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China’s cities are attracting rural residents in droves. Since the 1990s, the number of Chinese migrating to urban centers from the countryside to find jobs has spiked. According to estimates, some 79 million rural residents migrated to cities in 2000, up from 20 million in 1990 and 45 million in 1995. The reasons for this […]

After decades of declining food prices, recent food, fuel and financial crises have ushered in a new reality. As outlined in the International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) 2011 Global Food Policy Report, food prices rose dramatically in 2007-08 and then again in 2010-11. What’s more, prices of most cereals and meats are projected to keep […]

The new book Strategies and Priorities for African Agriculture, Economywide Perspectives from Country Studies builds on and adds to knowledge about why Africa has enjoyed ongoing economic stability, sustained economic growth, and improved governance since 2000. With the introduction of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) process in 2003 and African countries’ emphasis on agricultural growth and […]

A UNAIDS report released in advance of the 19th International AIDS Conference taking place this week in Washington reveals that the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS is declining and the number of people receiving treatment—including those in low and middle income countries—is increasing. But in Sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV/AIDS still kills millions each year, the disease doesn’t just take a heavy toll on the […]

July 23, 2012—Short- and long-term factors—such as climate change, the growth of commodities futures markets, and changing levels of grain stocks—contribute to rising food prices. A new tool by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) developed in collaboration with Sophic Systems Alliance Inc.® (Sophic Intelligence TM), analyzes daily media coverage to examine the extent to […]

Farmers in India largely depend on monsoon rains to sow their crops—as much as 60 percent of the cropped area in India depends on these rains, which usually occur between June and September. However, rainfall this year has been 22 percent below normal for the country as a whole—and as much as 36 percent below normal […]

IFPRI Director General, Shenggen Fan, announced Monday that Dr. Karen Brooks has been named as Director of the new CGIAR research program on Policies, Institutions and Markets. Brooks has worked for the World Bank for the past 20 years. For the last 10 years of her tenure there, she managed analytical and operational programs in agriculture and rural […]

Researchers, practitioners, donors, and government officials gathered in Kampala Wednesday, June 27, for a workshop to showcase IFPRI’s ongoing research in Uganda and to facilitate discussions about current topics in agriculture and nutrition. Todd Benson, head of IFPRI’s Uganda Strategy Support Program opened the morning session. Bjorn Van Campenhout, IFPRI postdoctoral fellow, presented findings from studies […]

AGRODEP has published the first paper in its new Working Paper series. Poverty, Growth, and Income Distribution in Kenya: A SAM Perspective, by Wachira Rhoda Gakuru and Naomi Muthoni Mathenge, examines the relationship between demand-driven shocks and income generation, income distribution, and economic growth in the context of Kenya. Using the 2003 Kenya SAM to develop a multiplier simulation model, the paper finds that […]

Recent research has revealed that the most crucial development in a child’s brain takes place in the first three years of its life. As a result, developing country governments have increasingly paid attention to the need for stronger early childhood education. Studies have shown that the brain’s most vital organizational, as well as social and emotional, […]

A report released by the United Nations Committee for World Food Security (CFS) this week offers policymakers with a set of expert recommendations about how to address the relationship between two of the century’s most daunting challenges: climate change and food security. “These challenges are inextricably linked, and so, we think, should be the world’s responses,” writes MS Swaminathan, […]

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 26, 2012—Endowed with 80 million hectares of arable land, diverse climatic conditions, and abundant water resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the potential to become the breadbasket of the entire African continent. Yet, despite its agricultural and economic potential, it continues to have the highest level of […]

The world’s population is growing, but its resources, including land and water, are finite. This means that if farmers are to feed 9 billion people by 2050—which would require them to roughly double current production—they will have to make their fields work harder without transforming forests and other precious ecosystems into additional cropland. Researchers at IFPRI and elsewhere […]

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been the subject of buzz in the international development community as supporters are rallying funds, intellect, and awareness around the country’s intent to experience the same positive developments in child mortality as its neighbors and to begin filling in the gaps where there is a dearth of development. Ben Affleck, […]

The world’s population is growing and its climate is changing—at the same time, its land and water resources are running out. Two recent events at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) put a spotlight on how agriculture can keep up with these challenges. During an official, IFPRI-led side event on sustainable agriculture and […]

The CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets, which is led by IFPRI, launched its website today. Designed to provide information about the program’s research agenda, the site also highlights related events—including the upcoming priority-setting event set to take place in New Delhi on July 3, 2012. The Program’s four themes—Effective Policies and Strategic Investments; Inclusive Governance and Institutions; Linking […]

Elinor Ostrom’s death on 12 June, just days before the Rio+20 conference, is an enormous loss. But her life’s work offers many lessons for the deliberations, decisions and path to progress at and after Rio. Many of the most crucial resources for a sustainable future are related, in one way or another, to the commons – […]

Press Statementby Shenggen Fan, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)June 15, 2012 Food and nutrition security must remain at the top of the agenda as G20 leaders prepare to meet in Los Cabos, Mexico next week. Severe food and nutrition insecurity continues to persist, the key drivers behind the food crises in 2007/08 […]

The planet’s most precious—and endangered—resources are under our feet. According to a new UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) report, soils are often overlooked in sustainable development discussions though they are essential to current and future water, energy, and food security. Human reliance on the earth for food, fuel, settlements, roads, minerals, and more is a given. But […]

Food insecurity poses a daunting challenge to the G20’s goals of global economic growth and development. The impacts of high and volatile food prices in 2007-2008 and 2010-2011 remain widely visible, as seen during the 2011 Horn of Africa food crisis. Since 2001, commodity price volatility has been at its highest level in 50 years. […]