IFPRI CGIAR
Subscribe

Back

Who we are

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.

researcher spotlight

Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Senior Research Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit. She has extensive transdisciplinary research experience in using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her work focuses on two broad (and sometimes interrelated) areas: how institutions affect how people manage natural resources, and the role of gender in development processes. 

Where we work

Back

Where we work

IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

Subscribe

Projects

Agrifood systems (AFS) play a potentially central role in driving economic growth and transformation in low- and middle-income countries.

AFS can encompass the value added in not just primary agriculture but all agrifood-related processing, trade, and transport sectors up and downstream. Expansion of the AFS’s off-farm components is seen as central to the process of agricultural transformation and is strongly associated with economic development.

This page serves as a repository and information hub for materials related to agrifood system measurement, including agrifood system GDP and employment.

Project duration: 2017 – ongoing

Contact

James Thurlow

Donors and funders

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Madagascar’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation

2023Pauw, Karl; Randriamamonjy, Josee; Thurlow, James; Diao, Xinshen; Ellis, Mia
Details

Madagascar’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation

Madagascar’s economy showed little progress during the decade from 2009 to 2019, growing at an average rate of just 2.9 percent per year, which is only marginally higher than the population growth rate of 2.7 percent (World Bank 2023). The global COVID-19 pandemic pushed the economy into negative growth in 2020, while drought, flooding, and storm damages in 2021 and 2022 had further adverse impacts on the economy. Current projections suggest the economy will achieve growth of 4.2 percent in 2023 and 4.6 percent in 2024, which are well above pre-pandemic growth rates (World Bank 2023). Agriculture is a relatively important sector in Madagascar, accounting for nearly 30 percent of GDP and more than 60 percent of employment. The poor performance of the agriculture sector in the 2009 to 2019 period—the sector grew at only 0.5 percent per year—was an important reason for weak growth overall (INSTAT 2020). In this brief, we unpack the historical and projected economic growth trajectory further to better understand the role of agriculture as well as the broader agrifood system (AFS) in the performance and transformation of the economy of Madagascar.

Year published

2023

Authors

Pauw, Karl; Randriamamonjy, Josee; Thurlow, James; Diao, Xinshen; Ellis, Mia

Citation

Pauw, Karl; Randriamamonjy, Josee; Thurlow, James; Diao, Xinshen; and Ellis, Mia. 2023. Madagascar’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation. Agrifood System Diagnostics Country Series 7. https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136800

Country/Region

Madagascar

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Agrifood Systems; Value Chains; Markets; Agriculture; Labour Productivity; Off-farm Employment; Poverty; Diet Quality; Jobs; Development; Gross National Product; Rice; Livestock

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136800 Source record

Project

Foresight

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Nigeria’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation

2023Andam, Kwaw S.; Diao, Xinshen; Ecker, Olivier; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James; Ellis, Mia
Details

Nigeria’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation

Nigeria experienced a rise and fall in economic growth over the past two decades. The economy experienced strong growth, averaging 7 percent per year, from 2000 to 2014. Then falling world oil prices caused an abrupt decline in Nigeria’s GDP in 2015 and 2016 and the country entered its first recession in nearly 20 years. Since then, the economic growth rate has remained below the population growth rate, complicating efforts to reduce poverty in a country with the world’s second-largest number of poor people (80 million) (World Bank 2022a). Various other factors contributed to sluggish economic growth, including the spread of insecurity and conflict across almost all areas of the country; policies related to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 (Andam et al. 2020); the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war (Diao and Thurlow 2023); and general macroeconomic instability (World Bank 2022b). Nigeria’s GDP growth is projected to remain low at 2.9 percent in 2023 and 2024, barely exceeding the population growth rate (World Bank 2022c). First quarter growth in 2023 was only 2.3 percent, reflecting the impact of cash restrictions imposed by monetary authorities during the election campaign period (NBS 2023).

Year published

2023

Authors

Andam, Kwaw S.; Diao, Xinshen; Ecker, Olivier; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James; Ellis, Mia

Citation

Andam, Kwaw S.; Diao, Xinshen; Ecker, Olivier; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James; and Ellis, Mia. 2023. Nigeria’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation. Agrifood System Diagnostics Country Series 14. https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136805

Country/Region

Nigeria

Keywords

Western Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Agrifood Systems; Value Chains; Markets; Agriculture; Labour Productivity; Off-farm Employment; Poverty; Diet Quality; Jobs; Development; Gross National Product; Rice; Maize; Fish; Soybeans; Cowpeas

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136805 Source record

Project

Foresight

Record type

Brief

Resource thumbnail

Brief

Transformation of Sudan’s agrifood system structure and drivers

2023Diao, Xinshen; Pauw, Karl; Raouf, Mariam; Siddig, Khalid; Thurlow, James; Ellis, Mia
Details

Transformation of Sudan’s agrifood system structure and drivers

Since the secession of South Sudan in 2011, the Sudanese economy has faced an unprecedented economic downturn caused by the loss of around 75 percent of oil revenue, civil strife, and political instability (Alhelo, Siddig, and Kirui 2023), and more recently, by the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war (Abay et al. 2023). The political conflict between the civilians and military entities after the fall of the Inghaz regime and the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are driving further deterioration of the economy (Abushama et al. 2023).

Year published

2023

Authors

Diao, Xinshen; Pauw, Karl; Raouf, Mariam; Siddig, Khalid; Thurlow, James; Ellis, Mia

Citation

Diao, Xinshen; Pauw, Karl; Raouf, Mariam; Siddig, Khalid; Thurlow, James; and Ellis, Mia. 2023. Transformation of Sudan’s agrifood system structure and drivers. Agrifood System Diagnostics Country Series 17. https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136795

Country/Region

Sudan

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Northern Africa; Agrifood Systems; Value Chains; Markets; Agriculture; Labour Productivity; Off-farm Employment; Poverty; Diet Quality; Jobs; Development; Gross National Product; Cereals; Cotton; Fruits; Vegetables

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136795 Source record

Project

Foresight

Record type

Brief

Donors

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Team members

James Thurlow

James Thurlow

Director, Foresight and Policy Modeling (FPM), Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Xinshen Diao

Xinshen Diao

Deputy Division Director, Foresight and Policy Modeling, Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Karl Pauw

Karl Pauw

Senior Research Fellow, Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Other

Related Projects

Topics/Countries

Related links

External Resources

External events

Beyond Agriculture: Measuring Agri-Food System GDP and EmploymentTransformation of the agri-food system is a cornerstone of many governments’ national development plans and is key to the One GGIAR goals of contributing to more inclusive agricultural growth, healthier diets, and more sustainable production systems. Agri-food systems remain crucial for the livelihoods and wellbeing of most of the world’s poor, and successful agricultural transformation is still strongly associated with long-term economic development. But adopting an agri-food system perspective is not trivial – it requires us to also look beyond agriculture when prioritizing innovations and policies and tracking outcomes. The agri-food system encompasses not only the primary agricultural sector, but also all upstream and downstream agriculture-related activities. Measuring transformation of the agri-food system therefore requires economywide data and innovative metrics.