Search IFPRI web

If you had $75 billion for worthwhile causes, where should you start? That is the question the Copenhagen Consensus project posed to researchers worldwide. John Hoddinott, Mark Rosegrant and Maximo Torrero answered, by building on the project’s 2008 findings that micronutrient interventions are the most effective low-cost investments to combat hunger. To increase food security they argue policymakers should continue to […]

As a result of the preference for males, China’s one-child policy has significantly impacted the country’s sex ratio. The ratio of males to females is about 6 to 5. The disparity has increased competition in the marriage market. The effect of this imbalance on urban housing prices in China is the topic of a recent paper published […]

2011 saw significantly increased support of agriculture and food policy as tools for global poverty reduction. It also brought serious challenges, most notably in the form of food price volatility, extreme weather shocks, famine, unrest, and conflicts. IFPRI’s new flagship publication, the Global Food Policy Report, presents a broad picture of 2011’s major food policy […]

April 23, Washington D.C.— As policymakers gather for the upcoming G8 and G20 meetings, and as decisionmakers, international organizations, and civil society meet for Rio+20, major food policy developments from 2011 can provide lessons and guidance for 2012 and the future. Today the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) launches the inaugural Global Food Policy […]

Farmers around the world are grappling with the impacts of climate change and their struggle is only going to get worse as extreme weather events, shifting weather patterns, and increased temperatures make it more difficult to grow enough food to feed an increasing world population. Climate change “has already affected agricultural productivity and will put […]

The 2007-2008 and 2010-2011 food price crises have had lasting impacts on global food security, and the world will likely continue to face high prices and price volatility, given the global food economy’s structure. Since 2001, food price volatility has been at its highest level in 50 years, and the uncertainty caused by this volatility […]

Chinese expansion and foreign investment in developing countries has garnered great attention due to China’s growing sphere of influence in the developing world. The lack of transparency and poor data on Chinese overseas investments and China’s official policies of government support has hindered thorough analysis of the motivations behind its foreign investments, particularly in its […]

Transition countries in the former Eastern bloc have struggled with economic decline since the 1990s. The magnitude of economic decline was significantly higher in Tajikistan than that in other countries in the region. In the 1990s the country’s agriculture production collapsed due to civil unrest and the breakdown of economic linkages in the former Soviet […]

How will the world feed a growing population in the face of climate change? According to a major report released by a group of influential scientists last week, the sustainable intensification of agriculture and the elimination of food waste and loss are among the building blocks of a resilient global food system. “Food insecurity and climate change […]

Recent research indicates that climate change-related natural disasters will cause an increase in human migration and displacement. A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences seeks to further investigate this issue in rural Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, climate change is expected to increase the prevalence of natural disasters. While previous qualitative studies relate […]

No stone should go unturned in efforts to boost agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet researchers have only begun to give serious attention to one crucial aspect of this complex challenge: gender. On World Water Day, IFPRI and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) launched an innovative mapping tool that gathers and displays information about gender-defined farming roles—including […]

April 23, Washington D.C.— As policymakers gather for the upcoming G8 and G20 meetings, and as decisionmakers, international organizations, and civil society meet for Rio+20, major food policy developments from 2011 can provide lessons and guidance for 2012 and the future. Today the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) launches the inaugural Global Food Policy […]

Every year, the United Nations chooses a new theme to focus people’s attention when it comes to thinking about our planet’s water resources. This year, they selected “Water and Food Security”- a topic near and dear to the hearts of IFPRI and its many stakeholders throughout the world. As part of its celebrations for World Water Day […]

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the highest rate of malnutrition in the world. The country possesses 80 million hectares of arable land, but only 10 percent is being used. The DRC is an anomaly as it fails to use its vast land and water resources to feed itself. In a discussion paper on malnutrition in the DRC […]

Improving the role of women in agriculture has been at the forefront of IFPRI’s research for the past fifteen years. Despite the fact that women make up 43 percent of the agricultural workforce, their access to agricultural assets are significantly less than that of men. Ameliorating the gender gap in agriculture has the ability to […]

On March 7th, the eve of International Women’s Day, a launch event was held at the Houses of Parliament for the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI). The Index was released at the UN in New York on February 28. The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Empower Rural Women — End Hunger and […]

The African Growth and Development Policy (AGRODEP) Modeling Consortium released its first edition of the AGRODEP Bulletin, a publication providing insights into major economic development issues in Africa. The Bulletin introduces research and capacity building activities undertaken by AGRODEP and announces publication of new economic data and statistics on Africa. Read more. In addition, AGRODEP has launched its third round of membership application. Qualified […]

IFPRI is pleased to announce the launch of its new website, IFPRI.INFO. The new site complements IFPRI’s main website, IFPRI.ORG, which has an institutional focus. IFPRI.ORG presents, for example, official research results and publications, descriptions of IFPRI’s research programs, and content from major IFPRI-hosted events. The new site, IFPRI.INFO, is the face of IFPRI’s research communities. It’s a new platform that brings together the […]

The International Food Policy Research Institute and the World Food Programme held a joint reception for the signing of their new Cooperation Framework Agreement on February 27 at IFPRI headquarters. Both IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan and WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran put pen to paper after speaking positively of the two institutions’ past collaborations […]

Washington, D.C.—A significant new breakthrough in the measurement of women’s empowerment in developing countries is launched today. The “Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index” (WEAI) is the first measure to directly capture women’s empowerment and inclusion levels in the agricultural sector. The WEAI focuses on five areas: decisions over agricultural production, power over productive resources such […]