Ifpri Podcast

POLICY SEMINAR Can agricultural policies deliver better value for money for people, the planet, and the economy? Co-Organized by IFPRI and World Bank Group FEB 2, 2022 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EST The massive support provided to agriculture by governments — $639 billion per year during 2016–18 — has not incentivized sustainable patterns of food production and consumption, leading to calls to “repurpose” this support. A new IFPRI-World Bank study, Repurposing Agricultural Policies and Support : Options to Transform Agriculture and Food Systems to Better Serve the Health of People, Economies, and the Planet, shows that the present system of support, if left in place, would do nothing to staunch the rapid increase in global emissions from agriculture. Unfortunately, many seemingly appealing options for repurposing are either ineffective or involve harsh side effects such as raising food costs, poverty and agricultural land use. The study’s authors therefore call for a more fundamental change in incentives that advance

MEDIA BRIEFING Repurposing Agricultural Policies and Support: Options to Transform Agriculture and Food Systems to Better Serve the Health of People, Economies, and the Planet February 1, 2021

POLICY SEMINAR Making agrifood systems more resilient to shocks and stresses Co-Organized by IFPRI and FAO in North America JAN 19, 2022 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EST The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of agrifood systems to shocks and stresses, as it increased global food insecurity and malnutrition. Action is needed to make agrifood systems more resilient, efficient, sustainable, and inclusive. The FAO’s The State of Food and Agriculture 2021 presents country-level indicators of the resilience of agrifood systems — these measure the robustness of primary production and food availability, as well as physical and economic access to food, and can thus help assess the capacity of national agrifood systems to absorb shocks and stresses. The report analyzes the vulnerabilities of food supply chains and how rural households cope with risks and shocks. It offers guidance for minimizing trade-offs as we develop policies to enhance food supply chain resilience, support livelihoods in the agrifood system and,

PIM Webinar Cash transfers and intimate partner violence: Case studies from Ethiopia and Ghana Organized by PIM and the Cash Transfer and Intimate Partner Violence Research Collaborative in support of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign December 10, 2021 A growing evidence base demonstrates that cash transfer programs, primarily meant to address poverty and vulnerability, are promising interventions to reduce intimate partner violence. However, knowledge gaps remain on whether findings generalize across program designs, as well as what mechanisms underlie impacts. This webinar will present results from two case studies in Ghana and Ethiopia that draw upon qualitative research of national cash transfer programs combined with complementary programming. Both studies examine pathways of influence with consideration of contextual factors such as gender norms, household dynamics, and the role of “plus” programming. Introduction and opening remarks: Frank Place ( https://www.ifp

PIM Webinar Book Launch: African Farmers, Value Chains and Agricultural Development December 9, 2021 At first glance, African smallholder farmers might seem unproductive, as their crops yield much less than potential and are often of variable quality. A new PIM-supported book “African Farmers, Value Chains, and Agricultural Development” argues that in fact they are largely producing following rational economic decisions, and that this situation is a consequence of the economic and institutional environment in which they produce. The authors Alan de Brauw and Erwin Bulte discuss ways that different types of transaction costs limit their market opportunities in general, including transport costs but also costs related to different sources of risks, trust, market power, liquidity, and even storage. The presence of high transaction costs limits the ability of farmers to market their surplus, hence reducing their incentives to produce. The authors discuss several types of costs in detail, including problems relat

PIM Webinar Tenure Security and Landscape Governance of Natural Resources December 7, 2021 Tenure Security and Landscape Governance of Natural Resources Equitable and secure tenure arrangements and well-performing rural governance institutions can contribute to better-distributed incomes and foster investment and technological innovation in agriculture. On the other hand, tenure regimes, if controlled by elites or implemented to reinforce traditional power hierarchies, can be powerful instruments of exclusion. Lack of attention to resource governance carries high risk for development programs, particularly with regard to equality, social inclusion, and long-term sustainability of natural resources. Research on governance of natural resources (PIM Flagship 5) https://pim.cgiar.org/research/f5/ has been an integral part of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) since 2017. The team has been seeking to identify actions to strengthen tenure rights of poor and marginalized peo

PIM Webinar Migration and Global Agri-Food Systems: Insights from CGIAR Research and Beyond December 2, 2021 Migration is an intrinsic part of the development process, representing one of the greatest opportunities to facilitate economic and social advancement in developing countries. At the same time, migration presents one of the world’s biggest challenges—particularly when it is non-voluntary, reflecting forced displacement of sizeable numbers of people. Migration requires adjustments by both sending and hosting communities; understanding those adjustments, and ways to maximize the benefits and minimize any costs of migration, is a key policy priority. The CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) has undertaken more than 40 studies designed to explore the causes and consequences of internal and international migration. In aggregate, the studies help us understand what motivates people to migrate and what factors impinge on their ability to do so. This webinar will draw upon th

POLICY SEMINAR Disciplining Domestic Support NOV 30, 2021 - 09:00 AM TO 10:00 AM EST The upcoming WTO Ministerial in late November will provide yet another opportunity to address and reform agricultural domestic support. The domestic support pillar has been at the heart of the agricultural negotiations since they began in 2000, but it has proven challenging to achieve consensus on how to advance reforms. In fact, domestic support levels remain high and have risen in recent years. This event will discuss a recent report by IFPRI researchers that suggests that new disciplines could both reduce distortions and provide significant protection in the event of a subsidy war by reducing "leakage" in domestic support disciplines. Welcome Remarks: Johan Swinnen, Director General, IFPRI Speakers: Joseph Glauber, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI David Laborde Debucquet, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI Discussants: Nelson Illescas, Director en Fundación, Instituto Para Las Negociaciones Agrícolas Internacionales (INAI)

PIM Webinar COVID-19 and agricultural value chains: Impacts and adaptations November 29, 2021 In 2020, researchers working under “Inclusive and Efficient Value Chains” (https://pim.cgiar.org/research/f3/) flagship under the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) developed a set of standardized questionnaires for assessing the impact of COVID-19 on agricultural value chains. The set includes questionnaires for farmers, traders, and processors. Despite their brevity (interview time of 25 minutes), the questionnaires cover the impact on scale of operations, employment, input use, production, small enterprise closures, profits, and welfare and food security of proprietors. They have been applied to eight value chains in Central America, Africa, and Asia. To deepen the understanding of how agri-food value chains have been adapting to the new reality, in 2021, the CGIAR COVID-19 Hub (https://a4nh.cgiar.org/covidhub/covid-hub-focus-addressing-value-chain-fractures/) working group on v

BOOK LAUNCH Advancing Gender Equality through Agricultural and Environmental Research: Past, Present, and Future Co-Organized by IFPRI and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) NOV 23, 2021 - 09:00 AM TO 10:15 AM EST The past decade has seen renewed, and more concerted and comprehensive interest in gender equality and women’s empowerment in the agricultural development sector. This momentum has created a unique opportunity to advance gender equality, and to institutionalize gender research within agricultural research for development (AR4D) organizations. A new book “Advancing Gender Equality through Agricultural and Environmental Research: Past, Present, and Future” is a part of this overall momentum and the growing body of evidence and ideas it is generating. The book marks a shift away from a typical, instrumentalist outlook focused on how gender analysis can contribute to research objectives, such as improved productivity. Over 55 gender researchers who contributed to t

SPECIAL EVENT Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Reflections from a Career in Research for Development Co-Organized by CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) and IFPRI NOV 22, 2021 - 09:30 AM TO 11:00 AM EST John McDermott, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), presents experiences and insights gained over four decades of research, including reflections on academia and development in Africa; managing research teams and institutions; and setting the agenda and building partnerships at the intersection of agriculture, nutrition, and health. He will also share thoughts about the future of research for development and engage with colleagues and audience members on future efforts toward addressing global development goals. McDermott has served as Director of A4NH since its inception in 2012. He will retire at the end of 2021. Keynote Speaker John McDermott, Director, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4

PIM Webinar Agricultural extension and rural advisory services: From research to action November 11, 2021 Extension is a critical pathway from scientific discovery to durable impact at scale, as farmers and other actors in the rural economy learn, adapt, and innovate with new technologies and practices. This webinar presents selected findings from a synthesis of PIM research on agricultural extension and advisory services and provides recommendations for improving extension in the future. During the webinar the synthesis brief and accompanying infographic will be presented. Speakers will then highlight innovative interventions that can be applied and adapted to enhance extension performance. These interventions are organized by extension’s “best-fit” characteristics: governance structures and funding, organizational and management capacities and cultures, methods, and community engagement. It builds on previous PIM events such as Engaging youth and the private sector in extension and agricultural advisory

PIM Webinar Webinar 2: Methods for studying gender dynamics in value chains beyond the production node and single commodity analysis October 28, 2021 Second webinar in the series presenting results of six projects supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) in analyzing gender roles, responsibilities, and relations in agricultural value chains beyond the production node and a single commodity focus. See the whole series and recordings of both sessions at https://bit.ly/GDVCweb. Presentations and speakers: • Understanding the relationship between women’s empowerment and women’s increased participation in poultry value chains in Burkina Faso (Jessica Leight (https://www.ifpri.org/profile/jessica-leight), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)) • From oil palm mamas to market queens: Measuring the gender footprint of informal and formal market value chains in Eastern Region, Ghana (Emily Gallagher (https://www.cifor.org/research-staff/4500/emily-gallagher

MARTIN J. FORMAN MEMORIAL LECTURE Food and Youth: What I have learned from young people and their desire to fix the food systems they live in 31st Annual Martin J. Forman Memorial Lecture OCT 28, 2021 - 10:00 AM TO 11:30 AM EDT In this year’s Martin J. Forman lecture, UNICEF’s Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore, an avid champion of children and young people’s rights, will reflect on the children and young people who have inspired her. She will recount their struggles with the food choices they are making and the food environments in which they are making these choices, and will share how young people are contributing to the transformation of global and local food systems. Ms. Fore will offer concrete next steps on how to ensure that children and young people are at the center of discussions on food systems transformation. Participants at the lecture will also have an opportunity to listen to youth representatives about their experiences and perspectives. The annual lecture commemorates the significan

BOOK LAUNCH The Road Towards the WTO MC12: A Latin America and the Caribbean Perspective Co-Organized by IFPRI and Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA) OCT 27, 2021 - 12:00 PM TO 01:00 PM EDT In the run-up to the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, major challenges face the governance of agricultural and food trade. In today’s context of change and uncertainty, the relative importance and urgency of traditional agricultural trade issues (including domestic support and market access) and the possibilities to progress with a multilateral strategy seem to have diminished. With the growing global focus on the environmental and nutritional dimensions of food systems and the global responsibility of all countries to contribute to food system transformation, attention must be paid to new agricultural trade issues that have gained greater urgency. The WTO, as the primary institution overseeing multilateral negotiations and trade, must identify the main elements and issues that can define i

PIM Webinar Innovations in agricultural insurance: Lessons learnt about managing smallholder farmer risks October 26, 2021 Market and weather-related risks pose significant challenges to smallholder producers. These risks can make production and incomes volatile from year to year, reduce food security, threaten assets and financial security, and make farmers hesitant to invest in new technologies or practices to increase long-term productivity and welfare. Agricultural insurance (https://www.ifpri.org/publication/building-resilience-through-climate-risk-insurance-insights-agricultural-research) has the potential to help farmers manage these risks. However, insurance markets in many developing countries are either weak or inaccessible to most smallholders. Innovative forms of agricultural insurance, such as index-based insurance (IBI), have gained attention in recent years as a way of overcoming many of the limitations of traditional forms of agricultural insurance, but questions remain regarding these tools

POLICY SEMINAR Ideas for confronting climate change today OCT 14, 2021 - 09:30 AM TO 10:45 AM EDT In the lead up to CoP26 (https://ukcop26.org/), IFPRI researchers put forward four ideas for confronting climate change in the context of food systems. Rapid-fire presentations will describe these key ideas: - research for the future of food systems under climate change - transforming food systems through clean energy access - engaging stakeholders in climate-smart landscape management - harnessing digital technologies to manage climate risks in food systems Saliem Fakir, Executive Director of the African Climate Foundation, will moderate the session, and engage the presenters on key questions about food systems and climate change. Jemimah Njuki, Director for Africa at IFPRI, will provide a holistic perspective and shed light on the synergies among the four ideas presented. Rapid Fires: Rui Benfica, Senior Research Fellow, CGIAR-IFPRI Jawoo Koo, Senior Research Fellow, CGIAR-IFPRI Claudia Ringler, D

POLICY SEMINAR Global Food 50/50 Report: Inaugural report on gender, diversity and power in the global food system Co-Organized by IFPRI and Global Health 50/50 OCT 5, 2021 - 08:00 AM TO 09:15 AM EDT In the lead up to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, tens of thousands of people participated in a global civic experience to produce a shared framework of collective action. Gender equality and women’s empowerment were amplified as a lever of change and embraced as an area of work with the potential to contribute wide-ranging positive change in the transformation of food systems in the coming decade. The establishment of the Global Food 50/50 initiative is a response to broad stakeholder demands for a global food system that is accountable for progress towards gender equality. This event marks the launch of the inaugural Global Food 50/50 Report, which reviews the gender- and equity-related policies and practices of 52 global food system organizations as they relate to two interlinked dimensions of inequality: i

POLICY SEMINAR Developing Resilience to Climate Change and Achieving Food Security in West Africa: Follow up Action from the UN Food Systems Summit Co-Organized by West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) and IFPRI SEP 30, 2021 - 09:00 AM TO 10:30 AM EDT Organized by IFPRI and WASCAL, this collaborative seminar will address issues, constraints, and challenges to developing resilience to climate change and achieving food security in West Africa. Panelists will discuss specific action plans that will be needed for following up on recommendations from the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. Specific topics of presentations will include: Developing a resilience policy framework to address climate change; What do we know from the climate change research in food systems to guide national resilience policy; and Measuring and tracking for resilience programming: Translating resilience strategies at the landscape and farm levels. Discussion with the panelists will follow their in

SPECIAL EVENT Funding Food System Transformation in Developing Countries: An example from Ethiopia UNFSS Side Event -- Co-organized by IFPRI, The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, CGIAR SEP 23, 2021 - 09:30 AM EDT As countries develop national plans for food systems transformation, serious efforts are needed to mobilize the financial resources for design, implementation, and M&E. Ethiopia’s national plan, developed through Ethiopia’s UNFSS process, offers a valuable example of the evidence-based plans, investments, and activities that will require funding. This case will inform discussion of CGIAR work, developed for the UNFSS, on potential sources of funding for food system transformation activities. Specific examples to be discussed include mobilizing impact investors for climate change financing using CGIAR technologies; increasing access to finance for women in food systems; and using IMF issues Special Drawing Rights to guarantee zero hunger and pandemic recovery bonds. Speakers will refle