Fresh insights from new research shaping Africa’s food systems, resilience, and economic development
Key Insight of the Week
Building resilient food systems requires listening to market actors. Evidence from Nigeria shows that maize wholesalers—who play a central role in keeping food supply chains functioning—prioritize practical and targeted interventions when facing conflict and climate-related shocks. They strongly favor improved road security to address conflict disruptions and flood-proof infrastructure to mitigate weather-related risks, while also valuing cash relief in the aftermath of shocks.
This matters now because across Africa, agrifood value chains are increasingly exposed to multiple and overlapping shocks. Designing effective responses will require policies that are not only technically sound, but also aligned with the needs and realities of those operating within these markets. Tailored approaches that reflect different types of shocks and actor characteristics are critical to strengthening resilience.
Featured Report of the Week
”Addressing conflict and weather shocks in agrifood value chains: Policy preferences of Nigerian maize wholesalers”
This study by IFPRI draws on survey data from 300 maize wholesalers across major Nigerian markets to assess their preferences for policies addressing conflict and weather shocks. [Link].
Key findings include:
- Strong preference for road security measures to address conflict-related disruptions
- High support for flood-proofing infrastructure to mitigate weather shocks
- Broad value placed on cash relief following shocks
- Differences in priorities across groups, with women wholesalers placing greater emphasis on public infrastructure and more educated traders favoring market-based solutions such as insurance and loans
Other Recent Publications
- “If you want to have sex you can, if you don’t, you don’t have to”: A qualitative evaluation of the Unite for a Better Life couples program to prevent intimate partner violence in rural Ethiopia
- Beyond blame: Migration’s limited role in Madagascar’s deforestation
- Can digital cash transfers serve those in active conflict zones?
- How do migrants fare in Africa’s urban labour markets?
- IFPRI Malawi maize market report, February 2026
- Inter‐group cooperation and conflict. Experimental evidence from Yemen
- Sudan: How warring factions gained influence in the country’s food system – and what it means for the current conflict
- The future in mind: Aspirations and long-term outcomes in rural Ethiopia
- The making of a non-parametric multi-shock index (MSI)
About Evidence for Africa
Evidence for Africa highlights every week recent IFPRI research and insights relevant to the continent’s food systems, economic development, and policy priorities.