New and ongoing research, drawing on past IFPRI work on famine, will focus on disaster prevention, mitigation, and response, including conflict, HIV/AIDS, other health problems, and weather-related shocks. The work will emphasize rebuilding post-crisis food, agriculture, and nutrition systems at national levels, as well as exploring the roles of local institutions in preventing crises through sustainable natural resource management related to food, with a major focus on women and children.

Research will also examine how to improve early warning systems and international crisis response, including food aid.