Ifpri Podcast

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Mobility in a Fragile World: Evidence to Inform Policy Co-organized by IFPRI, the CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security, and the Louvain Institute of Data Analysis and Modeling in Economics and Statistics (LIDAM), IRES | Part of the Fragility to Stability Seminar Series September 18, 2025 Migration today reflects a complex interplay of demographic pressures, conflict, poverty, climate change, and economic shocks. Worldwide, one in every seven people is a migrant—that is, someone who changes his or her country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration—or a refugee forced to leave his or her home, often without warning, for reasons including war, violence, or persecution. Over the past two decades, international migration and forced displacement have surged, with more than 100 million additional people on the move—a large share of whom originate from rural areas, driven by a lack of economic opportunities, environmental degradation, and in

IFPRI-AMIS Seminar Series | IFPRI Policy Seminar Fertilizers in a Shifting Global Landscape – Trends, Trade, and Sustainability Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) September 16, 2025 Fertilizers—both mineral and organic—are indispensable inputs in modern agriculture. Yet, recent years have seen unprecedented volatility in fertilizer prices, trade flows, and policy responses, reshaping the landscape for producers, traders, and farmers alike. This event will explore the evolving dynamics of the global fertilizer market and its critical role in food security and agricultural sustainability. Drawing on the latest research and market intelligence from AMIS, FAO’s Food Outlook and IFPRI, this session will unpack the key drivers behind recent market disruptions and recovery patterns, including the environmental footprint of fertilizer use, and a variety of policy developments affecting market access and affordability. Opening Remarks Monika Tothova, Senior Economist, Food and A

Book Launch | IFPRI Policy Seminar What Do We Know About the Future of Food Systems? Co-organized by IFPRI and the CGIAR This event is also part of the Policy Innovations Global Webinar Series of the CGIAR Science Program on Policy Innovations July 23, 2025 Food systems have achieved remarkable progress in recent decades, but moving forward, they will face significant challenges in delivering the many outputs and services—such as poverty alleviation, nutrition and health, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability—we expect and need. By combining sophisticated analysis and close engagement with stakeholders, we can identify and explore the likely impacts of different future scenarios based on alternative development pathways and external factors. These results can help inform the decisions we make about food systems today. This event marks the launch of What Do We Know About the Future of Food Systems?, a collection of short chapters that synthesize current knowledge about different aspects of the future

IFPRI Policy Seminar The Future of Youth Jobs in Agrifood Systems in Africa Hosted by IFPRI, the CGIAR Policy Innovations Program, the CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator, and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) July 15, 2025 Africa’s population is the youngest of any region, affording the continent an adequate workforce to drive economic and social transformation. However, African economies are finding it difficult to create employment opportunities for this “youth bulge”—opportunities that are needed to advance on SDG target 8.6 to substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET). As of 2020, more than 20 percent of young men and women in Africa fell into this category. African youth wield growing political and social power as they vent their frustrations about the lack of opportunities. Although youth-led protests and their underlying causes are not new in Africa, the recent movements represent an important moment for the region’s yo

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Worsening food insecurity, waning response capacity: Options for a better way forward Co-organized by IFPRI, the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) and the CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security | Part of the Fragility to Stability Seminar Series July 2, 2025 Food crises arise from the complex interplay of conflict, poverty, climate variability, and economic shocks, resulting in acute food insecurity among vulnerable populations. According to the latest Global Report on Food Crises (2025), the number of people facing severe levels of acute food insecurity has tripled over the past decade, rising from around 100 million in 2016 to nearly 300 million people in 2024. The report warns that intensifying conflict in areas prone to food crises could worsen these conditions, policy uncertainty in major economies could slow income growth around the world, and budget cuts could erode humanitarian assistance, as well as capacities to monitor and anticipate dr

IFPRI Policy Seminar Fertilizer, soil health, and economic shocks: Policy lessons learned from recent events Organized by IFPRI, Food Policy, and the CGIAR Science Program on Policy Innovations June 11, 2025 Join us for a discussion of key findings from a recent special issue of Food Policy exploring the complex interactions between fertilizer use, soil health management, and economic shocks in various agricultural systems. Governments around the world have long implemented policies to enhance agricultural productivity through inorganic fertilizer application and soil management, yet recent global disruptions, from the 2020–2022 food, fuel, and fertilizer price crisis to ongoing climatic uncertainties, have challenged the effectiveness of these interventions. Authors and editors of the special issue will present evidence on the medium-term effects of rising fertilizer prices and their implications for global demand, highlighting the disproportionate effects on smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income c

Global Food Policy Report IFPRI Policy Seminar 2025 Global Food Policy Report | Food Policy: Lessons and Priorities for a Changing World May 28, 2025 Over the last 50 years, the world’s food systems have evolved tremendously amid major economic, environmental, and social changes. Throughout this period, policy research has played a critical role in providing evidence and analysis to inform decision-making that supports agricultural growth, better livelihoods, and improved food security, nutrition, and well-being for all. IFPRI’s 2025 Global Food Policy Report—a special edition marking the Institute’s 50th anniversary. This year’s flagship report examines the evolution and impact of food policy research and assesses how it can better equip policymakers to meet future challenges and opportunities. Despite meaningful progress over the last half-century, conflict, climate change, rising inequality, and geopolitical tensions remain major challenges to reducing poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. As we approach 2

IFPRI-AMIS Seminar Series | IFPRI Policy Seminar 2025 Outlook for Wheat, Maize, and Soybean Crops Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) May 13, 2025 Global grain and oilseed markets are facing great uncertainty as producers in the northern hemisphere complete their spring plantings. While some dryness has affected winter crop regions in both North America and Europe, sowing conditions remain favorable. Market participants are closely observing rapid policy developments related to tariffs and possible retaliatory measures. The changing trade landscape will also affect the overall macroeconomic environment, with impacts expected on energy prices, exchange rates, and growth prospects, and further implications for agricultural production and trade. Opening Remarks Joseph Glauber, Research Fellow Emeritus, IFPRI Presentations Overview of macroeconomic prospects: John Baffes, Senior Agriculture Economist, Development Economics, World Bank Overview of crop conditions: Brian Barke

IFPRI Policy Seminar Ending Hunger and Malnutrition: Keeping Our Eyes on the Road Organized by IFPRI in collaboration with the World Bank IFPRI Seminar during World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings April 22, 2025 While global agricultural commodity prices have come down from the high levels seen in recent years, the world remains far off track in meeting the SDG2 of ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030. Last year, close to 300 million people faced food crisis while the number of people on the cusp of famine doubled. Efforts to address hunger and malnutrition are facing considerable hurdles, including protracted as well as new conflicts, cuts in official development assistance, inefficiencies in the global financing architecture, an increasingly fragmented political landscape and multipolarizing international order. How can the world mobilize more public and private resources to tackle the current food crisis, create more robust value chain and trade channels, and set countries on a pa

IFPRI Webinar How Can We Improve Food Security Monitoring in Conflict-Affected Regions? Machine Learning for Spatially Granular Food Security Mapping Co-organized by IFPRI and the CGIAR Initiative on Foresight March 25, 2025 Machine learning is transforming agricultural and food security research, enabling more accurate and timely insights. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is advancing data-driven approaches in various domains, including crop-type mapping, maize yield estimation, and boat detection. These innovations demonstrate the potential of machine learning in addressing complex challenges and informing policy decisions. A key challenge in this space is food security monitoring in fragile and conflict-affected settings, where timely, granular data is often lacking but essential for policymakers, humanitarians, and researchers. Traditional methods, such as in-person household surveys, are often expensive, infrequent, and spatially coarse, limiting their ability to provide timely

Significant levels of food loss and waste continue to have negative impacts on food security and the environment, and Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which aims to halve food loss and waste worldwide by 2030, remains out of reach. Join us on “12.3 Day” 2025 to take stock of efforts and opportunities to make progress toward this important goal. Organized by the Embassy of Denmark in Washington, DC, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the World Resources Institute (WRI), this event will examine commitments and best practices implemented around the world; and most importantly, explore how to go from big promises to real, tangible actions to reduce food loss and waste. We will discuss: National Commitments in Global Forums. 2025 is a significant year for multilateral global efforts to tackle climate change and bolster food systems. Countries are submitting new Nationally Determined Contributions prior to COP30 and Food Systems Transformation Action Plans prior to the UN Food System

IFPRI-AMIS Seminar Series | IFPRI Policy Seminar Biofuels and the Global Vegetable Oil Market Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) March 4, 2025 Production of biodiesel fuel in Brazil, the European Union, Indonesia, and the United States has grown by nearly 40 percent over the past five years, driven largely by subsidies and government mandates. Government regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions have also boosted demand for vegetable oils and created new markets for used cooking oils (UCO), altering commodity trading patterns and price dynamics. The seminar will present overviews of the global vegetable oil market and the market for used cooking oil for fuel, followed by a moderated expert panel discussion representing views from across the globe. A question and answer session will follow. Overview of the Global Vegetable Oil Market Di Yang, Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Overview of the Global Market of Used Cookin

Co-organized by the Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF) & IFPRI Undernutrition during childhood and early adolescence has long-term consequences for development and health, and for girls it can affect the survival and wellbeing of their children. Diet-related risk School meal programs are an effective way to boost children’s nutrition and wellbeing, including physiological development and academic performance. These programs can also play an important role in food systems transformation by ensuring access to healthy diets, supporting equitable livelihoods, and contributing to environmental sustainability. However, data on large-scale school meal programs have historically been fragmented and inconsistent, despite the global prevalence of these programs and evidence of their positive impact. The Global Survey of School Meal Programs © https://gcnf.org/global-survey/ seeks to address this gap, collecting the most comprehensive data to date on national and large-scale school feeding programs, with informat

This event is co-organized by IFPRI and The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition Undernutrition during childhood and early adolescence has long-term consequences for development and health, and for girls it can affect the survival and wellbeing of their children. Diet-related risk factors are estimated to cause 20% of global mortality, and changes in food systems have led to rapid shifts to unhealthy diets and reductions in physical activity, contributing to the increase in rates of overweight and obesity. Moreover, current dietary and population trends will exacerbate risks to humans and the planet. School feeding programs, or school meals, are a widely implemented safety net with documented impacts across social protection, education, health and nutrition dimensions, and substantial projected economic returns to investment. Globally, programs reach over 400 million children for a total investment of over $50 billion a year. By being most

IFPRI-AMIS Seminar Series | IFPRI Policy Seminar Trade disruptions and their impacts on agricultural markets: Looking back and ahead Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) January 13, 2025 Global agricultural markets have been in a constant state of uproar over the past 5 years. Trade wars between major trading nations such as China, US and Australia, supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine, crisis in the Middle East and export restrictions have diverted supplies, altered trading patterns, increased price volatility which often makes markets less efficient and more costly. Despite these disruptions, the global grain and oilseed trade showed much resilience–importers found alternative suppliers, buyers adjusted by changing the timing of purchases, and inventory management practices went from “just-in-time” stocks to “just-in-case” levels, even if storage of food commodities can be costly. Perhaps remarkably, prices spikes and periods of high pric

Throughout her career, Ruth Meinzen-Dick has made pathbreaking contributions to natural resource management and gender equity, drawing from her deep engagement with communities to improve understanding and measurement in these areas. Dr. Meinzen-Dick’s research encompasses land and water policy, property rights, collective action, and games for experiential learning, with a longstanding focus on improving equity. This Policy Seminar highlights her research contributions and examines how the impact of research on natural resources and women’s empowerment can be strengthened through interventions in knowledge, motivation, and agency. Moderator and Welcome Remarks Claudia Ringler, Director, Natural Resources and Resilience (NRR), IFPRI From WEAI to WEMNS: ‘Engendering’ Food Policy Research How measurements changed minds: Agnes Quisumbing, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI Gendered land rights for rural poverty reduction: Cheryl Doss, Professor, Economics, Tufts University From Collective Action to Property Right

Global Food Policy Report Series/Special Event Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition: Africa Regional Launch of IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report In collaboration with University of Nairobi and part of the CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS) Seminar Series November 14, 2024 Despite significant progress in addressing hunger and undernutrition in the early 2000s, malnutrition, in all its forms, remains a major challenge in all regions of the world. Unhealthy diets remain the primary drivers of many forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Today, the number of people who cannot afford a healthy diet is as high as 3.1 billion people. The imperative for meaningful solutions to help achieve better nutrition for people and a better future for the planet have never been stronger; meaningful impact will require that we deploy high-impact, evidence-based solutions in context-specifi

Series/Special Event Improving Diets and Nutrition through Food Systems: What Will it Take? A Dialogue on IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report Co-organized by IFPRI, the Netherlands Food Partnership, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Nature Supported by the Director General for International Partnerships – Sustainable Agri-Food systems and fisheries from the European Commission and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, represented by the Special Envoy for nutrition and Secretary General of Nutrition for Growth Paris. November 6, 2024 IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy flagship publication arrives at a pivotal moment, as the importance of addressing food systems for better nutrition continues to gain global recognition. With United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 29th Conference of the Parties taking place in November, the SUN Global Gathering on the horizon and the Nutrition for Growth Summit 2025,

Event IFPRI Policy Seminar Learning Support for a Multi-Country Climate Resilience Programme for Food Security Organized by CGIAR with support from World Food Programme (WFP) and The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) November 5, 2024 The Learning Support for a Sub-Saharan Africa Multi-Country Climate Resilience Program for Food Security, launched in 2023, aims to enhance food security and climate resilience across 14 African countries. This collaboration among CGIAR, the World Food Programme, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) has three pillars: scaling disaster risk financing, transforming food systems with sustainable school meals and clean cooking, and supporting smallholder farmers. This work leverages CGIAR’s extensive experience in strategic program support, impact evaluations, and knowledge product development, and integrates the CGIAR’s Fragility, Conflict, and Migration (FCM) and Seed Equal initiatives. Ongoing efforts include strategic reviews, resilien

Martin J. Forman Memorial Lecture IFPRI Policy Seminar Supporting and shaping the global nutrition agenda with evidence: A three-decade journey of research and partnerships for impact 34th Annual Martin J. Forman Memorial Lecture October 30, 2024 This year’s Forman Lecture will be delivered by Dr. Marie Ruel, Senior Research Fellow in the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit at IFPRI. She served as the Director of IFPRI’s Poverty, Health, and Nutrition Division from 2004 to 2023, after serving as Senior Research Fellow and Research Fellow in that division beginning in 1996. Dr. Ruel will reflect on the role of research in supporting and shaping the evolution of the global nutrition agenda over the last three decades. Drawing on examples from her journey in research leadership, she will present the case for how investments in rigorous research and partnerships with development actors around the world have supported this evolution. Her case studies will highlight the importance of evidence in shaping agendas fo