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Scaling up climate-smart agriculture in South Asia: Synthesis report
No full textSouth Asia is primarily an agrarian economy facing the five transitions of population growth, urbanization, increasing income, shift toward animal-based food, and climate change simultaneously. In the process of ensuring food sufficiency under the intertwined challenges posed by these ongoing transitions, the boundaries of natural resources have been violated with adverse impacts on the health of the ecosystem. The application of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is viewed as an important strategy for imparting resilience to the food system in addressing the interconnected issues of food security through improved productivity and adaptation to and mitigation of the impacts of climate change. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) South Asia, in collaboration with its national partners, charted out and pursued studies for the policy and institutions required in upscaling CSA for the extensive South Asia region taking these broad CSA objectives in consideration. The important subthemes of this report include prioritization of CSA technologies for different agroclimatic regions, government policies for CSA, index-based insurance and climate risk management, and climate-smart investment and its implications on food security and farmers’ income.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP7; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; DCASARCGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS
Rural household welfare in Papua New Guinea: Food security and nutrition challenges
No full textPapua New Guinea continues to encourage a policy focus on food and nutrition security. The PNG National Nutrition Policy (2016-2026) and Nutrition Strategic Action Plan (2018-2022) (NSAP) set a path to improve coordination, secure sufficient funding, and improve technical capacity of nutrition-focused pro gram implementation. As policy prioritizes improved nutrition outcomes, it is important to understand the cost that households face of securing a higher level of nutrition. Ensuring a healthy diet that meets nutrition standards is relatively expensive in PNG. The analysis presented in this paper, which uses detailed household food and non-food consumption data suggests that 4/5 of households in the survey sample live below the healthy diet poverty line (which sets a calorie threshold and defines healthy diet nutrition targets). That is, these households do not have the income available (or do not consume sufficient food and non-food goods) to meet their basic needs which includes securing a nutritious diet that meets food based die tary guidelines.Non-PRIFPRI1; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; Papua New Guinea Food Policy Strengthening; Capacity Strengthening; ReSAKSS AsiaDSG
Statistics from space: next-generation agricultural production information for enhanced monitoring of food security in Mozambique: Project status update (H1 2023)
No full textObjective: Produce and disseminate accurate crop production statistics data leveraging satellite remote sensing data for timely food policy decisions in Mozambique.Non-PRIFPRI1; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; Statistics from SpaceNatural Resources and Resilience (NRR); Transformation Strategie
Climate variability and simultaneous breadbasket yield shocks as observed in long-term yield records
No full textThat climate variability and change can potentially force multiple simultaneous breadbasket crop yield shocks has been established. But research quantifying the mechanisms behind such simultaneous shocks has been constrained by short records of crop yields. Here we compile a dataset of subnational crop yields in 25 countries dating back to 1900 to study the frequency and trends in multiple breadbasket yield shocks and how large-scale climate anomalies on interannual timescales have affected multiple breadbasket yield shocks over the last century. We find that major simultaneous breadbasket yield shocks have occurred in at least three, four, or five of nine breadbaskets 10.3%, 2.3% and 1.1% of the time for maize and 18.4%, 4.6% and 2.3% of the time for wheat. Furthermore, we find that multiple breadbasket yield shocks decreased in frequency even as those breadbaskets experience increasingly frequent climate-related shocks. For both maize and wheat breadbaskets, there were fewer simultaneous yield shocks during the 1975–2017 time period as compared to 1931–1975. Finally, we find that interannual modes of climate variability - such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) - have all affected the relative probability of simultaneous yield shocks in pairs of breadbaskets by up to 20–40% in both maize and wheat breadbaskets. While past literature has focused on the effects of ENSO, we find that at the global scale the NAO affects the overall number of wheat yield shocks most strongly despite only affecting northern hemisphere breadbaskets.PRIFPRI3; ISIForesight and Policy Modeling (FPM); Transformation Strategie
Evaluating preschool linear growth velocities: an interim reference illustrated in Nepal
No full textObjective:
An annualised linear growth velocity (LGV) reference can identify groups of children at risk of growing poorly. As a single velocity reference for all preschool ages does not exist, we present an interim tool, derived from published, normative growth studies, for detecting growth faltering, illustrating its use in Nepali preschoolers.
Design:
The WHO Child Growth Velocity Standard was adapted to derive 12-month increments and conjoined to the Tanner-Whitehouse Height Velocity Reference data yielding contiguous preschool linear growth annualised velocities. Linear restricted cubic spline regressions were fit to generate sex-specific median and standard normal deviate velocities for ages 0 through 59 months. LGV Z-scores (LGVZ) were constructed, and growth faltering was defined as LGVZ < –2.
Setting:
Use of the reference was illustrated with data from Nepal’s Tarai region.
Participants:
Children contributing the existing growth references and a cohort of 4276 Nepali children assessed from 2013 to 2016.
Results:
Fitted, smoothed LGV reference curves displayed monotonically decreasing 12-month LGV, exemplified by male/female annual medians of 26·4/25·3, 12·1/12·7, 9·1/9·4, 7·7/7·8 and 7/7 cm/years, starting at 0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months, respectively. Applying the referent, 31·1 %, 28·6 % and 29·3 % of Nepali children <6, 6–11 and 12–23 months of age, and ∼6 % of children 24–59 months, exhibited growth faltering. Under 24 months, faltering velocities were more prevalent in girls (34·4 %) than boys (25·3 %) (P < 0·05) but comparable (∼6 %) in older preschoolers.
Conclusions:
A LGV reference, concatenated from extant data, can identify preschool groups at-risk of growth faltering. Application and limitations are discussed.PRIFPRI3; ISI; DCA; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; Feed the Future InitiativeNutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH); Food and Nutrition Polic
Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in fruit and vegetable value chains in Vietnam
No full textStimulating nutritious diets features high on policy agendas, but designing effective interventions requires insights which are grounded in evidence and reflections on the food environment context and the needs of specific actors involved. This study focuses on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which play a key role in Fruit and Vegetable (FV) supply, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas. Understanding the barriers that specific types of MSMEs face in expanding their FV businesses is pivotal for improving the delivery of FV.
The study surveyed 240 MSMEs involved in the FV value chains in the Moc Chau (rural) and Dong Anh (peri-urban) districts, including collectors, wholesalers, processors, and retailers. The survey, and complementing focus group discussions, documented the importance of FV trade in MSME business models, the willingness of MSMEs to expand their businesses, and their perceived barriers in doing so. Next, the study examined interfirm linkages and whether these are conducive to expanding FV trade. Finally, a review of national policies yielded an understanding of whether the barriers identified are actively being targeted by the government.Non-PRIFPRI1; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Suppl
Women’s empowerment, poverty, and crop productivity: Evidence from Uganda
No full textEvidence suggests that women’s limited access to resources, agency, and associated achievements affect agricul tural productivity in much of Africa and Asia. These relationships are further mediated by poverty, which affects the livelihood strategies that are available to, and pursued by, rural women and men. This policy note provides insights on how the relationship between women’s empowerment and crop productivity differs for households at different levels of poverty. The findings suggest that better-off households with more-empowered women achieve higher agricultural productivity, while the opposite holds for income-poor households with more-empowered women. Thus, to be successful, resilience strategies need to not only be gender-sensitive but also consider addi tional time and other constraints of income-poor women farmers.Non-PR1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; IFPRI1; Reaching Smallholder WomenNatural Resources and Resilience (NRR); Transformation Strategie
Agricultural production in Tajikistan: Evidence from twelve districts in Khatlon Province, 2015–2023 [in Tajik]
No full textNon-PRIFPRI1; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; TEAADevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG); Transformation Strategie
Women’s Empowerment in Agrifood Governance (WEAGov) assessment framework: A pilot study in Nigeria
No full textWomen’s equal participation and leadership in political and public life can boost a country’s long-run economic growth, foster social inclusion, and help countries reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Beyond these important outcomes, women’s inclusion in public life is a basic human right: women deserve a role in making decisions, controlling resources, and shaping policies. Despite the importance of women’s voices and their empowerment in policy and decision-making processes, it is far easier to lament their absence than to define and measure them. We know that political empowerment, measured in terms of the share of women in government ministries and parliament, is low and is the weakest dimension in the Global Gender Gap. Yet such national statistics, while important and informative, risk mismeasuring women’s participation and influence in public life and do not give policymakers and advocacy organizations traction on specific gaps and opportunities for increasing women’s voice in policymaking. With this situation in mind and focusing on agrifood systems, which are crucial for delivering the SDGs, we developed an assessment framework—Women’s Empowerment in Agrifood Governance (WEAGov)— to assess women’s voice and empowerment in national policy processes in agrifood systems. This paper presents the first pilot-testing of WEAGov in Nigeria. In this paper, we present how the WEAGov tool works in the Nigerian context, analyze the data, and provide diagnostic on the status of women’s voice and empowerment in the agrifood policy process. As discussed in this paper, the pilot-testing in Nigeria provides useful lessons toward improving the measurement for future use and provides valuable policy insights on critical entry points for increasing women’s voice and empowerment in the national agrifood policy process.Non-PR5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; G Cross-cutting gender theme; IFPRI1; DCA; Capacity Strengthening; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture IndexInnovation Policy and Scaling (IPS); Transformation Strategies; Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Food and Nutrition Polic
Mozambique’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation
No full textMozambique was one of the fastest-growing countries in sub-Saharan Africa between 2009 and 2014, with annual growth averaging about 7 percent (INE 2020; World Bank 2023a). However, adverse economic circumstances resulted in a significant weakening of economic growth, which averaged only 4.6 percent over the period 2014 to 2019 (INE 2020; World Bank 2023a). Restrictive COVID-19 policymeasures introduced in 2020 further stifled the economy, resulting in negative growth in 2020 and low growth in 2021. Like many other countries, Mozambique was adversely affected by global commodity market disruptions resulting from the onset of Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 and the global recession in 2023 (Arndt et al. 2023; Diao and Thurlow 2023). Mozambique’s growth is expected to recover in the coming years, with projections of 5.0 percent growth in 2023 and 8.0 percent in 2024 (World Bank 2023b), suggesting the economy is inching back toward its pre-pandemic growth trajectory.Non-PRIFPRI1; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; Capacity Strengthening; AFSdiagnosticsDevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG); Foresight and Policy Modeling (FPM); Innovation Policy and Scaling (IPS); Transformation Strategie