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Non-PR, IFPRI1; GRP33; Theme 4; Subtheme 4.1;Food systems: disaster prevention, relief, and rebuilding after crises; Health, Diet and Nutrition; RENEWAL, FCND, In a report written by international experts in agricultural economics, health, anthropology, and nutrition...the authors examine the impacts of HIV and AIDS on labor markets and wages, household income and consumption dynamics, and on the agricultural sector as a whole; analyze the ways in which households respond to prime-age illness, death, and food insecurity; and study the implications of such local responses for the roles of national and international actors in addressing the AIDS-hunger nexus." -- From Text

Non-PR, IFPRI1; SAI; Governance; CAPRi, EPTD; MTID, Irrigation is critical to food security and economic growth in contemporary India. The performance of irrigation systems is of serious concern to farmers who rely on them for their crops and livelihoods and to governments that have invested heavily in their development. The most severe problems facing Indian irrigation systems are the increasing costs of new schemes, the huge backlog of incomplete schemes, and the increasing neglect of existing systems. Large-scale canal irrigation systems, in particular, are in poor condition: they are not properly maintained, operations are inadequate, water supplies do not reach the end of systems, and the timing of water supply is unreliable. The wide gap between actual and desirable performance threatens the sustainability of irrigated agriculture. How did this state of affairs come to pass?....[The authors conclude that] more than just structural changes are necessary to achieve adequate reform and improve the performance and long-term sustainability of irrigation systems. Changes in attitudes are also required in how government agencies view farmers and how farmers depend on the government." -- From Text

Non-PR, IFPRI1, Since the early 1980s, almost all African governments have embarked on economic reform programs to reduce state intervention in the economy and to allow markets to play a larger role. In the agricultural sector these programs were designed to eliminate price controls on agricultural commodities, disband or privatize state farms and state-owned enterprises, reduce the heavy taxation of agricultural exports, phase out subsidies on fertilizer and other inputs, and allow greater competition in agricultural markets. These measures have been highly controversial. Proponents argue that the reforms have improved market efficiency, reduced budget deficits, stimulated export production, and increased the share of the final price received by farmers. Opponents argue that the reforms have destabilized agricultural prices, widened the income distribution gap, and reduced access to low-cost inputs. Reforming Agricultural Markets in Africa by Mylène Kherallah, Christopher Delgado, Eleni Gabre-Madhin, Nicholas Minot, and Michael Johnson, published by The Johns Hopkins University Press for IFPRI, reviews the experience of the last 20 years. It evaluates the degree to which the reforms have actually been implemented, their impact on agricultural production and prices, and the net effect on the well-being of African households." --Author's Introduction.

Non-PR, IFPRI1, The initial success of microfinance programs in the 1970s led pioneers to think that many essential problems of the poor might be resolved by access to credit alone -- the ability to acquire assets, to start businesses, to finance emergency needs and to insure against illness and disaster. Part of that vision has certainly been realized. But much remains to be done. Most microfinance institutions (MFIs) are still small and vulnerable to constraints on their resources and to the risks inherent in single-issue portfolios. Most depend upon donors and governments to remain in operation. There is much waste and duplication, and some mature programs have declining loan recovery rates, even as competition for borrowers rises from conventional banks and finance companies. Analyzing the failures of credit programs aimed at small farmers and the successes of other programs showed the need for new understanding of the ways that poor households make spending, borrowing, and saving decisions. This area was previously neglected in policymaking on food security issues. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) supported household surveys in nine Asian and African countries during the 1990s that analyzed formal and informal financial transactions, and it also evaluated the success of innovative approaches at some MFIs. The overall goal was to clarify the conditions under which state investment in microfinance programs might improve life for poor people more than state investment of the same funds in education, health, nutrition, or infrastructure development. The research led to the concept of the "critical triangle of microfinance" -- the need for any MFI to manage simultaneously the problems of outreach (reaching the poor both in terms of numbers and depth of poverty), financial sustainability (meeting operating and financial costs over the long term), and impact (having discernible effect upon clients' quality of life). This book elaborates on these objectives and

Non-PR, IFPRI1, In World Food Trends and Future Food Security, an IFPRI Food Policy Statement, Director General Per Pinstrup-Andersen looks at recent world food trends and asks if the positive production trends of the past 30 years are likely to continue. Or, as 100 million new people are added to the world's population each year, will Malthus' prediction of increasing food scarcity come true? Will food scarcity, hunger, and disease related to malnutrition become even more widespread in the next 20-30 years?

Non-PR, IFPRI1

Non-PR, IFPRI1

Non-PR, IFPRI1

Non-PR, IFPRI1

Non-PR, IFPRI1