News Overview

By Kate Ambler, Jeffrey Bloem, and Alan de Brauw September 12, 2025 Income growth and urbanization are driving changes in agrifood value chains in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), expanding business opportunities for individuals and firms involved in moving food from rural to urban areas. This value chain midstream is a promising entry point for efforts to expand digital finance, offering benefits not just to

By Suresh Babu and Kumara Charyulu Deevi September 15, 2025 South-South cooperation has been a key pillar of the development agenda for more than two decades, becoming an important tool for mutual action and technological advancement among countries of the Global South. As participants sought to include Northern countries in these efforts, the concept of triangular cooperation emerged. South-South triangular cooperation

By Valeria Piñeiro, Juan Pablo Gianatiempo, Joseph Glauber, and Fousseini Traoré September 25, 2025 African agriculture holds immense economic potential, given the continent’s vast arable land and growing demand for food, and the growing demand for food globally—yet sub-Saharan Africa continues to play a marginal role in global agrifood markets. The current moment, however, offers a crucial opportunity for SSA to boost its

By Alan de Brauw September 25, 2025 A new report, External Assessment of Outcomes from IFPRI’s Causal Impact Evaluation Research 2012–2022, authored by independent consultant Sarah Lowder, details the outcomes of IFPRI’s wide portfolio of causal impact evaluations on policies, investments, and interventions. It highlights the ways in which high-quality research design can serve as the backbone for addressing food insecurity,

By Thomas Falk, Ivo Steimanis, Lara Bartels, Vishwambhar Duche, Björn Vollan, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick September 26, 2025 First of two blog posts on a recent study on a social learning game intervention in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. India’s water systems are under increasing pressure from widespread over-exploitation by agriculture, which consumes 80% of the country’s fresh water. Dams, reservoirs, and other

By Thomas Falk, Ivo Steimanis, Lara Bartels, Vishwambhar Duche, Björn Vollan, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick September 29, 2025 Second of two blog posts on a recent study on a social learning game intervention in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Read the first here. Empowering women in decision-making is not just a matter of human rights; it is a key driver of sustainable development. When women’s

By Futoshi Yamauchi, Teunis van Rheenen, and Eduardo Maruyama September 30, 2025 In an era marked by global economic uncertainty, geopolitical shifts, and ongoing conflicts, inclusive sustainable development remains essential to address instability, insecurity, inequality, and climate vulnerability in Africa. With this goal in mind, the government of Japan reaffirmed its commitment to “co-create innovative solutions with Africa” at the Ninth Tokyo International

By Sokhna Sall Seck October 1, 2025 IFPRI’s 2025 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) focuses on lessons learned over the institute’s 50 years of existence and how these can be applied to today’s challenges of transforming food systems to be sustainable, healthy, and equitable. Its insights are particularly valuable for Africa, which has tremendous potential for sustainable agricultural growth, yet faces many