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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

Danielle Resnick

Danielle Resnick is a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit and a Non-Resident Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution. Her research focuses on the political economy of agricultural policy and food systems, governance, and democratization, drawing on extensive fieldwork and policy engagement across Africa 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 480 employees working in over 70 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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experts

Development Strategies and Governance

Sikandra Kurdi

Research Fellow and Country Program Leader, Egypt

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Bio

Sikandra Kurdi is a Research Fellow and Country Program Leader for Egypt in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. Her dissertation work looked at the impacts of Labor Intensive Public Works program in Yemen on household incomes and the use of store credit for coping with shocks. She completed her PhD in Agricultural Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2015, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Paris School of Economics.

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Publications

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Brief

The state of fisheries in Hadramawt: Insights from a scoping review

2026Belton, Ben; Abdelhadi, Ali; Dey, Durjoy; Jovanovic, Nina; Kurdi, Sikandra; Ecker, Olivier
Details

The state of fisheries in Hadramawt: Insights from a scoping review

In this project note, we review prior research and integrate insights from 14 semi-structured key informant interviews with experts on fisheries in southern Yemen to synthesize current knowledge on fisheries in Hadramawt governorate—home to the largest population of fishers in Yemen—and identify gaps that warrant further investigation.

Year published

2026

Authors

Belton, Ben; Abdelhadi, Ali; Dey, Durjoy; Jovanovic, Nina; Kurdi, Sikandra; Ecker, Olivier

Citation

Belton, Ben; Abdelhadi, Ali; Dey, Durjoy; Jovanovic, Nina; Kurdi, Sikandra; and Ecker, Olivier. 2026. The state of fisheries in Hadramawt: Insights from a scoping review. MENA Project Note 29. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179858

Country/Region

Yemen

Keywords

Asia; Western Asia; Fisheries; Systematic Reviews; Stakeholders; Value Chains; Fishing Vessels; Fishery Industry Equipment; Governance; Markets; Postharvest Losses; Fish Consumption

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

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Brief

Fish for food security in Yemen: Insights from the Data in Emergencies survey

2026Dey, Durjoy; Belton, Ben; Kurdi, Sikandra; Ecker, Olivier
Details

Fish for food security in Yemen: Insights from the Data in Emergencies survey

Fish is the most frequently consumed animal-source food in Yemen, apart from dairy. Fish consumption is highest in coastal southern Yemen but also very common in southern inland districts. Nine percent of households in coastal southern Yemen earned income from fishing. Earning fishing income is highly positively associated with consumption of fish or meat and with the frequency of fish or meat consumption. Sustaining fish stocks and fishing livelihoods is critical to food security and nutrition in southern Yemen.

Year published

2026

Authors

Dey, Durjoy; Belton, Ben; Kurdi, Sikandra; Ecker, Olivier

Citation

Dey, Durjoy; Belton, Ben; Kurdi, Sikandra; and Ecker, Olivier. 2026. Fish for food security in Yemen: Insights from the Data in Emergencies survey. MENA Project Note 28. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179637

Country/Region

Yemen

Keywords

Asia; Western Asia; Fish; Food Security; Surveys; Fish Consumption; Fishing; Livelihoods

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Solar powered drip irrigation: Lessons learned from an impact evaluation in Yemen

2025Jovanovic, Nina; Darwish, Maram; Kurdi, Sikandra; Yamauchi, Futoshi
Details

Solar powered drip irrigation: Lessons learned from an impact evaluation in Yemen

This policy note summarizes findings from a clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in eastern Yemen to assess the impacts of subsidized solar powered drip irrigation systems on smallholder farmers’ production decisions and household food security. The study provides causal evidence on how subsidizing solar drip irrigation for smallholders affects crop choice, market engagement, and welfare outcomes in a fragile, water-scarce context. The intervention led to a significant shift in cropping patterns, with treated farmers becoming less likely to cultivate cereals and more likely to grow higher-value horticultural crops. Treated households also sold a greater share of their harvest in markets during the first season following installation, suggesting increased commercialization. However, the study did not detect significant short-term impacts on household food security, indicating that production changes did not immediately translate into improved consumption outcomes.

Year published

2025

Authors

Jovanovic, Nina; Darwish, Maram; Kurdi, Sikandra; Yamauchi, Futoshi

Citation

Jovanovic, Nina; Darwish, Maram; Kurdi, Sikandra; and Yamauchi, Futoshi. 2025. Solar powered drip irrigation: Lessons learned from an impact evaluation in Yemen. MENA Policy Note. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/179369

Country/Region

Yemen

Keywords

Western Asia; Middle East; Climate Change Adaptation; Solar Energy; Irrigation; Evaluation; Solar Powered Irrigation Systems; Trickle Irrigation; Groundwater Irrigation; Irrigation Systems

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

Events

Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition: The MENA launch of IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report
Series/Special Event

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June 27, 2024, 9:00 – 11:30 am

Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition: The MENA launch of IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report

Unhealthy diets are a major driver of all forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity. Despite increasing global efforts to address malnutrition, as many as 3 billion people globally cannot afford healthy diets. The need to transform our food systems to ensure sustainable healthy diets for everyone is more urgent than […]

Famines and Fragility: Making humanitarian, developmental, and peacebuilding responses work
Series/Special Event

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June 11, 2024, 9:30 – 11:15 am

Famines and Fragility: Making humanitarian, developmental, and peacebuilding responses work

Virtual Event: June 11, 2024 – 9:30 AM- 11:15 AM EDT. This seminar will take stock of what we know of key drivers about protracted food crises and persistent fragility and about the obstacles to successful HDP action.

IFPRI @ 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28)
IFPRI at External Event

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November 30 to December 12, 2023

IFPRI @ 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28)

IFPRI is pleased to participate in the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) being held in Dubai from November 30  to December 12, 2023. IFPRI’s Board of Trustees is meeting in Dubai on December 8, 2023, and a number of researchers will engage in meetings and participate in several side events, as […]

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News

October 04, 2023 | In the News

In Middle East, poor miss out as ‘faulty’ algorithms target aid (Reuters) 

“Poverty assessment methods powered by algorithms are supposed to make payments fairer, but activists and researchers say such tools often wrongly exclude people,” writes Reuters in a story on new tools to benefit social protection.  Sikandra Kurdi, a researcher at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which was hired by the World Bank to […]

January 27, 2023 | In the News

Bread for all and anti-inflation markets to rescue Egyptians from the economic abyss (El País) 

El País, in an article about the food crisis in Egypt, quoted IFPRI findings from a recent issue post in the High Food & Fertilizer Prices and War in Ukraine series and interviewed Sikandra Kurdi, IFPRI research fellow based in Cairo, one of the coauthors.  The economic shock caused by the war in Ukraine – nearly 85% of wheat imports […]

June 24, 2019 | In the News

Biometrics disagreement leads to food aid suspension in Yemen (Devex)

Devex reported on the World Food Programme’s partial suspension of food aid in Yemen due to disagreement over the use of biometric data to track distribution. Associate Research Fellow Sikandra Kurdi was quoted in the article saying that using biometrics makes sense in a context like Yemen where many people lack national identification cards that […]

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