researcher spotlight

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.

TOPIC

Food Prices

The world is currently facing another period of volatile and rising food and commodity prices stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, similar to levels witnessed in 2007/08 and 2010/11, and adding to pandemic-related disruptions at a time when high levels of poverty and income inequality have put healthy diets out of reach for 3 billion people worldwide. IFPRI’s new Policy Seminar Series on Food and Fertilizer Price Trends is bringing experts together to discuss the potential impacts of rising prices and policy responses on global food security and nutrition. When food prices rise, food producers and policymakers must respond quickly, but producers are often unprepared to meet increased demand and policymakers lack the evidence-based macroeconomic policy tools needed to take action. Given the differing implications of high and volatile food prices across regions and populations, policy responses must be developed and adapted to country-specific needs and conditions.

IFPRI has developed innovative food policy analysis tools—such as the Excessive Food Price Variability Early Warning System and the Food Security Portal—to provide stakeholders and policymakers with international, regional, and country-level data, news, and evidence-based research to inform development of food policies in their respective countries. IFPRI’s work on price volatility and its transmission from international to local markets is continuously improving policy analysis and is used by international networks such as the Agricultural Market Information Systems (AMIS) and the Food Security Information Network (FSIN).IFPRI’s new Policy Seminar Series on Food and Fertilizer Price Trends is bringing experts together to discuss the potential impacts of rising prices and policy responses on global food security and nutrition.

Click here for IFPRI Policy Seminar Series on 2021/22 high food and fertilizer prices and here for IFPRI Blogs.

IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 10, and SDG 12.