highlights from ifpri's west and central africa...

H I G H L I G H T S from I F P R I ’ S W E S T A N D C E N T R A L A F R I C A O F F I C E 1

H I G H L I G H T S from I F P R I ’ S

WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA OFFICEI F P R I E S T A B L I S H E D T H E W E S T A N D C E N T R A L A F R I C A O F F I C E ( W C A O )

I N 2 0 1 0 T O B E T T E R M E E T L O C A L R E S E A R C H A N D C A P A C I T Y N E E D S F O R

R E D U C I N G P O V E R T Y A N D E N D I N G M A L N U T R I T I O N I N T H E R E G I O N .

Although the West and Central Africa region has experienced strong economic growth over the past

15 years, it faces challenges from increasing urbanization, a growing middle class, transforming

agrifood systems, and the intensifying effects of climate change. WCAO is helping to address these

pressing problems. It also supports the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture

Development Programme (CAADP) and works with regional bodies such as the Economic Community of

West African States (ECOWAS) and individual countries to provide evidence-based agricultural policy

solutions and capacity-strengthening support. WCAO hosts staff from two IFPRI research divisions: the

Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division (MTID) and the Poverty, Health, and Nutrition Division (PHND).

The following are highlights of the major research, capacity-strengthening, and policy-dialogue activities

that IFPRI leads from WCAO.

H I G H L I G H T S from I F P R I ’ S W E S T A N D C E N T R A L A F R I C A O F F I C E2

Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support SystemMonitoring CAADP PerformanceDuration: 2006–2021

w w w . r e s a k s s . o r g @ R e S A K S S @ r e s a k s s . a f r i c a

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme

(CAADP) is an Africawide framework for transforming the agriculture sector and increasing economic growth and food and

nutrition security. Established in 2006 by IFPRI in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), leading regional

economic communities (RECs), and Africa-based CGIAR centers, ReSAKSS assesses performance against benchmarks,

guides the review and dialogue processes associated with CAADP planning and implementation, and addresses the demand

for improved data, analysis, and capacities. Today, ReSAKSS comprises a network of three Africa-based regional nodes.

WCAO works closely with the ReSAKSS–West Africa node hosted by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture

in Ibadan, Nigeria, to execute CAADP support activities in collaboration with ECOWAS. These include tracking CAADP

implementation through Annual Trends and Outlook Reports (ATORs) and an interactive website; establishing strategic

analysis and knowledge support system (SAKSS) platforms to provide data and knowledge nationally; strengthening

capacities for policy analysis and monitoring and evaluation (M&E); and strengthening mutual accountability processes at

the country and regional levels by providing technical assistance for agriculture joint sector review (JSR) assessments.

ReSAKSS’s third phase (2017–2021) will continue these activities and support the development and implementation of the

next-generation national agriculture and food-security investment plans (NAFSIPs) and CAADP biennial reviews called for

in the 2014 Malabo Declaration. This phase is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

R E S U L T S and O U T C O M E S :

� ReSAKSS has become the leading platform for tracking CAADP indicators through its web-based knowledge

products and its flagship ATORs. The ReSAKSS website

features a mapping tool for tracking agricultural

development indicators, and has been used to inform

CAADP planning, dialogue, and review processes. The

Africawide ATOR serves as the official CAADP M&E report

and, since 2008, ReSAKSS has produced eight Africawide

ATORs assessing the performance of countries and

subregions against CAADP goals. Featured ATOR topics

have included trends and determinants of agricultural

productivity, public expenditures in the agriculture sector,

promoting food-system resilience through agricultural

trade, the challenges and opportunities faced by countries

in achieving middle-income status, the role of nutrition in

achieving development goals, the need for African

governments to simultaneously address the triple burden of

malnutrition (undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and

overweight and obesity), and the contribution of climate-

smart agriculture to meeting Malabo Declaration goals.

� ReSAKSS has organized six major continental conferences

(hosted by AUC) focusing on the CAADP agenda. The

meetings convened more than 200 delegates, including

policy makers, donors, researchers, advocacy groups,

farmers’ organizations, the private sector, and other key

CAADP stakeholders to deliberate on the findings of the

latest ATOR and review progress of CAADP implementation.

http://resakss.org/

https://twitter.com/ReSAKSS

https://www.facebook.com/resakss.africa/


� ReSAKSS has led efforts to promote regular, comprehensive, inclusive, and robust agriculture JSRs, both nationally and

regionally. In 2014 and 2015, ReSAKSS assessed JSR efforts in

18 countries, including 7 West African countries and the

ECOWAS region as a whole, to evaluate the institutional and

policy landscape and the quality of current agricultural review

processes. The assessments’ findings have been used to

strengthen JSRs in many of the countries, including Burkina

Faso, Ghana, and Senegal. ECOWAS, the first regional

economic community (REC) to undertake a JSR assessment,

will serve as a model for other RECs.

� ReSAKSS built institutional and technical capacity through

training, collaboration with local partners, and sharing best

practices. Between 2011 and 2016, ReSAKSS organized

training workshops for 1,610 participants from ministries of

agriculture, national statistical bureaus, universities, civil

society, and the private sector across Africa. The training

covered methodological aspects of geographic information

systems (GIS), M&E, and agricultural policy analysis.

� ReSAKSS led efforts to reshape the CAADP M&E system in

response to the goals of the 2014 Malabo Declaration. It

assisted the AUC and the NEPAD Planning and

Coordinating Agency (NPCA) in developing the revised

CAADP Results Framework 2015–2025, which outlines 40

indicators for tracking performance.

� Between 2012 and 2015, ReSAKSS conducted human and institutional capacity needs assessments in more than a

dozen countries to improve the quality of agricultural policy

planning and implementation. Following the assessments,

ReSAKSS established SAKSS platforms in 13 countries

(including 6 in West Africa) to provide policy-relevant

analyses, data, and tools for improving policy making, filling

knowledge gaps, and promoting dialogue. ReSAKSS is

setting up SAKSS governance structures and analytical

networks that will link policy makers to the pool of

knowledge and analyses.

� Since 2015, ReSAKSS has worked to equip all SAKSS platforms with a country eAtlas, a mapping tool to help

policy makers and analysts access and use disaggregated,

high-quality data on agricultural, socioeconomic, and

biophysical indicators. ReSAKSS, together with the country

SAKSS platforms, has developed 21 eAtlases for all existing

and upcoming SAKSS platforms. ReSAKSS has held national

workshops in 14 countries, convening SAKSS stakeholders

to review and validate the data and transfer the eAtlas tool

to national teams.

� In 2016, ReSAKSS began supporting the preparation of next-generation NAFSIPs by (1) developing a NAFSIP

Toolbox that outlines metrics, analytical tools, methodologies,

and core programmatic components to guide the design of

NAFSIPs; (2) establishing a NAFSIP Local Expert Group to

provide technical support to countries as they elaborate their

NAFSIPs; and (3) setting up a NAFSIP Task Force, which

includes IFPRI researchers, to provide training, backstopping,

and quality control to the local experts.


Strengthening Economic Modeling Capacities Duration: 2010–2021

w w w . a g r o d e p . o r g @ A G R O D E P @ A G R O D E P

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : From 2006 to 2009, IFPRI assembled and trained often-isolated local

experts on the economic modeling techniques needed to support CAADP’s analytical agenda. In 2010, IFPRI launched the

AGRODEP modeling consortium to build a critical mass of Africa-based experts who could address the strategic

development issues facing the continent. The consortium, funded by USAID from 2017–2021, aims to improve Africa’s

capacities for conducting cutting-edge research and analysis. IFPRI facilitates the consortium in partnership with the

Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), the Food, Agriculture, and

Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), and the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research

and Development (CORAF/WECARD). AGRODEP is implemented by MTID with WCAO.

The AGRODEP Consortium facilitates the development and use of economic modeling tools; promotes access to

existing databases; provides training, workshops, and research grants; and supports research and capacity-strengthening

collaboration between African and international researchers. It is organized into three components: (1) a shared modeling

infrastructure, (2) a distributed database infrastructure, and (3) membership, research networking, and capacity building.


� AGRODEP has grown over five years to 183 members

from 27 African countries; 30 percent of members are

women. Members’ economic analysis skills have improved

through the consortium’s training programs, competitive

research grants, and economic models and datasets. Full

AGRODEP membership is exclusive to African researchers

living in Africa.

� Along with the AGRODEP website, a web-based data portal was developed as an entry point for the economic

models, toolboxes, data, and related resources assembled

by AGRODEP. The website provides data-visualization tools;

a wiki space for scientific exchange and collaborative

documentation; access to AGRODEP publications,

presentations, and training materials; information on events,

training, and grants announcements; and network activity

support among AGRODEP members, staff, partners, and

governance group members.

� AGRODEP’s model library, featuring a catalog of 22 state-of-

the-art models and toolboxes, allows consortium members

to access economic models and adapted tools. New models

developed for AGRODEP are documented in the AGRODEP

Technical Notes Series that launched in November 2012.

To date, 14 technical notes have been published.

� The peer-reviewed AGRODEP Working Paper Series aims

to improve the quality of research by AGRODEP members

and to contribute to the policy dialogue on African growth

and development. Since the series launched in September

2011, 38 working papers have been published.

� Fifteen papers published in 2014 and 2015 qualified for the Awards for Excellence in Publications, which provide

incentives for publishing in top-ranking academic journals.

� AGRODEP’s data portal provides access to 305 datasets, including 151 on household surveys and social accounting

matrices (SAMs) for 24 African countries.

http://agrodep.org/

https://twitter.com/agrodep

https://www.facebook.com/AGRODEP/


� AGRODEP holds an annual grant competition for research projects that are innovative and address gaps in research

and has awarded more than 40 competitive research grants

since launching the grants program in 2011. AGRODEP’s

Research Valorization Grant program has awarded more

than 40 travel grants.

� Since 2012, AGRODEP has delivered more than 30 training courses on data analysis and economic models

and tools to 348 participants. These trainings include

courses on SAMs, sampling and processing household

survey data, poverty measurement and analysis, impact

evaluation, crop modeling, experimental methods, applied

microeconometrics, panel data analysis, productivity and

efficiency analysis, and general equilibrium modeling.

� AGRODEP cohosted the 17th Annual Conference on Global Economic Analysis with the Global Trade Analysis

Project in Dakar, Senegal, in 2014. The conference

convened about 200 economists from more than 50

countries to discuss food policy, trade, and economic

vulnerability, with a focus on Africa.

Technical and Analytical Support to ECOWASDuration: 2013–2018

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : In 2005, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

adopted the ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) in support of the CAADP implementation agenda. ECOWAP

is implemented through the regional agriculture investment plan (RAIP) and the national agriculture and food-security

investment plans (NAFSIPs). A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework was developed to assess implementation of the

regional and national investment plans.

WCAO and ReSAKSS have supported ECOWAS in (1) strengthening its M&E unit and updating its M&E framework to

reflect Malabo Declaration goals and thematic areas such as climate change, nutrition, and gender; (2) strengthening

mutual accountability processes at the regional level, which are critical for tracking implementation progress of the RAIP

and NAFSIPs; and (3) analyzing economic impacts of ECOWAS’s rice self-sufficiency policy. The economic impact of the

regional rice self-sufficiency policy on intra- and extraregional trade was projected using IFPRI’s ECOWAS simulation

model (ECOSIM). These efforts are part of the US Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy, a five-year

project involving Michigan State University (MSU), the University of Pretoria, and IFPRI.


� ReSAKSS and WCAO provided technical support to ECOWAS to help launch the first regional JSR. They

conducted a JSR assessment that evaluates the policy and

institutional landscape in the ECOWAS region, appraises

ECOWAS’s agriculture-sector review processes, and

presents agriculture-sector performance baselines. The

final JSR assessment, completed in October 2016, outlines

an action plan for establishing a regular JSR for the region.

� To help strengthen ECOWAS’s M&E unit, a technical expert from ReSAKSS has been stationed at the

ECOWAS Directorate for Agriculture and Rural

Development in Abuja, Nigeria, since October 2015. The

expert led a review of how to operationalize the M&E unit

proposed for ECOWAP and provided technical support

on ways to improve M&E in the agriculture sector.

� According to the ECOSIM regional simulation for rice, achieving the goal of regional self-sufficiency by 2025 will

require the annual increase in rice production to be twice

that of consumption (8 percent and 4 percent, respectively).

The model projects that the rice sector’s average annual

value-added growth rate will double from 6 percent to 12

percent, reducing the region’s dependence on rice imports,

contributing to GDP growth, and improving food security.

� The 2014–2015 Ebola crisis in West Africa prompted the project to use the agriculture-focused SAM for Guinea to

assess Ebola-related food-security threats. The study tested

the sensitivity of Guinea’s economy and households to the

epidemic’s transmission channels and showed that food

consumption is seriously affected by the disruption of trade

transactions between rural and urban markets and between

national and international markets.


Providing Agricultural Policy Support in SenegalDuration: 2015–2018

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : The Government of Senegal is striving to improve the performance of

the agriculture sector through agricultural policies and programs. Yet agricultural value added per worker is two times

lower than the average for Africa south of the Sahara (SSA), while cereal yields in the country are also below that of SSA.

Weak institutions and governance have hindered the private-sector investment necessary for stimulating economic growth

and reducing poverty. The Senegal Agricultural Policy Project (PAPA), a sub-award of the US Feed the Future Innovation

Lab for Food Security Policy project, was launched in 2015 with financial support from USAID-Senegal. WCAO implements

the project in close partnership with Senegal’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment (MARE), MSU, Africa Lead, and

local knowledge centers.

The project seeks to (1) establish an analytical network of local centers of expertise to generate evidence-based policy

analysis and knowledge to guide agricultural policy; (2) set up an inclusive policy dialogue platform; and (3) develop a

knowledge-management platform that disseminates data and analyses.

R E S U L T S and O U T C O M E S : To link the demand for data and knowledge with the supply, an analytical network

has been established to address the needs of MARE and other government agencies. Network representatives come from

MARE’s Directorate for Analysis, Forecasting, and Agricultural Statistics, the Consortium for Economic and Social Research, the

Faculty of Economics and Management of Cheikh Anta Diop University, and elsewhere. Members discuss research to be

undertaken through PAPA and attend training clinics on economic analysis and policy tools. The project has strengthened the

technical capacities of 45 analytical network members, including 11 women.

� PAPA is helping to establish an inclusive agricultural policy-dialogue platform that includes all major nongovernmental

organizations (NGOs), the private sector, civil society

organizations, producer organizations, universities, and

research centers. Platform members recently helped

prepare the 2015 agricultural JSR report and assessed

MARE’s M&E capacity. The assessment generated data on

staff numbers and types, access to computers and the

Internet, the types of data regularly collected by MARE

units, and the synergies between projects.

� The PAPA website (www.papa.gouv.sn) provides

information on day-to-day project implementation, including

the work of the analytical network. The project developed

another knowledge platform with a user-friendly eAtlas for

Senegal that can map and analyze data on agricultural,

nutrition, climate, and socioeconomic indicators. Following

the assessment of existing platforms, the project developed

an implementation plan for a user-friendly M&E platform,

including a manual of M&E procedures for tracking

performance of agricultural policies and programs.

� PAPA has facilitated several meetings of the analytical network and other partners to discuss the project’s

research agenda and plan for field surveys. Participants

agreed on a division of research based on areas of

expertise and conducted literature reviews to understand

the transformation, as well as the challenges and

opportunities, in (1) cereal value chains; (2) horticulture

value chains; (3) input sectors; and (4) thematic areas such

as water management, agricultural subsidies, and

agricultural insurance. Key achievements include a literature

review, detailed questionnaires targeting households and

actors along value chains, and sampling frames for the

questionnaires. Field surveys began in March 2017.

http://www.papa.gouv.sn/

7H I G H L I G H T S from I F P R I ’ S W E S T A N D C E N T R A L A F R I C A O F F I C E

Trade and Gender Analysis to Guide Investments in NigerDuration: 2014–2016

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : Although Niger has committed to liberalizing regulations on

products moving across its borders, the country’s capacity to lower the costs of doing business has at times been

inadequate. The lack of data and analysis on the constraints on trade competitiveness also hinders reform. Women play

key roles in the production, processing, and commercialization of commodities, but gender equality and social inclusion

have not yet been realized in Niger.

To help guide investments by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in Niger and increase household production

and incomes in the country, IFPRI was asked to devise research-based solutions to the bottlenecks in agricultural production,

marketing, trade, and women’s empowerment in agriculture. IFPRI, with funding from MCC, (1) collected and analyzed trade-

flow data for Niger, (2) conducted surveys of transporters and cross-border traders to identify the barriers to free and perfect

competition and business profitability in Niger, and (3) applied the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI)

survey tool to analyze gender differences and empowerment in agriculture.


� Research results have guided the formulation of MCC’s Niger Compact and will serve as a baseline for an impact

assessment of MCC’s investments in Niger. Analysis showed

that Niger continues to play a major role in regional

agricultural trade in West Africa. Simulation results show that

a modest reduction in trade costs or removal of cross-border

trade barriers would increase net imports of cereals and

other staple food products and net exports of live animals.

� Analysis of Nigerien cross-border traders revealed that

female traders tend to be less educated than male traders,

participate less in associations and business networks, and

have less access to mobile phones and funding. Both female

and male traders experience harassment, with the most

frequent cases characterized by intimidation and

humiliation or verbal attacks. Women traders travel together

to cope with the risks of harassment, abuse, or violence.

Business profitability among women traders is restricted by

funding constraints, transport costs, and customs duties.

� The analysis provided insights into potential interventions

needed to increase the safety and profitability of cross-

border trade for all traders—but for women, in particular—

including promoting collective action among female traders;

working with traders to identify effective coping strategies to

prevent and respond to harassment, abuse, and violence; and

increasing women’s access to credit by expanding the reach

of tontines (rotating savings schemes) to female traders.

� Results from the WEAI analysis showed that empowerment

strongly varies between men and women and that women

are less empowered in households where a primary male is

also present. The differences in empowerment between

men and women stem largely from unequal access to

assets (most notably land). The analysis also showed that

more-empowered households are more productive.

Women’s empowerment could be improved through land-

rental markets, producer groups, and tontines. The results

will be used to track progress in empowerment as a result

of MCC investments.


Evidence and Dialogue for Better Outcomes in Agriculture and Food Security Duration: 2010–2021

w w w . m a m o p a n e l . o r g @ M a m o P a n e l @ M a M o P a n e l

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : The Malabo Montpellier Panel is a group of leading African and

European experts from the fields of agriculture, ecology, nutrition, public policy, and global development. Since January

2017, the Panel has been hosted jointly by IFPRI’s WCAO, the University of Bonn, and Imperial College London, and is co-

chaired by Dr. Ousmane Badiane (Africa Director, IFPRI) and Professor Joachim von Braun (Director, Center for

Development Research, University of Bonn).

The Panel’s core mission is to support evidence-based dialogue and guide policy choices toward the goals of the

Malabo Declaration and the global development agenda. The Malabo Montpellier Panel builds on the 2010–2016

Montpellier Panel, putting greater emphasis on African initiatives, such as the recently expanded CAADP agenda. The

Panel works with African governments and civil society initiatives to identify and implement policies that enhance

agriculture and food and nutrition security.

The Malabo Montpellier Panel is the only Africa-based high-level panel of independent experts dedicated solely to

agricultural development and food and nutrition security in Africa. Not only does the Panel provide high-quality research,

but it also provides decision makers with the latest technical evidence in key strategic development areas and with space

to reflect on the design and implementation of country policies and programs. The Panel provides accessible and readable

research reports for senior policy makers and other stakeholders. The Malabo Montpellier Forum, organized by the Panel,

gathers leading decision makers to dialogue on the evidence presented in the Panel’s special reports.

In 2017, the Panel will publish three technical reports and briefing papers, participate in international conferences and

workshops, convene the Malabo Montpellier Forum, and continue outreach activities. The Panel is funded by the African

Development Bank and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

R E S U L T S and O U T C O M E S : The following achievements are from the first phase of the Panel (2010–2016):

� The Panel has published 11 technical reports and briefing papers.

� The Panel provided evidence to the UK International Development Committee on jobs and livelihoods in

November 2014, and in October 2015 the Panel submitted

evidence to the High Level Panel of Experts on Food

Security and Nutrition’s inquiry on “Critical and Emerging

Issues for Food Security and Nutrition.”

� The Panel helped persuade the UK Department for International Development to include an agricultural strategy in its economic development portfolio.

� The Panel’s work on sustainable intensification continues to inform policy making and implementation within the European Commission (EC). Private-sector representatives

have used the Panel’s reports to get technology to

smallholder farmers.

https://www.mamopanel.org/

https://twitter.com/mamopanel

https://www.facebook.com/MaMoPanel/


South-South Senegal: Addressing Informational and Cash Constraints on Smallholder Farmers Duration: 2014–2017

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : One and a half billion people in poor countries live in smallholder

households, and these households produce 80 percent of the food in Africa south of the Sahara and Asia. While many

programs aimed at reducing rural poverty seek to diversify farmer income, increasing smallholder agricultural production

remains a key component of improving farmer livelihoods. Brazil has achieved impressive results in reducing poverty among

smallholders through a large set of agricultural and social protection interventions. Rural poverty in Brazil dropped dramatically

from 51.4 percent in 2002 to 29.1 percent in 2011; during the same period, family farmers’ incomes also grew by 50 percent. The

South-South Senegal project adapted and replicated one Brazilian intervention, “Fomento,” combining extension focused on

improving farm management with relatively large cash transfers to improve the trajectory of farm income.

To study the potential for adopting poverty-reduction programs such as Fomento and to test their effects on

smallholder outcomes such as production and investment, IFPRI launched pilot projects in Senegal and Malawi that aimed

to sustainably improve household livelihoods. In Senegal, the project involved 600 households across 120 villages, split

into three treatment groups of 200 households each:

� Group 1 (control): advisory visits and basic agricultural

assessment only

� Group 2: advisory visits, basic agricultural assessment,

and a farm-management plan

� Group 3: advisory visits, basic agricultural assessment, a

farm-management plan, and a one-time, framed (that is,

intended for a specific purpose but unmonitored) cash

transfer (roughly US$200) at the beginning of the project

R E S U L T S and O U T C O M E S : To implement this project, IFPRI partnered with the Fédération des Organisations

Non-Gouvernementales du Sénégal (FONGS), an umbrella organization of smallholder farmer associations. GRET, a French

NGO, provided input in the development of farm-management plans and helped with cash transfers. The project worked with

FONGS in two main areas: training a subset of project facilitators as enumerators for data collection and providing feedback

and tools to improve FONGS’s agricultural assessment tool for future use.

� After one year, agricultural production and livestock ownership were higher in the transfer group (Group 3)

compared with the group that received visits only (Group 1).

Analysis suggests that increases in productivity resulted from

higher investments in agricultural inputs, particularly

chemical fertilizer. Results show increased livestock holdings,

which remain after year two (24–31 percent) in Group 3, and a

potential increase in food consumption for Group 3. For

Group 2, no significant impacts were observed over the two

years of the project, although analysis continues.

� In 2015 and 2016, 25 facilitators were trained in data collection. They will train other facilitators for FONGS

and lead their associations in improved M&E. The South-

South Senegal project also provided feedback and tools

to improve basic agricultural assessments, which are

now part of FONGS’s package of services and used to

monitor several thousand households across Senegal

annually. FONGS has shared this tool with farmer

organizations in Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea,

Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria, which could

enable comparisons across West Africa. The project

helped FONGS target ways to improve the tool’s content

and design, and develop a data-entry mask for the

paper-based tool. The project’s capacity-building

activities will strengthen M&E at the local, regional, and

national levels.


Innovative Approaches for the Prevention of Childhood Malnutrition Duration: 2014–2017

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : In response to the persistence of child acute malnutrition, many West

African countries adopted the WHO-endorsed Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) model, in

which acutely malnourished children are treated in outpatient programs. CMAM’s effectiveness, however, is hampered by

low program coverage. The Innovative Approaches for the Prevention of Childhood Malnutrition (PROMIS) multicountry

study is assessing the feasibility, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of an integrated child malnutrition prevention and

treatment intervention package. The program consists of behavior-change communication on child nutrition and health,

and the distribution of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS). These preventive interventions directly

reduce the incidence of acute malnutrition and may increase screenings for acute malnutrition.

PROMIS is funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by Helen Keller International in Senegal, Mali, and

Burkina Faso. In Senegal, IFPRI’s evaluation is limited to a feasibility study of PROMIS implemented through a community

and health facility–based platform in a semi-urban environment. PROMIS’s effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and pathways

of impact are studied in rural Mali and rural Burkina Faso using a cluster-randomized controlled intervention study.


� IFPRI’s baseline surveys in Mali and Burkina Faso reported an

alarmingly high prevalence of child acute malnutrition (10–15

percent) and anemia (over 80 percent). Infant and young child

feeding practices in these countries were suboptimal, with

less than half of children under 6 months being exclusively

breastfed; less than 40 percent and 20 percent of children

aged 6–23 months (in Mali and Burkina Faso, respectively)

were fed diets with a minimum dietary diversity.

� In 2015 and 2016, more than 200,000 infants and young children benefited from PROMIS nutrition services in

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal. More than 75,000 children

aged 6–23 months received the preventive SQ-LNS

supplement, and more than 470,000 screenings for acute

malnutrition were conducted.

� Feasibility, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness findings

will become available by the end of 2017 and during 2018.

Mali’s Projet Filets Sociaux Duration: 2014–2018

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : In the last two decades, cash transfer programs have become a

popular approach to long-term poverty alleviation. Yet evidence of their effectiveness is limited in Africa south of the

Sahara—especially in West Africa—and impacts on child nutritional status are mixed.

Mali’s Projet Filets Sociaux (Jigisemejiri) national program aims to (1) meet the immediate and ongoing needs of

households in chronic poverty, and (2) create opportunities for their future by supporting human-development strategies

such as investing in child health and adopting appropriate child-nutrition and hygiene practices. This program uses an

integrated model that provides targeted cash transfers (about $16.75 per month, every three months) and training sessions

on nutrition, health, and income generation to beneficiary households and, in selected communes, preventive nutritional

packets (fortified corn-soy blend) to children aged 0–59 months and pregnant women. The cash transfer component is

expected to reach 62,000 poor households.

To measure the program’s effectiveness, IFPRI, in partnership with France’s Institut de Recherche pour le Développement

(IRD), is conducting an impact evaluation using a cluster-randomized controlled trial design, creating a strong foundation for

rigorous impact analysis. The study is funded by the Government of Mali, the World Bank, and the European Commission.

The study includes the regions of Sikasso, Koulikoro, Kayes, Ségou, and Mopti.


R E S U L T S and O U T C O M E S : Analysis of baseline data includes the following observations about the situation

prior to intervention:

� Of targeted households, 55 percent were affected by moderate or severe food insecurity and were suffering

from anxiety about household food supplies and

insufficient quality. Rates of moderate to severe hunger,

however, were much lower. Despite high levels of food

insecurity, households benefited from diversified diets.

� On average, knowledge of breastfeeding was high among mothers of children aged 6–23 months, but knowledge of

complementary foods and foods rich in vitamin A was low.

This finding is reflected by the low percentage of children

aged 6–23 months receiving a minimally acceptable diet.

� Levels of chronic undernutrition, acute undernutrition, and anemia were very high among children aged 6–23 months

(29 percent were stunted, 14 percent were wasted, 92

percent were anemic, and 10 percent had severe anemia).

� Study results from the impact analysis will become

available in 2018.

Dairy Value Chain in Senegal Duration: 2012–2015

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : Given the poor reach of traditional anemia interventions, new

strategies, including value-chain approaches, are needed to reduce anemia among women and children in remote areas. A

dairy value chain was used among pastoralists in northern Senegal to distribute a micronutrient-fortified yogurt to producers

supplying a minimum amount of cow milk each day. The objective of the intervention, implemented in partnership with the

local dairy factory Laiterie du Berger, GRET, and the Cellule de Lutte Contre la Malnutrition (CLM), was to improve

hemoglobin levels among preschool children in this remote area.

A cluster-randomized controlled study, funded by the European Commission and the IFPRI-led CGIAR Research

Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), evaluated whether providing micronutrient-fortified yogurt

produced by the dairy factory could be used as an incentive to improve the regularity and quantity of milk delivery from

dairy farmers while improving hemoglobin concentrations among children in dairy-farm households. The intervention was

coupled with a behavior-change communication campaign, focusing on young child feeding practices, iron-rich food

consumption, and anemia prevention. The project’s successful design and implementation benefited from the strong

partnership between the private sector, an NGO, and a governmental nutrition agency.


� The evaluation showed that the nutritional incentive had a

positive impact on milk production and delivery during the

dry season, with a bigger impact in households where

women controlled the milk contract.

� The dairy value-chain intervention increased access to an

affordable nutritious product and increased hemoglobin

concentrations among children between the ages of two

and five in this semi-nomadic population with little access

to health services or nutrient-rich foods.

� This study is one of the first to show that a nutrition-sensitive agriculture value-chain approach can contribute to improved

child nutrition in a remote pastoralist population.

� The intrahousehold dynamics observed in the first year of the study led to the study’s extension (Phase 2),

focusing on gender roles, cooperation within the

household, and implications for production efficiency in

dairy farming. In addition to the micronutrient-fortified

yogurt incentive, women received training on production

and herd management.


Stories of Change in Nutrition in Senegal Duration: 2015–2016

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : Maternal and child undernutrition present a persistent problem in

low- and middle-income countries. Improving the nutritional status of pregnant women and children during the first 1,000

days (from conception to 24 months of age) has long-term benefits for physical, cognitive, educational, health, and

economic productivity outcomes throughout life. Better nutrition during childhood in girls also improves the growth of

their future children. In recent years, global attention to undernutrition has surged. Yet nutrition planners and

implementers need better guidance on effective implementation of nutrition programs and policies.

The Stories of Change in Nutrition initiative responded to the growing demand for well-documented, systematic

assessments and reviews of nutrition-relevant change in high-burden countries. This series of in-depth case studies,

funded by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the UK Department for International Development through

Transform Nutrition, synthesizes the actions, stakeholders, and policy and organizational contexts that have contributed to

changes in nutritional status. The Senegal case study, which used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods,

examined the role of the enabling environment for nutrition over the past 15 years.


� Change in nutrition in Senegal has been fueled foremost

by strong political commitment and delivered through an

increasingly fluid coherence between the disparate sectors

whose work touches on nutrition. The study highlights the

growing awareness of the need for a multisectoral

approach to nutrition.

� IFPRI worked in collaboration with Senegal’s national coordinating body for nutrition, Cellule de Lutte Contre la

Malnutrition (CLM). The changes and challenges documented

in this study have provided directions for overcoming the

challenge of strengthening vertical and horizontal institutional

coherence and insights into the ways in which community

empowerment serves accountability and sustainability.

� The study made recommendations for decision makers in Senegal and other countries with similar

nutrition typologies.

Cash for Nutrition Awareness component of the Santé Nutritionnelle à Assise Communautaire dans la Région de Kayes program in Mali Duration: 2013–2016

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : Santé Nutritionnelle à Assise Communautaire dans la Région de Kayes

(SNACK) is a multisectorial program in Mali aimed at improving maternal and child nutrition. In 2013, the program

(implemented by the World Food Programme [WFP]–Mali) found that preventive healthcare use in the pre-, peri-, and postnatal

periods was low; the Cash for Nutrition Awareness (CNA) component was added to encourage pregnant and lactating women

to attend community health centers. Conditional upon visits to health centers, mothers received cash and a ready-to-use

nutritional supplement for their children from conception to 24 months. The program targeted 24,000 children and 15,000

women in the region of Kayes. The expected outcome is better growth in utero and during infancy and early childhood.

SNACK was funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented in three districts of Kayes with support from UNICEF.

IFPRI, in collaboration with France’s IRD, is conducting the evaluation of SNACK’s CNA component—funded by the EU

(through the International Fund for Agricultural Development) and UNICEF—using a cluster-randomized controlled design.

The primary objective of the impact evaluation is to document the impact of SNACK’s CNA component on child linear

growth. The study also assessed whether the CNA component increased attendance at health centers, and whether an

increase was a consequence of the cash transfer and the distribution of nutritional supplements.



� At baseline, 40 percent of mothers with a child aged 12–42 months reported delivering at home. Levels of chronic and

acute malnutrition were high among children aged 12–42

months (33 percent were stunted and 7 percent were wasted).

Only a third of all children aged 6–23 months had consumed a

minimally acceptable diet the day before the survey.

� The process evaluation conducted in 2015 identified gaps in program implementation. Feedback was provided to

WFP–Mali about specific implementation problems, and

corrective actions to improve the program were taken.

� Study results from the impact analysis will become

available at the end of 2017.

Creating Homestead Agriculture for Nutrition and Gender EquityDuration: 2013–2016

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : An integrated agriculture and nutrition program, the Enhanced

Homestead Food Production (EHFP) program, implemented by Helen Keller International (HKI) in Burkina Faso from 2010

to 2012 and evaluated by IFPRI, significantly reduced anemia, wasting, and diarrhea among young children; reduced

maternal underweight; and increased women’s empowerment. Could greater nutritional impacts for young children be

achieved with longer program exposure, the addition of a water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) intervention, and an

intervention to address micronutrient gaps, such as providing children aged 6–23.9 months with a daily lipid-based

nutrient supplement (LNS)? To find out, IFPRI worked with HKI to design a follow-up program and evaluation called

Creating Homestead Agriculture for Nutrition and Gender Equity (CHANGE), which was implemented from 2014 to 2016

in the villages that participated in the EHFP evaluation.

CHANGE was funded by Global Affairs Canada from 2013 to 2016, with some complementary funding provided by A4NH

for the evaluation activities. The evaluation used a longitudinal cluster-randomized design: the control and intervention villages

from the 2010–2012 EHFP evaluation were separately randomized into one of two groups for a total of four intervention groups,

all of which received HKI’s base EHFP program. The 2010–2012 control villages were randomized to receive the EHFP program

for the first time from 2014 to 2016, either alone or with a WASH intervention. The intervention villages that received the 2010–

2012 EHFP program were randomized to receive the EHFP program for the second time at the community level, with WASH or

with WASH and LNS. These groups helped answer three questions: (1) what is the added benefit of prior community-level

exposure to the EHFP program? (2) what is the added benefit of WASH? and (3) what is the added benefit of providing LNS?


� Over two years, the prevalence of child anemia and iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) dropped (from 85 to 70 percent

and 74 to 54 percent, respectively), and vitamin A deficiency

(VAD) rose (24 to 36 percent) in the EHFP–2014 group.

� Prior exposure prevented a decrease in weight-for-height

Z-scores and reduced the prevalence of underweight, but

did not affect the other nutritional status outcomes.

� Adding WASH to the program in 2014 significantly

reduced anemia compared to EHFP alone, but did not

impact IDA or VAD.

� Including both WASH and LNS in communities with prior EHFP program exposure produced the largest and most

diverse nutritional impacts, including significant reductions

in anemia, IDA, VAD, and stunting.

� These results highlight the importance of addressing the

multiple causes of undernutrition simultaneously through

multisectoral programs.


Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural InnovationDuration: 2014–2017

R A T I O N A L E and O B J E C T I V E S : The Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation

(PARI) scales up technological innovations for agricultural growth and food security through agricultural innovation centers

in Africa. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and led by the Center for

Development Research at the University of Bonn, PARI covers 12 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia,

Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, Tunisia, and Zambia.

Together, IFPRI’s Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division and the West and Central Africa Office (1) provide economic

modeling and GIS-based tools for identifying the best opportunities for innovation investments in value chains; (2) assess

the potential effects of those innovations; and (3) develop an advanced data-exploration system to facilitate access to the

data needed for these models. IFPRI’s analytical work comprises

� elaborating agricultural typologies of microregions for

the 12 project countries to identify microregional-level

opportunities, bottlenecks, and investment gaps based

on production possibility frontiers that are applied to

farm activities.

� developing and applying MIRAGRODEP-AEZ—a

global computable general equilibrium model with

agroecological zones—to integrate crop models and

analyze potential agricultural technology innovations at

the subnational level.

� developing country eAtlases for accessing and using

highly disaggregated agricultural, socioeconomic, and

biophysical data. Policy makers and policy analysts can

use the eAtlas, an interactive mapping tool, to monitor,

analyze, and prioritize agricultural policies,

interventions, and investments.

� helping members of the AGRODEP Modeling Consortium with economic modeling and agricultural

typology development.


� Agricultural typologies have been completed for 7 of the 12 project countries—Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya,

Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia—combining microlevel

household survey data with GIS information on

agroecological zones to construct regional-level estimates

of agricultural potential and efficiency.

� PARI has developed eAtlases for all 12 project countries. In

7 of these—Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Togo,

and Tunisia—PARI has held workshops for national partners

to review and validate the data used and to receive training

on the use of the eAtlas tool.

� The MIRAGRODEP-AEZ model design has been finalized. The project has been tested for Ghana using several

scenarios and will be rolled out in other countries next.

� The economic modeling capacity of AGRODEP members has benefited from training workshops on the

MIRAGRODEP-AEZ model and group efforts to develop

agricultural typologies.


L I N K A G E S B E T W E E N P A R I P R O J E C T C O M P O N E N T SC

atch

up

to th

e fr

ontie

r sce

nario (E

fficiency estim

ates), Innovation (Frontier expansion) scenarios & sp

atial

disaggregation units (AEZs), Joint nomenclature

Household & farm data

Out

puts

(yie

lds)

Disaggregated data at the (s

ub) nat

iona

l lev

el

Typolog

y maps

Identification of areas with large efficiency gaps for technology packages

Outputs (production and econ

indicators by AEZs)

Disaggregated data at the national level (Crops and econ)

T Y P O L O G Y

E C O N O M I C

M O D E L S

e A T L A S

C R O P

M O D E L S

(Crops and biophysics)

Consistency check

pri

ce a

nd p

rodu

ctio

n dat

a for f

ocus crops

S O U R C E : Laborde, D. and F. Traore (2016), “PARI economic modeling component,” presentation at the PARI annual research and planning meeting, Nairobi, Kenya, December 9, 2016.


Looking AheadS I N C E I T S E S T A B L I S H M E N T I N 2 0 1 0 , W C A O H A S M A D E I M P O R T A N T

S T R I D E S I N B U I L D I N G N E W S T R A T E G I C P A R T N E R S H I P S A N D

S T R E N G T H E N I N G E X I S T I N G O N E S . It has forged important partnerships with

nongovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, governments, universities, and regional

bodies such as ECOWAS and CORAF/WECARD as well as the AUC at the continental level. WCAO has

raised IFPRI’s profile and increased its impact on food policy research, capacity strengthening, and

agricultural policy dialogues in the region. The office will continue to deepen and leverage its

partnerships to support evidence-based policy analysis, dialogue, mutual accountability, and stronger

capacities to meet the food security and nutrition needs of West and Central Africa.

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTEA world free of hunger and malnutrition

IFPRI Headquarters1201 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 USAPhone: +1-202-862-5600 | Fax: +1-202-862-5606

Email: [email protected] | Web: www.ifpri.org

IFPRI West and Central AfricaTitre 3396, Lot #2, BP 24063 Dakar - Almadies, Senegal

Phone: +221-33-869-9800Email: [email protected] | Web: www.wca.ifpri.info

Copyright © 2017 International Food Policy Research Institute. All rights reserved. Contact [email protected] for permission to republish.

Photo credits: Cover - M. Mitchell/IFPRI; p. 3 - ReSAKSS; p. 4 - M. Gueye/IFPRI; p. 6 - M. Ndongo/MARE; p. 7 - M. Mitchell/IFPRI; p. 9 - A. De Brauw; p. 13 - H. Rouamba/HKI

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