Beans, Beans, and the power of Genes

Modeling impacts of faster productivity growth to inform the CGIAR initiative on Crops to End Hunger

In 2017–2018, a group of international development funding agencies launched the Crops to End Hunger initiative to modernize public plant breeding in lower-income countries. To inform that initiative, USAID asked the International Food Policy Research Institute and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service to estimate the impacts…

Climate Change and hunger: Estimating costs of adaptation in the agrifood system

Income, consumer preferences, and the future of livestock-derived food demand

In recent decades there has been a sustained and substantial shift in human diets across the globe towards including more livestock-derived foods. Continuing debates scrutinize how these dietary shifts affect human health, the natural environment, and livelihoods. However, amidst these debates there remain unanswered questions about how demand for livestock-derived…

Rural transformation and the future of cereal-based agri-food systems

Rural transformation is an inevitable and fundamental process of development. However, the speed and dimensions of rural transformation can affect investments in major staples such as maize, wheat and rice, which continue to play an important role in agri-food systems around the globe. This paper investigates the impacts of rural…

Agricultural growth and sex-disaggregated employment in Africa: Future perspectives under different investment scenarios

Literature is scanty on how public agricultural investments can help reducing the impact of future challenges such as climate change and population pressure on national economies. The objective of this study is to assess the medium and long-term effects of alternative agricultural research and development investment scenarios on male and…

Combining the effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on protein, iron, and zinc availability and projected climate change on global diets: a modelling study

Summary Background Increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) affect global nutrition via effects on agricultural productivity and nutrient content of food crops. We combined these effects with economic projections to estimate net changes in nutrient availability between 2010 and 2050. Methods In this modelling study, we used the International…

Gaps between fruit and vegetable production, demand, and recommended consumption at global and national levels: an integrated modelling study

Summary Background Current diets are detrimental to both human and planetary health and shifting towards more balanced, predominantly plant-based diets is seen as crucial to improving both. Low fruit and vegetable consumption is itself a major nutritional problem. We aim to better quantify the gap between future fruit and vegetable…