Ifpri Podcast

This IFPRI Policy Seminar was held last Februrary 18, 2020 at IFPRI Headquarters, featuring keynote presentation from Tassos Haniotis, Director, European Commission with remarks from Johan Swinnen, Director General, IFPRI, and M. Ann Tutwiler, Chair, Bioversity International USA, Inc. and moderated by Will Martin, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI The “Farm to Fork” Strategy, part of the European Commission’s Green Deal, is integral to Europe’s ambitious response to climate change challenges along the food chain. The “Farm to Fork” strategy reflects the ongoing transformation of food systems worldwide and the goal of making Europe’s food system the gold standard for sustainability. “Farm to Fork” is also linked directly to current discussions on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy. The EU experience is highly relevant to the debate around food system transformation—Europe’s policy- and private-driven initiatives demonstrate that green best practices can be successful in jointly increasing economic effi

The Washington DC launch of The Making of a Blue Revolution in Bangladesh was held last Februrary 11, 2020 at IFPRI Headquarters, featuring presentations from Paul Dorosh, Director, Development Strategy and Governance Division, IFPRI; Nicholas Minot, Deputy Division Director, Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division, IFPRI; Shahidur Rashid, Director, South Asia, IFPRI; and Xiaobo Zhang, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI, remarks from Loraine Ronchi, Practice Manager for South Asia, Food and Agriculture Global Practice, World Bank Group, and moderated by Rajul Pandya-Lorch, Director, Communications and Public Affairs & Chief of Staff, Director General's Office, IFPRI A rapid increase in aquaculture production in Bangladesh has lowered fish prices, increased protein consumption, and reduced poverty. The Making of a Blue Revolution in Bangladesh offers a valuable case study of how this transformation in the fish value chain has occurred and how it has improved the lives of both fish producers and fish consumers an

This PIM Webinar recorded on February 6, 2020, features a presentation by and a discussion with Dr. Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI and Elizabeth Bryan, Senior Scientist, IFPRI. There is growing recognition of the importance of gender issues in policy and research. Gender equality is recognized as one of the Sustainable Development Goals and is key to achieving most of the other goals as well. Yet it is often not clear what this means, in practice, or what kinds of knowledge and interventions are needed to contribute to these goals. This webinar will discuss key gender issues and entry points for policy research and outreach, focusing on processes for integrating gender into each stage of the research process, including priority setting, research design, methodologies, conduct of research, and communications for impact. More: https://pim.cgiar.org/2020/01/30/webinar-integrating-gender-in-policy-research-and-outreach/ The PIM Webinars aim to share findings of research undertaken as part of

Current global challenges in malnutrition and other development goals call for integrated, multi-sectoral approaches focusing on the entire food system, leading to healthier and sustainable diets for all. Among these challenges is micronutrient deficiency, known as “hidden hunger.” Micronutrients—vitamins and minerals needed in only very small quantities but with huge impacts on human health and development—are a key component of healthy diets. With shifts in food access, eating habits, and climate, hidden hunger is an increasingly common serious health problem for billions of people globally, including in situations of food excess. Unfortunately, most food system approaches pay too little attention to micronutrients, and the global health and development community lacks a basic understanding of how food systems can contribute to the micronutrient quality of diets. For more details about the seminar visit: https://www.ifpri.org/event/changing-challenges-hidden-hunger-micronutrients-within-nutrition-and-dev

The 2020 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture event “Food for All! Trade for Secure, Diverse and Sustainable Nutrition” brought together 16 Expert Panels hosted by policymakers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders from civil society to discuss the role of international trade in achieving a healthy and sustainable food system. International trade has long helped reduce food insecurity by connecting food-scarce regions to more productive agricultural regions. To meet global goals, trade will also need to increase sustainability of food production and ensure more equitable access to scarce natural resources. In follow-up to the GFFA 2020, IFPRI is hosting a panel to discuss key topics around the role of trade in sustaining food security and nutrition in the face of current challenges to food systems, such as climate change, protectionist tendencies, and economic uncertainty. Panelists will reflect on the trade-related decisions that developing and emerging countries must make as they seek to increase a

Our food systems are bankrupting our health systems, accelerating climate change and using natural resources in an unsustainable way. Most people agree they need to be transformed to change this. But how? Food systems are complex and offer many entry points for change. In addition, the data to describe food systems and their performance is scattered and not interoperable. In effect we are flying blind in our journey to change food systems for the better. The Food System Dashboard (https://bioethics.jhu.edu/research-and-outreach/projects/global-food/current-projects/the-food-systems-dashboard/ ), developed by GAIN and Johns Hopkins University in collaboration with iTech Mission, University of Michigan, and Euromonitor, responds to this challenge. It brings together extant data from public and private sources to help decision makers diagnose their food systems and identify all their levers of change and the ones that need to be pulled first. Following presentation of the Food Systems Dashboard, commentato

The share of working-age young people in Africa south of the Sahara has risen due to past declines in mortality coupled with high fertility. This “youth bulge” has created a sense of urgency among national governments and the international development community as the prospect of widespread youth unemployment in Africa, and the social instability and political unrest it could bring looms closer. As a result, African governments are under pressure to create more and better jobs for the region’s young and rapidly growing population. Although the scale of policy reforms and actions needed to address Africa’s youth bulge is daunting, there is an increasing alignment of interests and incentives: African governments have made youth employment a policy priority, and African youth are demanding policies that improve their job prospects. This creates promising opportunities to enact policies that effectively address rural youth employment—policies that are grounded in local evidence rather than stylized facts. This

Gender equality has been recognized as an important goal in itself as well as important to achieving other development objectives, such as reducing hunger and poverty. This is true worldwide and especially so in rural Africa, where women play an important role in the agricultural sector. Gender-sensitive policies and programming are central to effectively advancing the Malabo Declaration’s agricultural transformation agenda. But what is the progress in achieving gender equality? What are the major challenges, and what are the effective means of overcoming those challenges? Seminar ( https://www.ifpri.org/event/gender-equality-rural-africa-commitments-outcomes ) speakers will address these questions and discuss the findings and recommendations of the 2019 Annual Trends and Outlook Report, Gender Equality in Rural Africa: From Commitments to Outcomes. The report takes an in-depth look at gender in Africa by examining the intersections of gender and 1) context and institutions, 2) assets, 3) shocks and resilie

African countries have made considerable progress in increasing agricultural productivity and reducing hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. But continued population growth, urbanization, changing diets, and climate change are putting pressure on food systems not only to provide more food but also to make more diverse and nutritious foods available and accessible. New digital technologies and services are already making an impact on how food is being produced, processed, marketed, traded, and consumed across the continent. How African countries position themselves to harness and deploy digital technologies will determine the future competitiveness of African agriculture and its contribution to African economies. This seminar ( http://www.ifpri.org/event/transforming-africas-food-system-digital-technologies ) will explore how African countries can develop a “digitalization ecosystem” to help foster growth and competitiveness in the continent’s value chains. Participants will also discuss the institutional and po

Food systems in developing countries are undergoing a rapid transformation shaped by global and regional events. But country actions will be critical in shaping future food system outcomes. Some countries are taking a systemic approach to assessing and acting on food system transformation—considering consumption and food environments, food supply and sustainability, health, and socioeconomic outcomes. This seminar ( http://www.ifpri.org/event/food-system-transformations-national-actions-globalized-world ) will introduce this approach, and representatives from Nigeria and Viet Nam will discuss the challenges, opportunities, and trade-offs they encounter in enabling food system actors in their countries. A panel will share insights into how food systems can develop in a healthy, sustainable, and equitable way. Overview -Transforming Food Systems for Healthier Diets: Supporting Actions at a National Scale -Inge Brouwer, Associate Professor of Food and Nutrition Security, Wageningen University & Research

IFPRI PolSem: Using Malawi’s Community-Based Childcare Centers to Implement an Agriculture and Nutrition Intervention 11/6/2019 This policy seminar ( https://www.ifpri.org/event/using-malawis-community-based-childcare-centers-implement-agriculture-and-nutrition ) focuses on research undertaken in Malawi by IFPRI, the University of Malawi, Save the Children, and University of Washington in support to the Government’s early childhood development program. Community-based early childhood development centers in Malawi have been used as a platform to implement an integrated agriculture and nutrition behavior change intervention. Presentations will explore the findings of a rigorous evaluation on the impact, sustainability, costs, and returns on investment of this initiative. A case study will be also be presented by Research for Development (R4D) on the use of evidence in the policy processes that led to the scale-up of the program across the country. Opening Remarks / Moderator Dan Gilligan, Deputy Director o

Closing Remarks: Cheryl Doss, Associate Professor and Senior Departmental Lecturer in Development Economics, Oxford University How can agriculture and natural resource management advance gender equality? Asking this question rather than only its inverse — what does gender analysis bring to agriculture and natural resource management? — elevates the objective of gender equality within CGIAR, challenges boundaries in thinking about gender in agriculture, and stimulates new and creative perspectives. Gender researchers from across CGIAR are preparing a landmark publication that synthesizes recent research and sets a forward-looking agenda for gender research in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management. This seminar will share key reflections from the book.

Remarks from External Expert: Patricia van de Velde, Gender Lead of Agriculture Practice, World Bank Group How can agriculture and natural resource management advance gender equality? Asking this question rather than only its inverse — what does gender analysis bring to agriculture and natural resource management? — elevates the objective of gender equality within CGIAR, challenges boundaries in thinking about gender in agriculture, and stimulates new and creative perspectives. Gender researchers from across CGIAR are preparing a landmark publication that synthesizes recent research and sets a forward-looking agenda for gender research in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management. This seminar will share key reflections from the book.

Topic and Speaker: Engaging with constraining norms through gender transformative approaches: Dina Najjar, Gender Scientist, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) How can agriculture and natural resource management advance gender equality? Asking this question rather than only its inverse — what does gender analysis bring to agriculture and natural resource management? — elevates the objective of gender equality within CGIAR, challenges boundaries in thinking about gender in agriculture, and stimulates new and creative perspectives. Gender researchers from across CGIAR are preparing a landmark publication that synthesizes recent research and sets a forward-looking agenda for gender research in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management. This seminar will share key reflections from the book.

Topic and Speaker: Assessing women’s empowerment in and through agricultural research for development: Jennifer Twyman, Social Scientist, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) How can agriculture and natural resource management advance gender equality? Asking this question rather than only its inverse — what does gender analysis bring to agriculture and natural resource management? — elevates the objective of gender equality within CGIAR, challenges boundaries in thinking about gender in agriculture, and stimulates new and creative perspectives. Gender researchers from across CGIAR are preparing a landmark publication that synthesizes recent research and sets a forward-looking agenda for gender research in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management. This seminar will share key reflections from the book.

Topic and Speaker: “Feminization” of agriculture: Katrina Kosec, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI How can agriculture and natural resource management advance gender equality? Asking this question rather than only its inverse — what does gender analysis bring to agriculture and natural resource management? — elevates the objective of gender equality within CGIAR, challenges boundaries in thinking about gender in agriculture, and stimulates new and creative perspectives. Gender researchers from across CGIAR are preparing a landmark publication that synthesizes recent research and sets a forward-looking agenda for gender research in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management. This seminar will share key reflections from the book.

Topic and Speaker: Gender and human nutrition: Hazel Malapit, Senior Research Coordinator, IFPRI How can agriculture and natural resource management advance gender equality? Asking this question rather than only its inverse — what does gender analysis bring to agriculture and natural resource management? — elevates the objective of gender equality within CGIAR, challenges boundaries in thinking about gender in agriculture, and stimulates new and creative perspectives. Gender researchers from across CGIAR are preparing a landmark publication that synthesizes recent research and sets a forward-looking agenda for gender research in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management. This seminar will share key reflections from the book.

Topic and Speaker: Natural resource governance and rights: lliana Moterroso, Scientist, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) How can agriculture and natural resource management advance gender equality? Asking this question rather than only its inverse — what does gender analysis bring to agriculture and natural resource management? — elevates the objective of gender equality within CGIAR, challenges boundaries in thinking about gender in agriculture, and stimulates new and creative perspectives. Gender researchers from across CGIAR are preparing a landmark publication that synthesizes recent research and sets a forward-looking agenda for gender research in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management. This seminar will share key reflections from the book.

Introduction: Rhiannon Pyburn Senior Advisor, Royal Tropical Institute (KIT); Coordinator of the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research How can agriculture and natural resource management advance gender equality? Asking this question rather than only its inverse — what does gender analysis bring to agriculture and natural resource management? — elevates the objective of gender equality within CGIAR, challenges boundaries in thinking about gender in agriculture, and stimulates new and creative perspectives. Gender researchers from across CGIAR are preparing a landmark publication that synthesizes recent research and sets a forward-looking agenda for gender research in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management. This seminar will share key reflections from the book.

Reflection: Robin Martino, Chief of Party, Biodiversity Results and Integrated Development Gains Enhanced (BRIDGE) Project, DAI From climate change to malnutrition, poverty to biodiversity loss, air pollution to humanitarian crises—the problems facing our world today are deeply interconnected. Holistic initiatives to address these challenges, notably the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are becoming more common. But efforts siloed within the development, health, or environment communities remain the norm. This seminar discusses the findings of the Bridge Collaborative-UN Development Programme report ( https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hiv-aids/bigger-change-faster--.html), Bigger Change Faster: Integrated Development, Health, and Environment Actions for a Sustainable Future, that describes actions to accelerate cross-sectoral solutions.