Meeting the complex challenge of reducing poverty and eradicating world hunger requires multifaceted economic, political, and technological approaches. This past year, 2006, was marked by encouraging economic growth in the developing world—estimated growth rate figures for Sub-Saharan Africa are nearly six percent and for Asia they are more than eight percent. However, even with this growth, in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia poverty remains high, and health problems resulting from imbalanced diets, micronutrient deficiencies and early-childhood malnutrition require urgent attention. Poverty is the main cause of food insecurity, and while economic growth is necessary for poverty reduction, it is often not sufficient. Appropriate strategies, policies, and institutions are fundamental to improving food and nutrition security, and related food policy research is essential.
The vision of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is a world free of hunger and malnutrition. This vision is based on the human right to adequate food and freedom from hunger, and recognition of the dignity inherent in all human beings. It is a vision of a world where every person has secure access to sufficient and safe food to sustain a healthy and productive life, and where food-related policy decisions are made transparently and include the participation of consumers and producers.
IFPRI's mission is to provide policy solutions that reduce poverty and cut hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI is conscious of the fact that it is part of the many global, regional, and national institutions and actors that pursue the above vision, and thus aims to make its contributions in partnership with others. Its mission flows from the mission of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), "To achieve sustainable food security and reduce poverty in developing countries through scientific research and research-related activities in the fields of agriculture, livestock, forestry, fisheries, policy, and natural resources management." Two key premises underlie IFPRI's mission: first, that sound and appropriate local, national, and international public policies are essential to achieving sustainable food security and nutritional improvement; and, second, that research and the dissemination of itsresults are critical inputs into the process of raising the quality of food policy debate and formulating sound and appropriate policies.
The 2008-10 medium-term plan is available for download in PDF format as a complete document or in sections.
- Full Report
- Overview
- Operational Plan
- Appendices