Highlights Of Recent Ifpri Food Policy Research In The West And Central Africa Region

West and Central African nations face major obstacles to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of cutting poverty and hunger in half by 2015, not least among them the fragile state of their agriculture. Although most regional economies depend on agriculture for employment, national income, and export revenues, farm productivity tends to be low, owing to relatively little use of chemical fertilizers, improved seeds, and other modern technologies. Yield Gaps and Potential Agricultural Growth in West and Central Africa responds to this problem by identifying potential areas of growth in the agricultural and livestock sectors. Using data on the soil, water availability, and weather in different parts of West and Central Africa, the authors find significant gaps in different locations between the potential and actual yield of various agricultural products. They then use an economywide multimarket model to simulate the future economic effects of closing these yield gaps. In coastal nations, crops such as cassava, cereals, and yams have the greatest yield gaps, whereas, in the Sahel, livestock, rice, coarse grains and oilseeds (groundnuts) have more room for growth. Although identifying these yield gaps does not guarantee that they can be closed, it does provide a focus for development efforts in the region. The authors conclude, moreover, that if such efforts involve transnational cooperation in agricultural research, marketing, and other areas, they could produce significant benefits across West and Central Africa. This study's findings will be of interest to policymakers, researchers, and others concerned with African development.

For four decades, the longstanding collaboration between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has been crucial to helping developing countries attain agriculture-led economic growth. The innovative programs and strong evidence base produced through this partnership have contributed to transforming policies and investments for improved food security, nutrition, incomes, and resilience around the world.

In the wake of the food crises of the early 1970s and the resulting World Food Conference of 1974, a group of innovators realized that food security depends not only on crop production, but also on the policies that affect food systems, from farm to table. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) was founded in 1975 and for the past four decades has worked to provide partners in donor and recipient countries with solid research and evidence on policy options. IFPRI was fortunate to have as its first board chairman, world-renowned Australian economist Sir John Crawford, who was a passionate advocate for international agricultural research and an architect of CGIAR, of which IFPRI is a member. Agriculture and rural development play a critical role in alleviating poverty and undernutrition. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has focused its efforts on three pillars of food security: improving agricultural productivity, increasing rural livelihoods, and improving community resilience. This demonstrates Australia’s commitment to serving the needs of the poorest and constructing the building blocks of global food security in the long term. In 2013–2014, the Australian government’s spending on food security is expected to total more than 316 million Australian dollars. Working with many longstanding partners, such as the government of Australia and its Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), IFPRI’s research focuses on sustainable agricultural growth that engages the private sector, country-led strategy development, investment in agricultural research, provision of safety nets to strengthen resilience, prioritization of nutrition interventions for women and children, design of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and partnerships with other stakeholders in global movements, such as Scaling Up Nutrition. IFPRI, and its partners, help to improve programs and initiatives for vulnerable people. By serving as a trusted voice on food policy issues, IFPRI works to change mindsets and provide evidence on how to improve food and nutrition security. Together, IFPRI and the Australian government support cutting-edge research and measurable targets for increasing agricultural productivity. This brochure highlights some of the key collaborations between IFPRI and the Australian government. This brochure highlights key collaborations between IFPRI and the Australian government, often in partnership with other institutions.

References p. 52-59.

For more than two decades, IFPRI’s research and policy analysis have been a resource for Bangladesh in making impressive strides in ensuring food security and reducing poverty. Working closely with the Bangladesh Ministry of Food and Disaster Management and its Food Planning and Monitoring Unit, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, BRAC, CARE International, and civil society organizations, IFPRI has supported Bangladesh in its goals of improving nutrition, women’s empowerment, social protection, and coping with natural disasters. IFPRI looks forward to deepening its collaboration with these and other partners through its Policy Research and Strategy Support Program and complementary initiatives, and to enhancing long-term capacity in policy analysis and evidence-based research. Such strong collaborative efforts have translated and will continue to translate research into policy action that will help accelerate Bangladesh’s progress in ending hunger and undernutrition.

This decade has been marked by multiple, often overlapping, crises. The COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and the ongoing war in Ukraine have all threatened the fabric of our global food systems. But opportunities can be found amid crises, and the world’s food systems have demonstrated surprising resilience. With new evidence on what works, now is the time to rethink how we address food crises. Better prediction, preparation, and resilience building can make future crises less common and less devastating, and improved responses can contribute to greater food security, better nutrition, and sustainable livelihoods.

Two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health, economic, and social disruptions caused by this global crisis continue to evolve. The impacts of the pandemic are likely to endure for years to come, with poor, marginalized, and vulnerable groups the most affected. In COVID-19 & Global Food Security: Two Years Later, the editors bring together contributions from new IFPRI research, blogs, and the CGIAR COVID-19 Hub to examine the pandemic’s effects on poverty, food security, nutrition, and health around the world. This volume presents key lessons learned on food security and food system resilience in 2020 and 2021 and assesses the effectiveness of policy responses to the crisis. Looking forward, the authors consider how the pandemic experience can inform both recovery and longer-term efforts to build more resilient food systems.