Over the past 50 years, the world’s food systems have evolved tremendously amid major economic, environmental, and social changes. Throughout this period, policy research has played a crucial role in providing evidence and analysis to inform decision-making that supports agricultural growth, better livelihoods, and improved food security, nutrition, and well-being for all.
As a special edition marking the Institute’s 50th anniversary, the 2025 Global Food Policy Report examines the evolution and impact of food policy research and assesses how it can better equip policymakers to meet future challenges and opportunities. The report’s thematic and regional chapters, written by leading IFPRI researchers and colleagues, explore the broad range of issues and showcase research related to food systems, from tenure and agricultural extension to social protection, gender, and nutrition to conflict, political economy, and agricultural innovation, and more. As we approach 2050, policy research and analysis will be essential to help end poverty and malnutrition by building sustainable healthy food systems.
"Research on the Ethiopian teff value chain, conducted by IFPRI and collaborators from Ethiopia’s national agricultural research system, illustrates the developments on the demand and supply side of processed and prepared grains. Traditionally, consumers have bought teff as a grain, cleaned it them-selves, had it custom milled, and then prepared enjera at home. Although these practices are still maintained in rural areas and small towns, they have changed in Addis Ababa since the early 2000s. As custom milling and home cleaning of grain declined, consumers began to buy teff flour or prepared enjera, driving a nearly 50 percent increase in teff mills, enjera-making enterprises, and retail outlets in the city’s neighborhoods. Wholesale marketing of teff has also surged. Research shows that the marketed surplus of teff
increased rapidly over the past decade, and significantly more trade was reported on average in these markets over time. The reported number of trucks increased over the decade by some 70–80 percent across lean and peak periods. Growth in the teff value chain is exceeding urban population growth in Ethiopia, indicating higher consumption levels in the cities, more trade between rural areas that may pass through urban wholesale markets, and growth of transportation by trucks."
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