International Food Policy Research Institute

About: International Food Policy Research Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Food security & Agriculture. The organization has 1217 authors who have published 4952 publications receiving 218436 citations.

The impacts of public investment in and for agriculture: synthesis of the existing evidence.

Abstract: In light of a reinvigorated policy orientation toward agriculture in developing countries following recent dramatic developments affecting food prices and agricultural land use, public resource allocation decisionmakers ought to have access to the existing evidence from academic research on the impact of public investments related to and in support of agriculture. The objective of this review paper is to synthesize available knowledge on the impact of public investments in and for agriculture in developing countries and to draw conclusions from this body of work to help determine policy and future research directions. The potential for agricultural investments to have significant and observable effects on health and nutrition is great, through access to own-produced food, by lowering food prices, and by raising incomes with which to buy more and more nutritious food and health services. An emerging literature on the cost-effectiveness of biofortification programs reveals strong impact of these interventions. For example, the internal rate of return (IRR) of biofortification investments range from 66 to 133 percent for golden rice in the Philippines, and the costs of averting loss of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) through zinc and iron biofortification of wheat and rice in many cases meet standards of high cost effectiveness.

Understanding the geographical burden of stunting in India: A regression-decomposition analysis of district-level data from 2015-16.

Abstract: India accounts for approximately one third of the world's total population of stunted preschoolers. Addressing global undernutrition, therefore, requires an understanding of the determinants of stunting across India's diverse states and districts. We created a district-level aggregate data set from the recently released 2015-2016 National and Family Health Survey, which covered 601,509 households in 640 districts. We used mapping and descriptive analyses to understand spatial differences in distribution of stunting. We then used population-weighted regressions to identify stunting determinants and regression-based decompositions to explain differences between high- and low-stunting districts across India. Stunting prevalence is high (38.4%) and varies considerably across districts (range: 12.4% to 65.1%), with 239 of the 640 districts have stunting levels above 40% and 202 have prevalence of 30-40%. High-stunting districts are heavily clustered in the north and centre of the country. Differences in stunting prevalence between low and high burden districts were explained by differences in women's low body mass index (19% of the difference), education (12%), children's adequate diet (9%), assets (7%), open defecation (7%), age at marriage (7%), antenatal care (6%), and household size (5%). The decomposition models explained 71% of the observed difference in stunting prevalence. Our findings emphasize the variability in stunting across India, reinforce the multifactorial determinants of stunting, and highlight that interdistrict differences in stunting are strongly explained by a multitude of economic, health, hygiene, and demographic factors. A nationwide focus for stunting prevention is required, while addressing critical determinants district-by-district to reduce inequalities and prevalence of childhood stunting.

Impact of famine during pregnancy and infancy on health in adulthood.

Abstract: The objectives of the present study are (i) To examine the association between fetal nutritional status and overweight and obesity in adulthood and (ii) to provide the evidence for formulating a strategy to prevent low birth weight. With data from the 2002 Nationwide Nutrition and Health Survey, the body mass indexes (BMIs) of rural residents born during the famine years of 1959, 1960, 1961 were compared with those born in 1964. The health consequence of famine on the adulthood BMI was evident in women; the mean BMIs of the women were significantly higher in the three famine groups than that in the control group born in 1964 (P < 0.01). After adjustment for regional differences within China, the prevalences of overweight in women were significantly higher in the three famine groups (P < 0.01) and of obesity in the 1959 and 1960 groups. (P < 0.01). Such differences were not found in men. The higher risks of overweight and obesity in women were caused by malnutrition in fetal life. A strategy for preventing low birth weight should be formulated by the government to prevent chronic disease in adulthood.

MODELING LAND-USE CHANGES IN A GLOBAL CGE: ASSESSING THE EU BIOFUEL MANDATES WITH THE MIRAGE-BioF MODEL

Abstract: Evaluation of indirect land-use changes due to biofuels has been very controversial over the past few years, as doubts have arisen about the environmental benefits of growing crops for use as a substitute for fossil fuels. This paper presents an overview of the MIRAGE-BioF CGE modeling approach to biofuel policies assessment. Our framework introduces new innovative features that strengthen the relevance of the methodology. In particular, a more detailed and consistent database has been developed to represent the sectors and substitution mechanisms at play. Moreover, the model used has been improved in several important ways to better reproduce the agricultural supply function and land-use change. However, we also emphasize the critical uncertainties that prevent us from being able to provide a precise two-digit figure on the extent of land-use change and associated emissions. We illustrate these efforts with the case of EU biofuel mandates implications. We show that emissions from the current national targets in the EU could lead to an indirect effect of land-use expansion ranging from 1 ha per TJ consumed to 12 ha per TJ with a median value of 3.4 ha per TJ. The associated emissions in a 20-year period would range from 10 gCO2/MJ to 115 gCO2/MJ, with a median value of 38 gCO2/MJ. These results seriously question the sustainability of the current EU biofuels policy and emphasize the even more dramatic effect of a biodiesel-oriented EU biofuel program, which was found to emit two times more than an EU ethanol-oriented program.