International Food Policy Research Institute

Risk characterizes everyday life for many of the world’s poorest households. These households are more likely to be located in environments where livelihoods are highly susceptible to weather and price variability and where health risks are pervasive. Reducing the risks faced by poor households, and enabling poor households to better deal with adverse events when they do occur, is essential to improving their welfare in the short run and their opportunities for income growth in the long run. IFPRI’s agricultural risk management work seeks to reduce the vulnerability of poor households to market- and environmentally-driven shocks through the appropriate design of institutions, policies, and technological innovations. This work falls within IFPRI’s research mandate to address the causes of food insecurity and poverty, and covers a range of research activities currently ongoing within IFPRI. Research activities include:

• Design and assess insurance products for smallholder farmers
• Explore the global economic and environmental drivers that lead to vulnerability and food insecurity at the regional level
• Evaluate social safety nets that reduce vulnerability to shocks