IFPRI Brochures

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/129224

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IFPRI's approach to research
(Brochure, 2025-01-15) International Food Policy Research Institute
The International Food Policy Research Institute provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end malnutrition in low-and middle-income countries and has played a vital role in informing policies, programs, and investments since its founding in 1975. This document provides a brief introduction to IFPRI and sets out how we approach our research, along with the scope of our current work.
Delivering genetic innovations to farmers: Challenges and opportunities for accelerated varietal turnover
(Brochure, 2024-12) Ndegwa, Michael K.; Kariuki, Sarah Wairimu; Kramer, Berber; Muteti, Francisca Ndinda; Bulinda, Collins
Regional dialogue on renewed policy action for the poorest and hungry in South Asia
(Report, 2008) Shastry, Paromita; Ahmed, Akhter U.; Pandya-Lorch, Rajul; Sharma, Manohar; Fritschel, Heidi
Despite rapid income growth, South Asia has lagged behind the rest of Asia in reducing poverty and hunger. South Asia accounts for more than two-fifths of the world's poor, and although the region seems on track to meet the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty and hunger by 2015, it faces challenges in achieving that goal. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), held a regional dialogue of policymakers and researchers, called "Renewed Policy Action for the Poorest and Hungry in South Asia," in New Delhi on December 2, 2008. Following up on the international conference "Taking Action for the World's Poor and Hungry People" held by IFPRI in 2007 in Beijing, participants in this regional dialogue discussed two key issues: (1) how to secure inclusive income growth and (2) how to enhance the human capabilities of the poorest people. Participants shared experiences and debated how to replicate and scale up successful experiments as well as how to move from research to action and from policy to implementation.
Biofuels and food security: Balancing needs for food, feed, and fuel
(Brochure, 2008) International Food Policy Research Institute
Biofuel demand is increasing because of a combination of growing energy needs; rising oil costs; the pursuit of clean, renewable sources of energy; and the desire to boost farm incomes in developed countries. In turn, the need for crops-such as maize and sugarcane-to be used as feedstocks for biofuels has increased dramatically. That demand has had a significant and increasing impact on global food systems. The effects of growing biofuel demand are interwoven with tightening grain markets, which reflect demographic shifts and improved diets. In developing countries, as populations grow and incomes rise, diet preferences are shifting from staple crops to higher-value products like meat and dairy. As a result, the demand for grain- and protein-based animal feed is soaring and competing with food needs. These changes have led to increasing pressures on global agricultural markets and higher food costs. Poor people in both rural and urban areas are disproportionately vulnerable to these forces because they spend a large share of their incomes on food. Biofuels subsidies in developed countries tend to drive up food prices, thus reducing consumption and nutritional well-being for net buyers. The higher prices for commodities resulting from biofuel feedstock production can mean higher incomes for some farmers in developing countries and better agricultural wages for laborers, although the question of distribution among winners and losers remains. Another outcome for developing countries could be increased pressure on fragile natural resources on which poor farmers depend, potentially further degrading land and stressing limited water supplies. Over the coming decades, global food and agricultural systems not only will continue to come under the strain of providing for the competing needs of food, feed, and fuel, but will also face greater pressure from climatic and other economic changes. Urgent research is needed now to address these trends and protect the livelihoods of poor people. IFPRI uses innovative quantitative and analytical techniques to help policymakers and international institutions assess the potential benefits and risks of biofuels and explore ways to provide income-generating opportunities for the world's farmers while minimizing resource degradation and food insecurity. Critical questions include how global food systems can meet growing food, feed, and fuel needs while contributing to the reduction of poverty and hunger.
Research that matters: the impact of IFPRI's policy research
(Brochure, 1999) Garrett, James L.
IFPRI commissioned a series of in-depth case studies to look at how research findings are communicated to and used by policymakers. The case studies show that policy research can promote action that improves the lives of the poor. And they demonstrate that research often recovers its costs many times over in fiscal savings alone, without even considering more important improvements in poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. Case studies include 6 Impact Assessment Discussion Papers: Suresh Babu's “Impact of Policy Research on Resource Allocation and Food Security: A Case Study of IFPRI’s Research in Bangladesh” - Curtis Farrar's “A Review of Food Subsidy Research at IFPRI” - Yassir Islam and James L. Garrett's “IFPRI and the Abolition of the Wheat Flour Ration Shops in Pakistan: A Case Study on Policy-making and the Use and Impact of Research” - Robert L. Paarlberg's “External Impact Assessment of IFPRI’s 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment Initiative” - James G. Ryan's “Assessing the Impact of Rice Policy Changes in Viet Nam and the Contribution of Policy Research” - James G. Ryan's “Assessing the Impact of Policy Research and Capacity Building by IFPRI with Malawi.
Comparisons of hunger across states: India State Hunger Index
(Report, 2008) Menon, Purnima; Deolalikar, Anil B.; Bhaskar, Anjor
The results of the India State Hunger Index 2008 highlight the continued overall severity of the hunger situation in India, while revealing the variation in hunger across states within India. It is indeed alarming that not a single state in India is either low or moderate in terms of its index score; most states have a “serious” hunger problem, and one state, Madhya Pradesh, has an “extremely alarming” hunger problem. Although variation exists in index scores of the states, and hence in the ranking of Indian states in relation to other countries, few states perform well in relation to the GHI 2008. Even the best-performing Indian state, Punjab, lies below 33 other developing countries ranked by GHI. Even more alarming is the fact that the worst-performing states in India—Bihar, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh—have index scores similar to countries that are precariously positioned on the GHI 2008 rankings. For instance, Bihar and Jharkhand rank lower than Zimbabwe and Haiti, whereas Madhya Pradesh falls between Ethiopia and Chad. Our analysis of the associations between the ISHI 2008 and state economic indicators shows that the relationship between poverty and hunger is largely as expected—greater ISHI 2008 scores are seen in poorer states, with a few exceptions. Outliers like Kerala, Orissa, and Punjab perform better on the ISHI 2008 than might be expected given their poverty levels, whereas Gujarat, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh perform worse. A closer examination of these states’ past and current investments in social protection, health, and nutrition programs can help inform the debate about policy instruments to protect populations against hunger even in the face of poverty. The lack of a clear relationship between state-level economic growth and hunger, taken along with the relationship between the ISHI 2008 and poverty and incomes, has a number of implications. First, economic growth is not necessarily associated with poverty reduction. Additionally, even if equitable economic growth improves food availability and access, it might not lead immediately to improvements in child nutrition and mortality, for which more direct investments are required to enable rapid reductions. Thus, in addition to wide-scale poverty alleviation, direct investments in improving food availability and access for poor households, as well as direct targeted nutrition and health interventions to improve nutrition and mortality outcomes for young children, will be needed to raise the ISHI scores and rankings of Indian states. Child underweight contributes more than either of the other two underlying variables to the GHI score for India and to the ISHI scores for almost all states in India. Tackling child undernutrition, therefore, is crucially important for all states in India. Achieving rapid reductions in child underweight, however, will require scaling up delivery of evidence-based nutrition and health interventions to all women of reproductive age, pregnant and lactating women, and children under the age of two years. Some economically strong states had rankings on the Nutrition Index that deteriorated when compared with the ISHI 2008, suggesting that it might be important for these states to invest in direct nutrition and poverty alleviation interventions even during sustained economic growth. The design and implementation of policies and programs to improve all three underlying dimensions of the ISHI will need to be strengthened and supported to ensure that hunger is reduced rapidly over time. Although strides are being made on the public health front to ensure sustained reductions in child mortality, improvements in child nutrition are not satisfactory in India. Nutrition programs in India are not effectively delivering evidence-based interventions at scale to vulnerable age groups that need to be reached to ensure rapid reductions in undernutrition. In conclusion, for Indian states to progress along the ISHI, and to ensure that ISHI scores for Indian states are more closely aligned with GHI scores of countries with comparable economic growth, investments will be needed to strengthen agriculture, improve overall food availability and access to all population segments, and to improve child nutrition and mortality outcomes.
Biofortified sweet potatoes
(Brochure, 2006) International Food Policy Research Institute
Vitamin A deficiency affects over 140 million children under the age of five. In the absence of adequate amounts of vitamin A immune systems suffer irreversible damage and blindness occurs. A recent study found that boiled orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) contained over 1,000 Retinol Activity Equivalents (RAE) per 125 grams, which, when fed to school aged children in South Africa, provided 250 percent of their recommended daily allowance.. At present, Africa’s predominant sweetpotato cultivars are white- or yellow-fleshed varieties that contain small amounts of beta-carotene. By contrast, the [much less common] orange-fleshed varieties are rich sources of beta-carotene. In addition, orange-fleshed varieties are inexpensive and can be grown year-round, making them an ideal source of vitamin A for the poor. If sweetpotato could be bred for local growing conditions, and if sufficient demand was created, farmers and consumers could switch from non-orange to orange-fleshed varieties, thereby making significant progress toward improving vitamin A.
Biofortified rice
(Brochure, 2006) International Food Policy Research Institute
Rice is the dominant cereal crop in many developing countries and is the staple food for more than half of the world’s population. In several Asian countries, rice provides 50–80 percent of the energy intake of the poor. Because of the high per capita consumption of rice in these countries, increasing its nutritive value could have significant positive health outcomes for millions of people... Breeding programs aimed at producing varieties with high iron and zinc concentrations also seek to combine the high mineral content with other seed and food characteristics attractive to farmers or consumers. Studies by HarvestPlus and others have shown considerable losses of iron and zinc during the polishing of rice. For this reason, HarvestPlus breeding work is focused on increasing mineral levels in white rice.
Biofortified maize
(Brochure, 2006) International Food Policy Research Institute
Maize is the preferred staple food of more than 1.2 billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Over 50 million people in these regions are vitamin A deficient. Maize-based diets, particularly those of extremely poor individuals, often lack essential vitamins such as vitamin A. Dietary sources occur either as preformed vitamin A, as in dairy and other foods from animal sources, or as provitamins A, as found in plant foods, including maize. Identifying and increasing the supply of maize cultivars rich in provitamins A may greatly improve the health and longevity of people around the world.
Biofortified cassava
(Brochure, 2006) International Food Policy Research Institute
An estimated 70 million people obtain more than 500 calories per day from cassava. With its productivity on marginal soils; ability to withstand disease, drought, and pests; and flexible harvest dates, cassava is a remarkably adaptable and hearty crop, consumed in areas where drought, poverty, and malnutrition are prevalent... The strategy of HarvestPlus research on cassava emphasizes developing genotypes with high concentrations of provitamin A carotenoids, mainly ß-carotene, in the roots of agronomically superior varieties, then sharing the germplasm among collaborating agricultural research systems in the developing world. A less extensive research program is focused on breeding for high iron and zinc content.
Biofortified wheat
(Brochure, 2006) International Food Policy Research Institute
In developing countries, particularly in South and West Asia, about half a billion people are iron deficient. In many of these same regions, wheat is considered a major staple food. The main objective of biofortifying wheat is to develop nutritionally enhanced wheat to increase people’s intake of iron and zinc. The International Center for Wheat and Maize (CIMMYT) is leading the HarvestPlus research effort in collaboration with national agricultural research and extension systems in South and West Asia, as well as with other advanced research institutes... While the development of varieties containing higher levels of zinc and iron is progressing, scientists continue to search genebanks for sources of high–vitamin A wheat. In the meantime, researchers are using a genetic engineering approach to introduce genes for vitamin A from other species.
Biofortified beans
(Brief, 2006) International Food Policy Research Institute
For more than 300 million people, an inexpensive bowl of beans is the centerpiece of their daily diet. The common bean—Phaseolus vulgaris—is the world’s most important food legume, far more so than chickpeas, faba beans, lentils, and cowpeas. Given the widespread consumption of beans throughout the world, efforts to improve their micronutrient content could potentially benefit a great many people. Biofortifying the common bean will produce the greatest returns in areas where these beans supply a significant proportion of the nutrients in the diet. These areas include parts of East, Central and Southern Africa and all of Central America and Brazil.
Breeding crops for better nutrition
(Brochure, 2006) International Food Policy Research Institute
A future with no one living in poverty and hunger: Highlights from an international youth writing contest
(Brochure, 2007) International Food Policy Research Institute
Taking action for the world's poor and hungry people: Synopsis of an international consultation
(Brochure, 2007) von Braun, Joachim; Pandya-Lorch, Rajul
IFPRI's strategy toward food and nutrition security: Food policy research, capacity strengthening, and policy communications
(Brochure, 2007) International Food Policy Research Institute
This document sets out the strategy for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) for the next decade. The Institute's vision and mission are cornerstones of the strategy: IFPRI's Vision is a world free of hunger and malnutrition, and IFPRI's Mission is to provide policy solutions that reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. The strategy addresses issues relevant to its vision and mission, including: poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in the developing world, which remain persistently high; a rapidly changing policy environment, which makes the decisionmaking process more complex and diffuse, involving many more actors at global and subnational levels and within the private and civil sectors, as well as the public sector; new technologies, which offer great promise for advancing food and nutrition security and for which research is needed to identify policies and institutions to ensure that poor people benefit from these technologies; and global health issues, which pose significant threats to food security and nutrition." This is the latest version of this brochure, replacing earlier 2005 and 2003 (also available in Spanish) versions. Eventually, this was replaced by the IFPRI Strategy document: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153515.
Agricultural and rural development for reducing poverty and hunger in Asia: In pursuit of inclusive and sustainable growth
(Brochure, 2007) International Food Policy Research Institute
International agricultural research for food security, poverty reduction, and the environment: What to expect from scaling up CGIAR investments and “Best Bet” programs
(Report, 2008) von Braun, Joachim; Fan, Shenggen; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.; Rosegrant, Mark W.; Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
The recent food crisis, combined with the energy crisis and emerging climate-change issues, threatens the livelihoods of millions of poor people as well as the economic, ecological, and political situation in many developing countries. Progress in achieving development goals (such as cutting hunger and poverty in half by 2015) has been delayed significantly; in fact, the number of food-deficient people actually increased in the past two years by at least 75 million. These challenges require multifaceted, science-based technological, economic, and political approaches. Through its international research centers, its publicly available research, its broad network of partnerships, and its long experience in the field, the CGIAR is well positioned to contribute to the global effort to foster food production, increase access to food, and reduce poverty and hunger in both rural and urban areas. However, the system cannot effectively address these global challenges without additional funding and improved organizational design. The latter is being addressed by an ongoing change process. The former is the focus of this paper, which examines what can be expected from a scaled-up CGIAR.
IFPRI's Strategy for Africa
(Brochure, 2009-11) International Food Policy Research Institute
In January 2007, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) published its first Africa Strategy, the first of any region. That first edition of the strategy was completed after a thorough review of the institute’s activities in the region and a series of consultations with policy researchers and analysts and other key stakeholder groups in Africa, including a major dissemination conference held in Dakar, Senegal in January 2007. The last edition was completed against the backdrop of several major initiatives that had brought renewed attention and commitment to economic development and food and nutrition security in Africa, and emergence of the longest economic and agricultural growth recovery in the continent since the 1960s. The strategy emphasized the needs and challenges of sustaining and accelerating growth to reach the poverty and hunger reduction Millennium Development Goal (MDG). Since then, new developments in the global food and financial markets, responses by African countries to these developments, and their progress in efforts to implement the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) have resulted in changes with potential long term strategic consequences. The current edition of the Africa strategy document describes: recent developments in IFPRI’s work in Africa; recent trends and prospects for growth and food and nutrition security in Africa; IFPRI’s strategy for Africa; research, communications, and capacity-building priorities; IFPRI’s operational emphasis; and the institutional response. This page includes the 2007 full and brief version, and the French translation.
IFPRI activities in Africa
(Brochure, 2011) International Food Policy Research Institute

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