Publications

Abstract/Description Although continuous genetic improvement of crops cultivated by smallholder farmers is a well-known route to increasing agricultural productivity, our understanding of varietal adoption, turnover, and concentration in farmers’ fields is limited. Often, the greatest challenge to our understanding lies in the measurement approach (farmer self-reports versus DNA fingerprinting), as well as in the analysis […]

In low-income settings, poverty and mental health are often locked in a vicious cycle. Poor mental health can impair decision-making and reduce productivity, while the stresses of poverty—financial insecurity, food shortages, and environmental hazards—further exacerbate mental illness (Ridley et al 2020). Armed conflict can intensify this cycle: violence and displacement amplify trauma, while the resulting […]

This brief reports on a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial of 3,015 households evaluating the effectiveness of SPIR II, a nutrition-sensitive graduation model implemented in Ethiopia. The full treatment package—combining nutrition-focused behavior change communication (BCC), village economics and savings associations, monthly maternal cash transfers of US$20, and a one-time livelihood grant of US$300—generates large, sustained […]

A randomized evaluation of a lower-cost poverty graduation-style program in rural Ethiopia finds modest gains in savings and livestock income but no sustained improvements in consumption or food security, suggesting that smaller cash transfers and lighter support may be insufficient to help extremely poor households escape poverty, particularly in shock-prone settings. A long-running debate in […]

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101523 The Journal of Nutrition: Volume 156, Issue 6, June 2026, 101523 Taddese Zerfu , Amare Abera Tareke , Dawit Alemayehu Chekol Abstract Dietary diversity indicators, such as the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W), are widely used to assess diet quality in low- and middle-income countries. These metrics typically rely on 24-h recall data to approximate micronutrient adequacy. Although repeated […]