PRCI to research effects Ukraine war shocks on African agri-food systems
Print
EmailMSU Innovation Lab receives funding for multi-country study and policy engagement on the effects of the Ukraine war on the agri-food value chain
East Lansing, MI – In response to compounding negative impacts, first from COVID-19 and now from the Ukraine crisis, The Innovation Lab for Food Policy, Research, Capacity, and Influence (PRCI) has received funding from USAID to support African policy research institutes in analysis and convening for evidence-based policies to address short- and medium-term impacts of the global crisis in food, fuel and fertilizer availability and prices.
PRCI will be partnering in this endeavor with the newly renamed African Network of African Policy Research Institutes (ANAPRI), formerly ReNAPRI, to increase the capacity of African policy research institutes. Through this work these institutes will make empirically based policy recommendations to local governments in order for them to adjust to ongoing shocks and increase resilience in the agri-food system for when the inevitable next crisis occurs.
There will be two main work tracks. Michael Olabisi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics and Emmanuel Mwakiwa, senior lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe through the ANAPRI network will lead one team. The second team will be lead by Mwakiwa with Ayala Wineman, AFRE Assistant Professor. Outreach and dissemination of policy implications will be incorporated throughout the process and begin immediately through work with ANAPRI to leverage existing research on agri-food system resilience. At a country level, the teams will disseminate critical information on how local institutions can structure policies and plans to build resilience to ongoing shocks. By building on existing institutional structures and alliances the project will be able to kickstart the policy recommendation uptake process to get governments the information they need in a timely manner.
Concurrently with outreach efforts, teams will review previous and current government policy responses and examine price data and data modeling. ANAPRI will be assisting with data modeling, having expanded institutional capacity to include a data modeling center. Plans include intense country level policy engagement around the issues in the runup to the upcoming Soil Health and Fertilizer Summit led by the African Union and ANAPRI. The goal is to inform country positions, input, and engagement in the summit and in the follow-up events.
