southeast Asia and a unique regional cooperation initiative in the Bay of Bengal with contiguous nations, high economic growth, and a large market with access to Indian Ocean, write IFPRI’s Devesh Roy, Mamata Pradhan, and Shahidur Rashid in an […]

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