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: Agriculture & Food security. The organization has 1217 authors who have published 4952 publications receiving 218436 citations.

Precautionary Saving, Credit Constraints, and Irreversible Investment: Theory and Evidence From Serniarid India

Abstract: This article investigates the extent to which poor households are discouraged from making a non-divisible but profitable investment. Using data on irrigation wells in India, we estimate the parameters of a structural model of irreversible investment. Results show that poor farmers fail to undertake a profitable investment that they could, in principle, self-finance because the nondivisibility of the investment puts it out of their reach. Irreversibility constitutes an additional disincentive to invest. Simulations show that the availability of credit can dramatically increase investment in irrigation and that interest-rate subsidization has little impact.

Recent Perspectives on Trade and Inequality

Abstract: The 1990's dealt a blow to traditional Heckscher-Ohlin analysis of the relationship between trade and income inequality, as it became clear that rising inequality in low-income countries and other features of the data were inconsistent with that model. As a result, economists moved away from trade as a plausible explanation for rising income inequality. In recent years, however, a number of new mechanisms have been explored through which trade can affect (and usually increase) income inequality. These include within-industry effects due to heterogeneous-firms; effects of offshoring of tasks; effects on incomplete contracting; and effects of labor-market frictions. A number these mechanisms have received substantial empirical support.

Undernutrition, Poor Feeding Practices, and Low Coverage of Key Nutrition Interventions

Abstract: To estimate the global burden of malnutrition and highlight data on child feeding practices and coverage of key nutrition interventions. METHODS: Linear mixed-effects modeling was used to estimate preva- lence rates and numbers of underweight and stunted children according to United Nations region from 1990 to 2010 by using surveys from 147 countries. Indicators of infant and young child feeding practices and inter- vention coverage were calculated from Demographic and Health Survey data from 46 developing countries between 2002 and 2008. RESULTS: In 2010, globally, an estimated 27% (171 million) of children younger than 5 years were stunted and 16% (104 million) were under- weight. Africa and Asia have more severe burdens of undernutrition, but the problem persists in some Latin American countries. Few children in the developing world benefit from optimal breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. Fewer than half of infants were put to the breast within 1 hour of birth, and 36% of infants younger than 6 months were exclusively breastfed. Fewer than one-third of 6- to 23-month-old children met the minimum criteria for dietary diversity, and only 50% received the mini- mum number of meals. Although effective health-sector- based interven- tions for tackling childhood undernutrition are known, intervention- coverage data are available for only a small proportion of them and reveal mostly low coverage. CONCLUSIONS: Undernutrition continues to be high and progress toward reaching Millennium Development Goal 1 has been slow. Previously unrec- ognized extremely poor breastfeeding and complementary feeding prac- tices and lack of comprehensive data on intervention coverage require urgent action to improve child nutrition. Pediatrics 2011;128:e000