Ifpri Podcast

Rooted in Biodiversity: Transforming Landscapes through Nature-Positive Agriculture by International Food Policy Research Institute

IFPRI-AMIS Seminar Series | IFPRI Policy Seminar Navigating Risk: Challenges in Agricultural Commodity Shipping and Insurance Markets Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) February 18, 2026 Shipping is at the heart of global agricultural trade, with more than 80 percent of staple crops and oilseeds moving by sea, yet maritime routes have become increasingly uncertain. Attacks on vessels in strategic corridors, drought‑restricted passages, and sharply rising war‑risk insurance premiums have created levels of exposure not seen in years. Bulk agricultural cargoes are inherently sensitive to handling and transit conditions. Physical vulnerabilities—affecting the cargo or the vessel—can lead to complex, costly claims, with insurers tightening terms as geopolitical and climate‑related risks escalate. Disruptions to bulk shipping affect freight costs, trade balances, and ultimately, the economic stability of import‑dependent countries. Insurance markets, particularly war‑risk und

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Promoting Resilience through Improved Varieties, Quality Seed, and Better Seed Systems: Lessons from Nigeria Part of the Fragility to Stability Seminar Series February 11, 2026 Across sub-Saharan Africa, small-scale, resource-poor farmers are disproportionately affected by climatic and market shocks. Providing them with the tools and technologies to manage these shocks is critical to building resilience, especially in Nigeria, with its considerable diversity. This seminar will showcase novel evidence of how improved crop varieties, quality seed, and better seed systems can lead to improved outcomes in productivity, resilience, and nutrition across several Nigerian states. The event will bring together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to present and reflect on this evidence, providing insights into adoption, demand, willingness to pay, complementarity of inputs, yields, and household consumption. The discussion will center on lessons for promoting improved i

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Advancing Poverty Graduation in Fragile Contexts: A New Agenda for Research and Policy Co-organized by IFPRI and Mercy Corps January 21, 2026 Multifaceted livelihoods interventions that target households in extreme poverty are extremely effective in reducing extreme poverty, with consistent gains in income, consumption, savings, and psychosocial well-being. These interventions, often called graduation models, have been widely evaluated, but most evidence comes from stable rural settings. In fragile and conflict-affected environments where poverty is increasingly concentrated, household-level interventions may not be sufficient to drive sustained poverty reduction. In today’s climate of constrained funding and compounding crises, there is a pressing need to understand how to adapt, scale, and sustain graduation models to deliver more cost-effective, resilient, and inclusive outcomes in contexts marked by fragility, displacement, and recurrent climate- and conflict-relate

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Reducing Food Loss and Waste: A Food Systems Perspective Co-organized by IFPRI and the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition, Cornell University January 13, 2026 Reducing food loss and waste is essential for building more efficient value chains, lowering the climate footprint of agri‑food systems, and improving farmer livelihoods. This seminar brings together new insights and emerging evidence on how to tackle this challenge from multiple angles. In the first segment, Jocelyn Boiteau and Prabhu Pingali will share key findings from their new book, Wasted Potential: Tackling Food Loss and Waste Across Transforming Food Systems. Their work takes a holistic view of where losses occur from production through consumption, and how smarter policies and investments can meaningfully reduce them. The book importantly also highlights the need for better metrics and approaches to understanding where and why losses occur. This book launch will be followed by presentat

Special Event IFPRI Policy Seminar Shaping Food Policy in a Changing World: Research Priorities for Greater Impact Organized by IFPRI, with support from the Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation December 15, 2025 In today’s fast-changing world and evolving food systems, the need for evidence-based food policy has never been more urgent – demanding research that is timely, inclusive, and tailored to context. Reliable data and rigorous analysis are essential, but research must also evolve – and become more timely, more relevant, and more inclusive of diverse voices and disciplines. Strengthening how we generate, communicate, and apply evidence is key to ensuring food systems deliver better outcomes for people and the planet. Join us at IFPRI for a high-level seminar that brings together researchers, policymakers, development partners and leading food system thinkers who have helped deliver science-based impact around the world to explore: • The role of food policy research in shaping past policies

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar The Impact of Global Change on Food Security in 2050: Assessing the Risks Through the Lens of Food Trade Organized by IFPRI in partnership with MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab/FACT Alliance November 19, 2025 Trade is crucial to achieving food security. The Jameel Index for Food Trade and Vulnerability (Jameel Index) is a valuable new tool to guide policy and investment decisions that support sustainable international development and food security through food trade. The Index provides food trade vulnerability scores for more than 180 countries by synthesizing global indicators into a composite vulnerability index to better understand how food trade dynamics can affect food security. It combines a range of meta-indicators to assess food trade vulnerability for nine staple crops and economically important agricultural commodities. The online platform also allows users to customize the Index to reflect their policy or investment questions. This seminar w

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Trading the Crosswinds: Macroeconomic Outlook, Trade Policy Uncertainty, and Agricultural Commodity Markets Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) November 18, 2025 Prospects for global grain and oilseed production remain broadly favorable, but the agricultural trade environment continues to face significant uncertainties. Trade policy developments—including the potential for retaliatory measures—are reshaping traditional trade flows and creating challenges for market participants. These shifts are occurring alongside broader macroeconomic factors such as currency movements, rising energy prices, and demand fluctuations, all of which add complexity to global supply chains. Join us for this seminar featuring the World Bank’s latest Commodity Market Outlook, which will offer insights into the macroeconomic drivers influencing agricultural trade and price dynamics. It will include an update on short-term market fundamentals for wheat, maize

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Empowerment in Crisis: Gender-Responsive Solutions for Fragile Food Systems Co-organized by IFPRI and the CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security | Part of the Fragility to Stability Seminar Series November 12, 2025 Crises—whether driven by conflict, climate shocks, or economic instability—rarely affect everyone equally. Women and girls often bear the heaviest burdens, facing heightened food insecurity, disrupted livelihoods, and increased risks to their health and safety. Yet, women are not only victims of crisis—they are powerful drivers of resilience and recovery. “Empowerment in Crisis: Gender-Responsive Solutions for Fragile Food Systems” brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to examine how gender inequalities are deepened by crises, and how response strategies can be designed to reverse these patterns. The discussion will highlight practical approaches that place women at the center of crisis response and recovery—strengthening t

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Informing Crisis Response in Sudan Co-organized by IFPRI and the CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security | Part of the Fragility to Stability Seminar Series October 22, 2025 The recent resurgence of armed conflicts in Africa is increasing the need and urgency for investments in shock-responsive humanitarian and social assistance programs. Armed conflicts both increase the need for aid and greatly complicate delivery of humanitarian services to vulnerable populations. In addition, humanitarian organizations are facing an increasing funding gap because of dwindling donor aid. These challenges are forcing humanitarian organizations to revisit the effectiveness and cost-efficacy of their programs and services for conflict-affected populations. The choice and relative efficacy of alternative modalities and delivery of humanitarian or social assistance programs in these communities remains an active area of debate. The armed conflict in Sudan, which erupted in A

IFPRI-AMIS Seminar Series | IFPRI Policy Seminar Navigating the Food Security Nexus: Commodity Prices, Inflation, and Exchange Rates Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) October 21, 2025 Join us for a seminar exploring the complex interplay between global food commodity prices and domestic food price inflation, and the implications for food security. Drawing on recent analytical work and market monitoring, the session will examine how international price movements transmit through domestic markets, often exacerbated by exchange rate fluctuations and macroeconomic volatility. Fluctuations in exchange rates pose an additional and compounding challenge in how global food commodity prices affect domestic markets. Even when international commodity prices level off, a depreciating currency can still lead to higher local food prices, especially in countries that rely heavily on imports. We will examine why food inflation has disproportionately affected low-income countries—where

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Tackling extreme poverty and financing for food systems in Africa Organized by IFPRI and partners on the margins of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings October 17, 2025 Join speakers from IFPRI, IFAD, UNU-WIDER and the World Bank for a high-level seminar exploring two major African priorities – poverty reduction and food systems transformation in sub-Saharan Africa. Speakers will highlight the need to make progress on reducing poverty in fragile and conflict-affected areas across the continent, and the need to examine how most effectively to finance food systems amidst declining external funding flows. An inaugural World Bank- UNU-WIDER report on poverty and fragility, being previewed at this seminar, indicates that Sub-Saharan Africa has become the epicenter of the poverty–fragility nexus, with some 70% of people in fragile and conflict affected areas now living in the region and half of the world’s extreme poor projected to reside in fragile SSA states by 2030. The

CGIAR Seminar Series | Series/Special Event The EU Deforestation Regulation: Policy Implications and Research Frontiers Co-organized by IFPRI, CGIAR, and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) October 14, 2025 In June 2023, the European Union (EU) adopted its Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR)—a landmark policy designed to reduce global deforestation and forest degradation driven by EU consumption. Under the regulation, key commodities with the biggest impacts on deforestation—soy, cattle, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, wood, and natural rubber—cannot be placed on the EU market or exported unless they are free of deforestation and legally produced. The EUDR was scheduled for entry into force in December 2025 and in June 2026 for small and micro enterprises, but a one-year delay was proposed by the European Commission on 23 September, due to capacity concerns with the IT system set up for due diligence reporting by businesses. Join us for this virtual event conveni

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Mobility in a Fragile World: Evidence to Inform Policy Co-organized by IFPRI, the CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security, and the Louvain Institute of Data Analysis and Modeling in Economics and Statistics (LIDAM), IRES | Part of the Fragility to Stability Seminar Series September 18, 2025 Migration today reflects a complex interplay of demographic pressures, conflict, poverty, climate change, and economic shocks. Worldwide, one in every seven people is a migrant—that is, someone who changes his or her country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration—or a refugee forced to leave his or her home, often without warning, for reasons including war, violence, or persecution. Over the past two decades, international migration and forced displacement have surged, with more than 100 million additional people on the move—a large share of whom originate from rural areas, driven by a lack of economic opportunities, environmental degradation, and in

IFPRI-AMIS Seminar Series | IFPRI Policy Seminar Fertilizers in a Shifting Global Landscape – Trends, Trade, and Sustainability Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) September 16, 2025 Fertilizers—both mineral and organic—are indispensable inputs in modern agriculture. Yet, recent years have seen unprecedented volatility in fertilizer prices, trade flows, and policy responses, reshaping the landscape for producers, traders, and farmers alike. This event will explore the evolving dynamics of the global fertilizer market and its critical role in food security and agricultural sustainability. Drawing on the latest research and market intelligence from AMIS, FAO’s Food Outlook and IFPRI, this session will unpack the key drivers behind recent market disruptions and recovery patterns, including the environmental footprint of fertilizer use, and a variety of policy developments affecting market access and affordability. Opening Remarks Monika Tothova, Senior Economist, Food and A

Book Launch | IFPRI Policy Seminar What Do We Know About the Future of Food Systems? Co-organized by IFPRI and the CGIAR This event is also part of the Policy Innovations Global Webinar Series of the CGIAR Science Program on Policy Innovations July 23, 2025 Food systems have achieved remarkable progress in recent decades, but moving forward, they will face significant challenges in delivering the many outputs and services—such as poverty alleviation, nutrition and health, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability—we expect and need. By combining sophisticated analysis and close engagement with stakeholders, we can identify and explore the likely impacts of different future scenarios based on alternative development pathways and external factors. These results can help inform the decisions we make about food systems today. This event marks the launch of What Do We Know About the Future of Food Systems?, a collection of short chapters that synthesize current knowledge about different aspects of the future

IFPRI Policy Seminar The Future of Youth Jobs in Agrifood Systems in Africa Hosted by IFPRI, the CGIAR Policy Innovations Program, the CGIAR Gender Equality and Inclusion Accelerator, and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) July 15, 2025 Africa’s population is the youngest of any region, affording the continent an adequate workforce to drive economic and social transformation. However, African economies are finding it difficult to create employment opportunities for this “youth bulge”—opportunities that are needed to advance on SDG target 8.6 to substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET). As of 2020, more than 20 percent of young men and women in Africa fell into this category. African youth wield growing political and social power as they vent their frustrations about the lack of opportunities. Although youth-led protests and their underlying causes are not new in Africa, the recent movements represent an important moment for the region’s yo

Policy Seminar | IFPRI Policy Seminar Worsening food insecurity, waning response capacity: Options for a better way forward Co-organized by IFPRI, the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) and the CGIAR Science Program on Food Frontiers and Security | Part of the Fragility to Stability Seminar Series July 2, 2025 Food crises arise from the complex interplay of conflict, poverty, climate variability, and economic shocks, resulting in acute food insecurity among vulnerable populations. According to the latest Global Report on Food Crises (2025), the number of people facing severe levels of acute food insecurity has tripled over the past decade, rising from around 100 million in 2016 to nearly 300 million people in 2024. The report warns that intensifying conflict in areas prone to food crises could worsen these conditions, policy uncertainty in major economies could slow income growth around the world, and budget cuts could erode humanitarian assistance, as well as capacities to monitor and anticipate dr

IFPRI Policy Seminar Fertilizer, soil health, and economic shocks: Policy lessons learned from recent events Organized by IFPRI, Food Policy, and the CGIAR Science Program on Policy Innovations June 11, 2025 Join us for a discussion of key findings from a recent special issue of Food Policy exploring the complex interactions between fertilizer use, soil health management, and economic shocks in various agricultural systems. Governments around the world have long implemented policies to enhance agricultural productivity through inorganic fertilizer application and soil management, yet recent global disruptions, from the 2020–2022 food, fuel, and fertilizer price crisis to ongoing climatic uncertainties, have challenged the effectiveness of these interventions. Authors and editors of the special issue will present evidence on the medium-term effects of rising fertilizer prices and their implications for global demand, highlighting the disproportionate effects on smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income c

Global Food Policy Report IFPRI Policy Seminar 2025 Global Food Policy Report | Food Policy: Lessons and Priorities for a Changing World May 28, 2025 Over the last 50 years, the world’s food systems have evolved tremendously amid major economic, environmental, and social changes. Throughout this period, policy research has played a critical role in providing evidence and analysis to inform decision-making that supports agricultural growth, better livelihoods, and improved food security, nutrition, and well-being for all. IFPRI’s 2025 Global Food Policy Report—a special edition marking the Institute’s 50th anniversary. This year’s flagship report examines the evolution and impact of food policy research and assesses how it can better equip policymakers to meet future challenges and opportunities. Despite meaningful progress over the last half-century, conflict, climate change, rising inequality, and geopolitical tensions remain major challenges to reducing poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. As we approach 2