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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.

Ahmed Akhter

researcher spotlight

Akhter Ahmed

Akhter Ahmed is a Senior Research Fellow in the IFPRI’s Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit and Country Representative for IFPRI Bangladesh. He has worked on strategies for agricultural and rural development, social protection, and women’s empowerment to reduce poverty, food insecurity, and undernutrition in developing countries including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Malawi, the Philippines, and Turkey.

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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

Markets, Trade, and Institutions

Yanyan Liu

Senior Research Fellow

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Bio

Yanyan Liu is a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit. Yanyan’s research has focused on program impact evaluation, microfinance, microinsurance, and economic transformation. Her work has been published in journals such as Economic Journal, European Economic Review, Journal of Applied Econometrics, Journal of Risk and Insurance, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, World Bank Economic Review, and World Development.

Prior to joining IFPRI in 2009, Yanyan worked for RTI International and for the Development Research Group at the World Bank. She received a joint PhD in Economics and Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University.

RePEc Author Profile

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Publications

Resource thumbnail

Report

Solar drying technology for post-harvest loss management of horticulture products: Findings from baseline survey in Nigeria

2024Balana, Bedru; Popoola, Olufemi; Yamauchi, Futoshi; Olanipekun, Caleb; Totin, Edmond; Salaudeen, Kamaldeen Oladimeji; Muhammad, Aminu; Shi, Weilun; Liu, Yanyan
Details

Solar drying technology for post-harvest loss management of horticulture products: Findings from baseline survey in Nigeria

Creating a sustainable food system requires addressing the critical challenges of food waste and loss. This is particularly crucial for small-scale farmers who supply local markets but lack access to modern preservation technologies, leading to significant product losses between harvesting and selling. Research indicates that in low-and middle-income countries, approximately 38 percent of harvested perishable agricultural goods are lost before consumption. Globally, about 22 percent of fruits and vegetables are lost in the supply chain before reaching retailers (FAO, 2019). These postharvest losses have significant impacts to low economic return and household food and nutrition security. Post-harvest losses also contribute significantly to environmental concerns, accounting for roughly 8 percent of yearly global greenhouse gas emissions. Among all food categories, fruits and vegetables experience the highest losses by weight.

Year published

2024

Authors

Balana, Bedru; Popoola, Olufemi; Yamauchi, Futoshi; Olanipekun, Caleb; Totin, Edmond; Salaudeen, Kamaldeen Oladimeji; Muhammad, Aminu; Shi, Weilun; Liu, Yanyan

Citation

Balana, Bedru; Popoola, Olufemi; Yamauchi, Futoshi; Olanipekun, Caleb; Totin, Edmond; et al. 2024. Solar drying technology for post-harvest loss management of horticulture products: Findings from baseline survey in Nigeria. CGIAR Initiative on Rethinking Food Markets Technical Report. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169151

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Africa; Western Africa; Capacity Development; Food Security; Horticulture; Households; Nutrition; Solar Drying; Sustainability

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Report

Real-time media analysis using large language model (LLM) for the top 5 prioritized pests and diseases

2024Kim, Soonho; Song, Xingyi; Park, Boyeong; Ko, Daeun; Liu, Yanyan
Details

Real-time media analysis using large language model (LLM) for the top 5 prioritized pests and diseases

This report presents a comprehensive overview of the real-time media analysis system developed to assess risks associated with the top five prioritized pests and diseases affecting crops. The activity, under Work Package 2 of the CGIAR Research Initiative on Plant Health, utilizes advanced text mining and machine learning techniques, including a Large Language Model (LLM), to process and analyze media articles. Key achievements include the development of an automated media analysis pipeline to monitor pests and diseases globally, the integration of GPT-4 to classify and extract detailed information from news articles, the creation of a public, interactive Crop Disease Dashboard providing real-time insights, the implementation of a cloud-based interface and REST API for user-friendly interaction and integration, and the ongoing refinement of the system based on human verification and feedback. This innovative approach aims to strengthen crop health monitoring and support policymakers and researchers in mitigating the risks posed by crop diseases and pests.

Year published

2024

Authors

Kim, Soonho; Song, Xingyi; Park, Boyeong; Ko, Daeun; Liu, Yanyan

Citation

Kim, Soonho; Song, Xingyi; Park, Boyeong; Ko, Daeun; and Liu, Yanyan. 2024. Real-time media analysis using large language model (LLM) for the top 5 prioritized pests and diseases. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172706

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence; Large Language Models; Postharvest Control; Plant Diseases; Plant Disease Control

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Plant Health

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Impact of risk-contingent credit and traditional credit on smallholders’ agricultural investment and productivity: Experimental evidence from Kenya

2024Ndegwa, Michael K.; Shee, Apurba; Ward, Patrick S.; Liu, Yanyan; Turvey, Calum G.; You, Liangzhi
Details

Impact of risk-contingent credit and traditional credit on smallholders’ agricultural investment and productivity: Experimental evidence from Kenya

We use a multiyear, multi-arm randomized controlled trial implemented among 1,053 smallholders in Kenya to evaluate ex-ante investment and ex-post productivity and welfare benefits of two competing lending models: risk-contingent credit (RCC)—which embeds crop insurance with a loan product—and traditional credit (TC). We rely on local average treatment effects to demonstrate the effects of these alternative credit products on borrowers but report the intention-to-treat effects for their broader policy significance. Uptake of RCC increased treated households’ farm investments—specifically, adoption of chemical fertilizers—by up to 14 percent along the extensive margins and by more than 100 percent along the intensive margins, while TC’s effects were less in both magnitude and statistical significance. Neither type of credit product had a significant effect on the overall area cultivated under maize, hence enhancing agricultural intensification but not extensification. Ex-post, neither type of credit product had a strong direct effect on households’ productivity. We conclude that access to credit has potential to increase investment and productivity among smallholders, although improved productivity needs better measurement and extended intervention to be realized. To scale the potential effects of credit, derisking access to credit should be considered to expand access to credit.

Year published

2024

Authors

Ndegwa, Michael K.; Shee, Apurba; Ward, Patrick S.; Liu, Yanyan; Turvey, Calum G.; You, Liangzhi

Citation

Ndegwa, Michael K.; Shee, Apurba; Ward, Patrick S.; Liu, Yanyan; Turvey, Calum G.; and You, Liangzhi. 2024. Impact of risk-contingent credit and traditional credit on smallholders’ agricultural investment and productivity: Experimental evidence from Kenya. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2303. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/163758

Country/Region

Kenya

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Credit; Productivity; Investment; Smallholders; Welfare; Risk

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Climate Resilience

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

Farmers’ responses to warming early in growing seasons can affect yields
IFPRI Blog
 | 
August 03, 2020

Farmers’ responses to warming early in growing seasons can affect yields

By Yanyan Liu and Emily Wu

Decisions on fertilizer and pesticide use impact crops and finances.

Harnessing telecommunications network data for rainfall monitoring in developing countries
IFPRI Blog
 | 
February 24, 2020

Harnessing telecommunications network data for rainfall monitoring in developing countries

By Noam David, Oliver Gao, and Yanyan Liu

Filling a key information gap can make it easier to provide insurance to smallholders.

Model offers new approach to account for intangible factors driving microfinance group loan performance
IFPRI Blog
 | 
October 08, 2018

Model offers new approach to account for intangible factors driving microfinance group loan performance

By Manuel A. Hernandez, Yanyan Liu, and Sara Gustafson

A paper offers important new data points on group loans.

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Events

IFPRI @ CGIAR Science Week
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

April 7 to 12, 2025

IFPRI @ CGIAR Science Week

When humanity has faced its greatest challenges, science and innovation have provided solutions. Today, major and connected global challenges threaten the sustainability of food, land, and water systems, with the most vulnerable people and communities at greatest risk. Recognizing the urgency of these challenges, CGIAR and the Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) are […]

ICTforAg 2024: Localizing impact
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

May 28, 2024, 9:00 – 5:00 pm

ICTforAg 2024: Localizing impact

Event: May 28, 2024 – 9:00am to 5:00pm EDT. This event explores the localization of ICT, responsible AI in agriculture, the potential for AI to increase farm profitability, empowering citizen science, and harnessing digital solutions for sustainable and regenerative farming practices.

The 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8)
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

September 28, 2022, 6:00 – 7:30 pm

The 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8)

Virtual Event: September 28, 2022 – 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM JST. The side event explores how Japan can lend its expertise to address Africa’s food and nutrition challenges and show some evidence of the impacts.

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News

September 14, 2020 | In the News

Pork is too expensive! Mainland banking trial implementation of live pig mortgage loan (Epoch Times)

Epoch Times published an article that states China’s pork prices remain high and the consumer price index increases, and the CCP government hopes to restore the number of live pigs and encourage pig farmers to replenish the amount of pigs to be slaughtered, but small family pig farms are already in debt. There are no assets that can […]

September 14, 2020 | In the News

China serves up pig-backed loans for its hogtied farmers (Fox Business News)

Fox Business News published an article on how China’s is so desperate to rebuild pig herds after swine fever that its banks are experimenting with loans to farmers backed by a novel asset: their hogs. Senior Research Fellow Yanyan Liu says banks would face challenges both in valuing pigs and enforcing their rights if loans went bad. Hog prices are […]

April 22, 2020 | In the News

How mobile phone towers could help monitor rainfall in developing countries (The Conversation) 

The Conversation published an op-ed by Research fellow Yanyan Liu and coauthors about the importance of accurate precipitation measurements that are essential to farmers to monitor crop yields. Farmers also rely on rain-fed agriculture. The researchers used commercial microwave links – wireless connections between mobile phone towers – from different locations in the world, as an effective low-cost way to […]

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