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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.

Erick Boy

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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What we do

Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

Where we work

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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.

The Satellite Technologies, Innovative and Smart Financing for Food Security (SATISFy) project aims to address the challenge presented by uninsured risks, which is a major cause of low agricultural productivity in the Horn of Africa. It proposed a market-based innovative risk management solution in the form of Risk-Contingent Credit (RCC), a linked or bundled financial product that incorporates insurance protection, providing a risk-efficient balance between business and financial risks. When triggered, the insurance offsets payments due to the lender.

RCC seeks to address the challenge that lenders are reluctant to lend to farmers because of the financial risks associated with crop failure or radical decreases in market prices. Because RCC targets downside business risk, it simultaneously reduces financial risk and exposure. This risk balancing effect encouraged increased supply of and access to credit but also encouraged risk-rationed farmers to increase the use of credit.

 

Along with Cornell University, IFPRI is piloting RCC in Kenya with our private-sector partners Equity Bank, APA Insurance, and Swiss Re. Satellite imagery was used to provide a baseline for the insurance offering.


Funders

Global Resilience Partnership

Team members

Liangzhi You

Senior Research Fellow, Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Liangzhi You

Senior Research Fellow, Foresight
and Policy Modeling

Zhe Guo

Senior GIS Coordinator, Foresight
and Policy Modeling