50th Anniversary Impact Assessment Report: Highlights of IFPRI’s policy impact
In 2025, as IFPRI marked its 50th Anniversary, it commissioned a review titled Taking Stock: Impacts of 50 Years of Policy Research at IFPRI to evaluate its standing as an international research institution and the influence and impact of its policy research and capacity-strengthening activities.
- policies
By Peter Hazell, Frank Place, and Maria DiGiovanniFebruary 3, 2026
Second in a series of posts summarizing impacts of IFPRI research over five decades. Read the first here.
In 2025, as IFPRI marked its 50th Anniversary, it commissioned a review titled Taking Stock: Impacts of 50 Years of Policy Research at IFPRI to evaluate its standing as an international research institution and the influence and impact of its policy research and capacity-strengthening activities. The review drew on bibliometric data and about 45 independent assessments previously commissioned by IFPRI, its partners, or investors over the years.
This blog post provides an overview of IFPRI’s policy impact, as described in that report.
Evolution of IFPRI’s policy research agenda
IFPRI’s policy research originally began with a Washington-based research agenda focused on a few global policy issues, with the intent of generating international public goods of value to most low- and middle-income countries. Over time, this approach has transitioned to become driven more by country and regional policy issues. This shift was reinforced by a decentralization strategy that placed many senior staff in country and regional offices to undertake demand-driven research. By January 2025, one-third of IFPRI’s approximately 140 senior research staff were outposted to 14 country and three regional offices. Much of this work was undertaken within the context of country programs that took a more holistic approach to supporting countries’ development strategies and strengthening their policy research capacities.