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Conference: Navigating Sudan’s conflict – research insights and policy implications

Mar 24th, 2024 • by HALA ABUSHAMA, KHALID SIDDIG, OLIVER KIRUI, MOSAB AHMED, AND PAUL DOROSH

Since the onset of civil war in April 2023, millions of people in Sudan have suffered from loss of livelihoods, destruction of infrastructure, and disruption of essential services. With the war still underway, Sudan is facing the world's largest displacement crisis—with 6.5 million displaced people internally and another 1.7 million driven into neighboring countries—and a surge in acute food insecurity, soaring poverty levels, and extensive losses in income, employment, and productive assets.

Who’s afraid of high fertilizer prices?

Mar 21st, 2024 • by Brendan Rice and Rob Vos

During 2021 and 2022, global food and fertilizer prices spiked due to several overlapping factors. Demand rose as the world economy emerged from the COVID-19 recession; global supply chains suffered major disruptions associated with the uneven recovery; and the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine—both key food and fertilizer producers—generated yet another shock.

Evaluating Fertilizer Subsidies in Malawi

Mar 15th, 2024 • by Sara Gustafson

Since the 1950s, Malawi has used a national fertilizer subsidy program as a way to spur use of inorganic fertilizers, boost domestic maize production, and ensure food security and self-sufficiency for smallholder farmers. According to new working paper from the Malawi Strategy Support Program, however, the national subsidy program may not be the most efficient investment for improving the country’s food security and domestic production goals.

Do ultra-poor graduation programs build resilience against droughts? Evidence from rural Ethiopia

Mar 7th, 2024 • by KALLE HIRVONEN, DANIEL GILLIGAN, JESSICA LEIGHT, HELEENE TAMBET, AND VICTOR VILLA

A growing body of evidence now suggests that global warming increases the risk of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones (Seneviratne et al. 2021), and these shocks often force poor households to consume less or sell valuable assets, worsening their food security and increasing their vulnerability to chronic poverty. These effects can be particularly salient for women, who often have less resources than male family members even within poor households (Fruttero et al. 2023, van Daalen et al.

Transforming African Agriculture through Inclusive Agricultural Value Chain Development

Feb 19th, 2024 • by Sara Gustafson

Africa’s agricultural sector has the potential to drive important economic growth and development in the region. Agriculture accounts for 16 percent of Africa’s annual GDP and employs over half of its labor force, particularly youth and women workers. Despite the sector’s vast potential, however, African agriculture remains hampered by low resource productivity and little or no value addition; shocks like climate change, ongoing regional and local conflict, and supply and market disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and global conflicts have only exacerbated these challenges.