Globally, two billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition. Biofortification, the proces... more Globally, two billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition. Biofortification, the process of breeding staple food crops to have higher micronutrient content, has proven to be efficacious and cost-effective in addressing micronutrient malnutrition. To determine where and in which crop-micronutrient combinations to invest, a global Biofortification Prioritization Index (BPI) was developed (Asare-Marfo et al., 2013). While a country s rank in the global context is useful, it is not granular enough to develop strategies within heterogenous countries. Therefore, this paper utilizes methodology to develop a subnational-level BPI for Nigeria, a country which shows promise for biofortified crops. The subnational BPI is based on three sub-indices: production, consumption, and micronutrient deficiency. In addition, targeted areas are classified as areas of: (1) impact and intervention, (2) impact, or (3) intervention. Sensitivity analyses tested the robustness of BPI results on singl...
Micronutrient malnutrition affects 2 billion people worldwide and biofortification—the process of... more Micronutrient malnutrition affects 2 billion people worldwide and biofortification—the process of breeding and delivering staple food crops with higher micronutrient content— could prove to be a cost-effective strategy for its alleviation. There is, however, a dearth of information on where and in which crop-micronutrient combinations to invest for this strategy to be most effective and yield the highest impact. To fill in this gap, a global biofortification index (BPI) was developed (Asare-Marfo et al., 2013). It is based on three sub-indexes, namely production, consumption, and micronutrient deficiency, all developed with subnational-level representative data. The Global BPI, however, is not granular enough to suggest within country investment opportunities for biofortification. In this paper we develop a methodology for a subnational-level BPI, using Colombia as a case study. In order to guide strategies for geographic targeting and intervention within country, we set statistical...
Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC... more Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) natural agricultural potential is immense. However, the economic potential of the sector is handicapped by one of the most dilapidated transport systems in the developing world (World Bank 2006). Road investments are therefore a high priority in the government’s investment plans and those of its major donors. Although these are encouraging signs, very little is known about how the existing road network constrains agricultural and rural development, and how proposed new road investments would address these constraints. To inform this issue, the present paper primarily employs geographic information system (GIS)-based data to assess the impact of market access on agricultural and rural development in the DRC. Compared to existing work, however, the paper employs a number of innovations to improve and extend the generic techniques used to estimate the importance of market access for agricultural and rural development. We then use our derived results to run simulations of how proposed infrastructure investments would affect market access, and how market access would in turn affect agricultural production and household wealth. We find highly significant and negative elasticities between travel times to sizable cities (50,000 or 100,000 population), although we also find that these elasticities are small relative to those of similar cross-country tests. Moreover, city access by itself is less important than access to cities and ports. This finding strongly suggests that increasing investment in ports in the DRC should be a priority in the infrastructure investment portfolio.Non-PRIFPRI1; GRP32KCID; DSGD; EPT
This paper investigates the economic impact of the adoption of conventionally-bred improved iron ... more This paper investigates the economic impact of the adoption of conventionally-bred improved iron biofortified beans (IBB) by smallholder farmers in Rwanda. Created through conventional breeding, these beans contain higher levels of dietary iron as compared to beans more commonly used by smallholder farmers in Rwanda. Using observational studies and spatial econometrics methods, we estimated the treatment effect and heterogeneous impact of IBB production on farmers’ yields and potential incomes. We also used a national representative cross-sectional bean farmer survey collected in season B of 2015. Our results indicate that adoption of IBB has contributed to yield and income gains. IBB bush growers, on average, increased their yields by 23% per hectare equivalent to 152 kg (P < 0.05) due to their adoption of IBB, and their potential income by 24% per hectare, that is about $75 (P < 0.04). Farmers that grew IBB climbing varieties, on average, increased their yields by 22% per hectare equivalent to 194 kg (P < 0.04), and their potential agricultural income by 25% per hectare, equal to $116 (P < 0.04). Nationwide, this represents an additional total production value of $2.5 million for all IBB production in season B 2015. Additionally, we found evidence of negative selection by assessing the impact of IBB adoption on those smallholder farmers who are less likely to adopt—for instance, because of access to resources. Evidence suggests this is typically found among farmers that have small land-labor ratios and are closer to markets. Indeed, our findings suggest substantial gains in yields and incomes resulting from this group of farmers adopting iron biofortified seeds. Therefore, based on these results, policies that support greater access to improved iron biofortified bean seeds should be prioritized in Rwanda, and elsewhere in Africa We expect the adoption of IBB to not only improve yields and incomes, but also the dietary iron intake of household members. This would help to reduce the consequences of iron deficiencies—though these effects are measured elsewhere.Non-PRIFPRI5; HarvestPlus; CRP4; Rwanda SSPHarvestPlus; DSGD; A4NH21 pagesCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH
<b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Remote and field level quantification o... more <b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Remote and field level quantification of vegetation covariates for malaria mapping in three rice agro-village complexes in Central Kenya"http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/6/1/21International Journal of Health Geographics 2007;6():21-21.Published online 5 Jun 2007PMCID:PMC1904442.
HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting biofortified food cr... more HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting biofortified food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals, and providing global leadership on biofortification evidence and technology. HarvestPlus is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by its 15 research centers in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. The HarvestPlus program is coordinated by two of these centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
agricultural research centers that receive principal funding from governments, private foundation... more agricultural research centers that receive principal funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of which are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
ABSTRACT The lack of updated information about food security is of concern to many countries, esp... more ABSTRACT The lack of updated information about food security is of concern to many countries, especially during and after economic crises, natural disasters, and conflicts. In this paper we present an analytical framework for assessing the effects of such crises on food security. This methodology can compensate for the lack of recent data in the aftermath of various crisis situations and thus provide important information to policymakers. We apply this methodology to Yemen, a country where the recent food price crisis and global economic recession have been especially damaging. Little is known about how the recent triple crisis (food, fuel, and financial crisis) has affected food security and what the current state of food security is on the macro- (national) and microlevels (local). The results of our findings suggest an alarming state of food insecurity. Food security at the macrolevel has dramatically deteriorated in recent years, and it is projected that the country will remain highly vulnerable to external shocks in the future if no action is taken. At the household level we found that 32.1 percent of the population in Yemen is food insecure and that 57.9 percent of all children are malnourished. Rural-urban inequalities are high in Yemen. The number of food-insecure people living in rural areas (37.3 percent) is more than five times higher than in urban areas (17.7 percent). Underweight children and children with stunted growth are found more commonly in rural than urban areas. Major challenges for food security are the lack of job-creating growth within the oil-dependent economic structure; a distorted economic incentive system, coupled with an inefficient social transfer system rapidly depleting oil and water resources; and the growing production and consumption of qat.
... We are especially grateful to Deputy Minister Abdullah Al-Shater and his team, including Khal... more ... We are especially grateful to Deputy Minister Abdullah Al-Shater and his team, including KhaledSaeed, Merna Hassan, and Samed ... We also thank Abdulmajeed Al-Bataly of MOPIC; Damien Buchon and Philippe-Georges Jacques of the European Commission; Henning Baur ...
There is broad consensus among scientists that climate change is altering weather patterns around... more There is broad consensus among scientists that climate change is altering weather patterns around the world. However, economists are only beginning to develop comprehensive tools that allow for the quantification of such weather changes on countries' economies and people. This paper presents a modeling suite that links the downscaling of global climate models, crop modeling, global economic modeling, and sub-national-level dynamic computable equilibrium modeling. Important to note is that this approach allows for decomposing the potential global and local economic effects on countries, including various economic sectors and different household groups. We apply this modeling suite to Syria, a relevant case study given the country's location in a region that is consistently projected to be among those hit hardest by climate change. We find that, despite a certain degree of endogenous adaptation, local impacts of climate change (through declining yields) are likely to affect Sy...
Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo‟s (DRC... more Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo‟s (DRC) natural agricultural potential is immense. However, the economic potential of the sector is handicapped by one of the most dilapidated transport systems in the developing world (World Bank, 2006). Road investments are therefore a high priority in the government‟s investment plans, and those of its major donors. Whilst these are encouraging signs, very little is known about how the existing road network constrains agricultural and rural development, and how these new road investments would address these constraints. To inform this issue the present paper primarily employs GIS-based data to assess the impact of market access on agricultural and rural development (ARD). Compared to existing work, however, the paper makes a number of innovations to improve and extend the generic techniques used to estimate the importance of market access for ARD. First, the DRC road network data is augment...
Globally, two billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition. Biofortification, the proces... more Globally, two billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition. Biofortification, the process of breeding staple food crops to have higher micronutrient content, has proven to be efficacious and cost-effective in addressing micronutrient malnutrition. To determine where and in which crop-micronutrient combinations to invest, a global Biofortification Prioritization Index (BPI) was developed (Asare-Marfo et al., 2013). While a country s rank in the global context is useful, it is not granular enough to develop strategies within heterogenous countries. Therefore, this paper utilizes methodology to develop a subnational-level BPI for Nigeria, a country which shows promise for biofortified crops. The subnational BPI is based on three sub-indices: production, consumption, and micronutrient deficiency. In addition, targeted areas are classified as areas of: (1) impact and intervention, (2) impact, or (3) intervention. Sensitivity analyses tested the robustness of BPI results on singl...
Micronutrient malnutrition affects 2 billion people worldwide and biofortification—the process of... more Micronutrient malnutrition affects 2 billion people worldwide and biofortification—the process of breeding and delivering staple food crops with higher micronutrient content— could prove to be a cost-effective strategy for its alleviation. There is, however, a dearth of information on where and in which crop-micronutrient combinations to invest for this strategy to be most effective and yield the highest impact. To fill in this gap, a global biofortification index (BPI) was developed (Asare-Marfo et al., 2013). It is based on three sub-indexes, namely production, consumption, and micronutrient deficiency, all developed with subnational-level representative data. The Global BPI, however, is not granular enough to suggest within country investment opportunities for biofortification. In this paper we develop a methodology for a subnational-level BPI, using Colombia as a case study. In order to guide strategies for geographic targeting and intervention within country, we set statistical...
Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC... more Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) natural agricultural potential is immense. However, the economic potential of the sector is handicapped by one of the most dilapidated transport systems in the developing world (World Bank 2006). Road investments are therefore a high priority in the government’s investment plans and those of its major donors. Although these are encouraging signs, very little is known about how the existing road network constrains agricultural and rural development, and how proposed new road investments would address these constraints. To inform this issue, the present paper primarily employs geographic information system (GIS)-based data to assess the impact of market access on agricultural and rural development in the DRC. Compared to existing work, however, the paper employs a number of innovations to improve and extend the generic techniques used to estimate the importance of market access for agricultural and rural development. We then use our derived results to run simulations of how proposed infrastructure investments would affect market access, and how market access would in turn affect agricultural production and household wealth. We find highly significant and negative elasticities between travel times to sizable cities (50,000 or 100,000 population), although we also find that these elasticities are small relative to those of similar cross-country tests. Moreover, city access by itself is less important than access to cities and ports. This finding strongly suggests that increasing investment in ports in the DRC should be a priority in the infrastructure investment portfolio.Non-PRIFPRI1; GRP32KCID; DSGD; EPT
This paper investigates the economic impact of the adoption of conventionally-bred improved iron ... more This paper investigates the economic impact of the adoption of conventionally-bred improved iron biofortified beans (IBB) by smallholder farmers in Rwanda. Created through conventional breeding, these beans contain higher levels of dietary iron as compared to beans more commonly used by smallholder farmers in Rwanda. Using observational studies and spatial econometrics methods, we estimated the treatment effect and heterogeneous impact of IBB production on farmers’ yields and potential incomes. We also used a national representative cross-sectional bean farmer survey collected in season B of 2015. Our results indicate that adoption of IBB has contributed to yield and income gains. IBB bush growers, on average, increased their yields by 23% per hectare equivalent to 152 kg (P < 0.05) due to their adoption of IBB, and their potential income by 24% per hectare, that is about $75 (P < 0.04). Farmers that grew IBB climbing varieties, on average, increased their yields by 22% per hectare equivalent to 194 kg (P < 0.04), and their potential agricultural income by 25% per hectare, equal to $116 (P < 0.04). Nationwide, this represents an additional total production value of $2.5 million for all IBB production in season B 2015. Additionally, we found evidence of negative selection by assessing the impact of IBB adoption on those smallholder farmers who are less likely to adopt—for instance, because of access to resources. Evidence suggests this is typically found among farmers that have small land-labor ratios and are closer to markets. Indeed, our findings suggest substantial gains in yields and incomes resulting from this group of farmers adopting iron biofortified seeds. Therefore, based on these results, policies that support greater access to improved iron biofortified bean seeds should be prioritized in Rwanda, and elsewhere in Africa We expect the adoption of IBB to not only improve yields and incomes, but also the dietary iron intake of household members. This would help to reduce the consequences of iron deficiencies—though these effects are measured elsewhere.Non-PRIFPRI5; HarvestPlus; CRP4; Rwanda SSPHarvestPlus; DSGD; A4NH21 pagesCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH
<b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Remote and field level quantification o... more <b>Copyright information:</b>Taken from "Remote and field level quantification of vegetation covariates for malaria mapping in three rice agro-village complexes in Central Kenya"http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/6/1/21International Journal of Health Geographics 2007;6():21-21.Published online 5 Jun 2007PMCID:PMC1904442.
HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting biofortified food cr... more HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting biofortified food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals, and providing global leadership on biofortification evidence and technology. HarvestPlus is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by its 15 research centers in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. The HarvestPlus program is coordinated by two of these centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
agricultural research centers that receive principal funding from governments, private foundation... more agricultural research centers that receive principal funding from governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, most of which are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
ABSTRACT The lack of updated information about food security is of concern to many countries, esp... more ABSTRACT The lack of updated information about food security is of concern to many countries, especially during and after economic crises, natural disasters, and conflicts. In this paper we present an analytical framework for assessing the effects of such crises on food security. This methodology can compensate for the lack of recent data in the aftermath of various crisis situations and thus provide important information to policymakers. We apply this methodology to Yemen, a country where the recent food price crisis and global economic recession have been especially damaging. Little is known about how the recent triple crisis (food, fuel, and financial crisis) has affected food security and what the current state of food security is on the macro- (national) and microlevels (local). The results of our findings suggest an alarming state of food insecurity. Food security at the macrolevel has dramatically deteriorated in recent years, and it is projected that the country will remain highly vulnerable to external shocks in the future if no action is taken. At the household level we found that 32.1 percent of the population in Yemen is food insecure and that 57.9 percent of all children are malnourished. Rural-urban inequalities are high in Yemen. The number of food-insecure people living in rural areas (37.3 percent) is more than five times higher than in urban areas (17.7 percent). Underweight children and children with stunted growth are found more commonly in rural than urban areas. Major challenges for food security are the lack of job-creating growth within the oil-dependent economic structure; a distorted economic incentive system, coupled with an inefficient social transfer system rapidly depleting oil and water resources; and the growing production and consumption of qat.
... We are especially grateful to Deputy Minister Abdullah Al-Shater and his team, including Khal... more ... We are especially grateful to Deputy Minister Abdullah Al-Shater and his team, including KhaledSaeed, Merna Hassan, and Samed ... We also thank Abdulmajeed Al-Bataly of MOPIC; Damien Buchon and Philippe-Georges Jacques of the European Commission; Henning Baur ...
There is broad consensus among scientists that climate change is altering weather patterns around... more There is broad consensus among scientists that climate change is altering weather patterns around the world. However, economists are only beginning to develop comprehensive tools that allow for the quantification of such weather changes on countries' economies and people. This paper presents a modeling suite that links the downscaling of global climate models, crop modeling, global economic modeling, and sub-national-level dynamic computable equilibrium modeling. Important to note is that this approach allows for decomposing the potential global and local economic effects on countries, including various economic sectors and different household groups. We apply this modeling suite to Syria, a relevant case study given the country's location in a region that is consistently projected to be among those hit hardest by climate change. We find that, despite a certain degree of endogenous adaptation, local impacts of climate change (through declining yields) are likely to affect Sy...
Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo‟s (DRC... more Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo‟s (DRC) natural agricultural potential is immense. However, the economic potential of the sector is handicapped by one of the most dilapidated transport systems in the developing world (World Bank, 2006). Road investments are therefore a high priority in the government‟s investment plans, and those of its major donors. Whilst these are encouraging signs, very little is known about how the existing road network constrains agricultural and rural development, and how these new road investments would address these constraints. To inform this issue the present paper primarily employs GIS-based data to assess the impact of market access on agricultural and rural development (ARD). Compared to existing work, however, the paper makes a number of innovations to improve and extend the generic techniques used to estimate the importance of market access for ARD. First, the DRC road network data is augment...
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Papers by Jose Funes