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.

Global Scenarios for Biofuels: Impacts and Implications

Abstract: Rising world fuel prices, the growing demand for energy, and concerns about global warming are the key factors driving the interest in renewable energy sources and in bioenergy, in particular. Within a global context, fossil fuel consumption still dominates the world energy market (figure 1). However, the uncertainty in future supply, currently unsustainable patterns of energy consumption, and the costs of expanding proven reserves of fossil fuels have lead many energy analysts and managers around the world to seek alternatives from other more renewable resources, such as bioenergy. The rapid increase in oil prices since the late 1990s (figure 2) strengthens the rationale for seeking cheaper supply alternatives. With oil prices well above the U.S. $60-70 per barrel level, biofuels have become competitive with petroleum in many countries even with existing technologies. Major agricultural commodity prices have increased significantly since 2002, showing increased correlation with oil prices in recent years (figure 2). In addition to potentially reducing the reliance of energy-driven economies on limited fossil fuel sources, bioenergy has continued to receive increasing attention from those concerned with promoting agricultural and environmental sustainability through the reduction of carbon emissions, which is an important component of climate change mitigation. Bioenergy is also considered by some to be a potentially significant contributor toward the economic development of rural areas, and a means of reducing poverty through the creation of employment and improving the quality of lives-leading closer to the achievement of important Millennium Development Goals (FAO). Globally, bioethanol production is mostly concentrated in Brazil and the United States, which together accounted for nearly 90% of bioethanol

Economic Development: The History of an Idea

Abstract: Economic development has been for many years the dominant national policy objective of the countries in the Third World, but there has been little consensus on the goals and definitions of development. Focusing on the era since World War II, H. W. Arndt traces the history of thought about economic development to show readers, in nontechnical terms, what the development objective has meant to political and economic theorists, policymakers, and politicians from Adam Smith to Ayatollah Khomeini.

Dietary Diversity Is a Good Predictor of the Micronutrient Density of the Diet of 6- to 23-Month-Old Children in Madagascar

Abstract: This study was conducted in the context of a multicountry validation of indicators of diet quality and had the following objectives: 1) to determine how well dietary diversity scores (DDS) predict diet quality of children aged 6-23 mo in urban Madagascar; and 2) to assess whether the prediction was improved by changing the food groups included and by imposing a minimum amount restriction. Correlation and regression were used to describe the relationship between 4 diversity scores (2 based on 8 and 7 food groups, the latter excluding fats and oils, and 2 that imposed a 10-g minimum restriction on food groups) and the mean micronutrient density adequacy (MMDA) of the diet. MMDA, the dietary quality score used, was calculated as the mean individual micronutrient density adequacy for 9 or 10 "problem" nutrients (depending on age and breast-feeding status), each capped at 100%. We used sensitivity and specificity analysis to determine how well DDS predicted MMDA below or above selected cut-offs. All scores were positively correlated with MMDA. When the fats and oils group was omitted, correlations were 10-16% higher for breast-fed children and 19-28% higher for non-breast-fed children. Correlations were only slightly improved with the 10-g minimum. With the 7-food group score, a score of