Fresh insights from new research shaping Africa’s food systems, resilience, and economic development
Evidence for Africa | May 5, 2026
Key Insight of the Week
Food systems rely not only on land, labor, and markets—but also on the invisible mental and emotional burdens carried within households. New research from Kenya highlights how these pressures shape decision-making, well-being, and resilience among smallholder farmers.
Using qualitative evidence, the study shows that both women and men experience significant mental strain linked to socially defined roles. Men face pressure to provide financially, while women carry the responsibility of caregiving and farm work. These expectations contribute to stress, anxiety, and, in some cases, social isolation and deteriorating mental health.
These invisible burdens affect not only individual well-being but also household dynamics, economic decisions, and resilience. Addressing them requires integrating mental health awareness, gender-sensitive approaches, and community-based support into agricultural and rural development programs.
Featured Report of the Week
”Under the weight of provision: Gendered mental load among smallholder farmers in Kenya”
This study explores the mental and emotional burdens experienced by women and men in rural Kenya. Based on focus group discussions, it shows how gendered expectations create psychological strain that affects well-being, household relations, and decision-making. The findings highlight the importance of integrating mental health and gender-responsive approaches into efforts to strengthen rural livelihoods and resilience.
Other Recent Publications
- Evaluation of solar-powered cold storage and evaporative cooling system as off-grid methods for postharvest vegetable storage: Evidence from a laboratory Experiment in Nigeria
- Under the weight of provision: Gendered mental load among smallholder farmers in Kenya
- Political economy of planting for food and jobs input subsidy policy process in Ghana: An application of the Kaleidoscope Model
- Uncovering bottlenecks and innovative solutions for scaling small-scale irrigation through a system approach and design thinking: Evidence from Nigeria
- When the going gets tough: Experimental evidence of respondent fatigue in household surveys
- Hunger crisis is set to get worse in west and central Africa – why and what to do about it
- Essential commodities prices, availability, and market actors’ perceptions: March 2026
- Can cash and therapy work in conflict settings?
- Can simpler, cheaper graduation programmes still deliver?
Evidence for Africa | April 28, 2026
Key Insight of the Week
Improving school meals is not only a nutrition challenge—it is also a question of cost, culture, and sustainability. New evidence from Ghana shows that meeting recommended nutrition standards in school feeding programs requires navigating important trade-offs.
A modeling study finds that current school meals fall short on key nutrients, including energy, protein, iron, and essential vitamins. Optimized meal plans can meet nutritional targets while remaining affordable and culturally acceptable, but doing so often requires changes in food composition and increased reliance on more nutrient-dense foods.
However, achieving these improvements within existing budget constraints may increase environmental impacts, highlighting the need to balance nutrition goals with sustainability considerations. The findings point to the importance of greater investment and context-specific design to improve school feeding programs effectively.
Featured Report of the Week
”Optimizing school meals in Ghana: Integrating new food and nutrient standards with aspects of affordability, cultural acceptability and environmental sustainability”
This study uses linear programming to design school meal baskets that meet nutritional standards while considering cost and cultural preferences. It finds that while nutritionally adequate meals are achievable, they require adjustments to current menus and may involve trade-offs between affordability, nutrition, and environmental sustainability.
Other Recent Publications
- Essential commodities prices, availability, and market actors’ perceptions: February 2026
- Five misconceptions distorting food policy in Malawi: A joint NPC-IFPRI position paper
- Linking Malawian smallholders to larger-scale agribusiness enterprises for inclusive development: A conceptual critique of the anchor enterprise model
Evidence for Africa | April 21, 2026
Key Insight of the Week
Reducing food loss is not only about storage; it is also about how food moves across markets. New evidence from Nigeria shows that improving transportation conditions for perishable foods can generate significant economic gains across value chains.
A randomized controlled trial finds that temperature-controlled transportation (“cool transportation”) substantially increases sales prices, revenues, and profits for marketers. Most of the price gains are driven by improved product quality through cooling, while additional gains come from more efficient transport between regions.
The study also shows that better information; such as labeling produce origin; can further increase prices by reducing information gaps between markets.
As African food systems continue to urbanize and connect across regions, investing in cold chains and market information systems will be key to reducing losses, improving efficiency, and increasing incomes.
Featured Report of the Week
This study examines how temperature-controlled transportation affects market outcomes in Nigeria’s vegetable value chains. Using a randomized controlled trial, the research shows that cooling technologies significantly improve product quality, increase prices, and raise revenues and profits. It also highlights the role of information; such as origin labeling; in generating additional price premiums.
Other Recent Publications
- IFPRI Malawi maize market report, March 2026
- Pre- and postharvest losses and their correlates in the millet value chain in Nigeria
Evidence for Africa | April 15, 2026
Key Insight of the Week
Conflict reshapes economies, food systems, and livelihoods long after the fighting begins. A new book from IFPRI and partners provides a comprehensive assessment of how Sudan’s ongoing conflict is affecting households, markets, institutions, and the broader economy.
Drawing on surveys, satellite indicators, market data, and economywide modeling, the book documents how the conflict has displaced millions, weakened agrifood systems, disrupted livelihoods, and accelerated economic decline; while also highlighting the resilience strategies households and communities are using to adapt.
As conflict and fragility continue to affect multiple parts of Africa, the evidence underscores the importance of pairing humanitarian response with long-term strategies for economic recovery, institutional rebuilding, and food systems resilience.
Featured Report of the Week
”War and resilience: The multifaceted impacts of Sudan’s conflict and pathways to recovery”
This new book provides a comprehensive analysis of the humanitarian, economic, and food systems impacts of Sudan’s ongoing conflict. Bringing together recent survey data, satellite analysis, market monitoring, and economywide modeling, it examines the drivers and consequences of the crisis while identifying pathways toward recovery and long-term resilience.
Book Chapters Featured in This Volume
- A Sudanese strategy for postconflict, agriculture-led transformative growth
- Cereal production, markets, and policy in Sudan
- Conflict-induced trade dynamics: A gravity framework analysis of Sudan’s agricultural exports
- Delivering aid amid active conflict and insecurity: Digital transfers for delivering social and humanitarian assistance in Sudan
- Drivers of vulnerability and low resilience in Sudan
- Food consumption patterns and dietary diversity amid conflict
- Human capital at risk: The impact of conflict on health and education in Sudan
- Introduction [in War and resilience: The multifaceted impacts of Sudan’s conflict and pathways to recovery]
- Monitoring economic activities: Leveraging satellite and remote-sensing technologies
- Origins and causes of Sudan’s conflict: Domestic and international perspectives
- Shocks, coping, and household livelihood strategies in wartime
- State failure and elite capture of Sudan’s agrifood system
- Toward a prosperous and secure Sudan: A way forward
- Worsening food security in Sudan amid conflict
Other Recent Publications
- Fruit intake among women of reproductive age in northern Tanzania: Baseline findings from the FRESH end-to-end evaluation
- Beyond the 24-hour recall: Aligning dietary diversity metrics with nutrient physiology
- IFPRI’s research on agricultural insurance
Evidence for Africa | April 7, 2026
Fresh insights from new research shaping Africa’s food systems, resilience, and economic development.
Key Insight of the Week
Improving child nutrition requires more than food production alone. In rural Burkina Faso, new evidence shows that combining agriculture-based interventions with nutrition, hygiene, and targeted supplementation can deliver stronger child nutrition outcomes.
A cluster-randomized trial found that adding water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities reduced child anemia, while adding small quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) improved hemoglobin, iron status, and vitamin A status. The strongest effects were observed among children who entered the program before six months of age and were exposed throughout the complementary feeding period.
As countries across Africa work to address child undernutrition, these findings highlight the value of integrated approaches that combine food systems, health, and nutrition interventions to support early child development.
Featured Report of the Week
This study by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) evaluates the effects of combining enhanced homestead food production with WASH and small quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements in rural Burkina Faso. The findings show that while prior exposure to the original program had limited additional effects, adding WASH and targeted supplementation improved child anemia and micronutrient outcomes, especially among younger children.
Other Recent Reports
- A systematic scoping review of urban food environment research, interventions and measurement approaches in eight low- and middle-income countries
- Adding small quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements to an enhanced homestead food production program improves child hemoglobin, iron and vitamin A status in rural Burkina Faso: A cluster randomized controlled trial
- Climate-Induced Agricultural Productivity Shocks Undermine Child Nutritional Outcomes: Evidence from Nigeria
- The impact of a continuum of care intervention from prevention to treatment on child wasting compared to usual community group activities: A cluster randomized controlled trial in Mali
- Evidence-Led Solutions for Ethiopia’s Rural Transformation Challenges – Ethiopia Policy Innovation Hub – Launch and Policy Dialogue
Evidence for Africa | March 24, 2026
Key Insight of the Week
Expanding irrigation is critical to improving agricultural productivity and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa; but the long-term cost of solutions will depend on how they perform under climate change.
New evidence shows that climate change is likely to increase investment costs and reduce the cost efficiency of solar-powered irrigation systems across much of the region. Because solar systems are more sensitive to weather conditions than diesel-powered alternatives, their performance is more exposed to climate variability. However, the expected decline in cost efficiency is moderate and could be offset by continued reductions in solar panel prices.
As countries across Sub-Saharan Africa seek to expand irrigation to address food insecurity and climate risks, ensuring these investments remain cost-effective will be essential. Ensuring that climate-smart technologies remain economically viable under changing conditions will be essential for sustainable investment and long-term resilience.
Featured Report of the Week
”Impact of climate change on cost and cost efficiency of solar irrigation in Sub‐Saharan Africa”
This study by IFPRI assesses how climate change affects the cost and performance of solar-powered irrigation systems across Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings show that while climate change may reduce cost efficiency compared to diesel systems in many areas, the impact is moderate and may be offset by declining solar technology costs.
Read the study [Link]
Other Recent Publications
- Essential commodities prices, availability, and market actors’ perceptions: January 2026 [Read the report]
- Implications of food trade policy for domestic and international food price volatility [Read the report]
- Leveraging social protection to strengthen women’s and girls’ climate-resilience in agrifood systems [Read the report]
- Ozone pollution reduction partially offsets the negative impact of climate change mitigation efforts on global hunger [Read the report]
- Relevance of more stringent discharge standards for acute malnutrition treatment: A pooled analysis of post-treatment relapse in 21 studies [Read the report]