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

Poverty

Today, nearly 10 percent of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty, making them vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition. Though substantial progress has been made in reducing poverty as well as food insecurity in recent decades, recent events, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, and the increasing incidence of weather shocks linked to a changing climate, have slowed that progress. Poverty is more prevalent in rural areas of developing countries (though it is becoming increasingly common in urban areas), and intersects with gender disparities in rights, assets holdings and economic opportunities, as well as similar inequities experienced by marginalized communities.

Identifying research-based policy solutions to poverty is central to IFPRI’s mission. IFPRI’s researchers explore the linkages between poverty, food security, and nutrition, and evaluate programs and policies that help families move out of poverty.

IFPRI evaluations focus on multifaceted livelihoods interventions designed to address the multiple constraints faced by households in poverty, in addition to technical and policy innovations that can boost productivity and market access, and financial tools such as insurance that can reduce risks and raise incomes. This research agenda on poverty also links to our research agenda on social protection, given that social protection is a major antipoverty initiative in many countries and a launching point for multifaceted antipoverty initiatives. IFPRI’s research on development strategies uses economic modeling to explain how policies to support food system transformation and agriculture-led growth can create new opportunities both on and off farm and contribute to poverty alleviation. IFPRI also has strong expertise in probing the intersections between poverty and gender. IFPRI’s research identifies effective and sustainable strategies that ensure that women are empowered to participate in new economic opportunities.

IFPRI’s research on this topic is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG1, and the CGIAR Impact Area on Nutrition, Health, and Food Security; Poverty Reduction, Livelihoods and Jobs; and Gender Equality, Youth, and Social Inclusion.