Political Economy and Policy Analysis (PEPA) Sourcebook

10 October 2023. 15:00 - 16:30 CEST. Political Economy and Policy Analysis (PEPA) Sourcebook by IFPRI

Stakeholders working in food system policy research and development often ask, “What works where, why, and how?” These fundamental questions fuel other important debates—what are the “windows of opportunity” for reform and policy change? Are biotech crops part of the solution to solving climate, food, and nutrition security challenges in developing economies? What institutional innovations are “best fit” for managing shared natural resources to avoid conflict?

This webinar will launch a new political economy and policy analysis (PEPA) sourcebook that offers a unique combination of frameworks, analytical tools, and case studies to answer key questions relevant to agrifood system transformation. This event showcases the PEPA Sourcebook by applying frameworks to case study examples and discussing the relevance of PEPA for national policies and strategies.

• Opening remarks - Clemens Breisinger, Lead, CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS) and Country Program Leader, Kenya, IFPRI

PEPA Sourcebook for food systems transformation: Framework, analytical tools, and case studies:

• Jonathan Mockshell, Research Scientist – Senior Agricultural Economist, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
• Danielle Resnick, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

Systems Transformation Research Group Perspective on PEPA

• Marcela Quintero, Senior Director, Food Systems Transformation Science Group, CGIAR and Associate Director General, Research Strategy, and Innovation, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
• Frank Place, Senior Advisor, Director General Office, IFPRI

Panel Discussion: Evidence based insights from political economy and policy analysis for national policies and strategies

• Antonia Simbine, Director General, Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER)
• Jamie Morrison, Senior Advisor, Policy and External Relations, GAIN
• Marco V. Sánchez Cantillo, Deputy Director, Agrifood Economics Division, FAO
• Biniam Iyob, Senior Policy Adviser, Feed the Future, Office of Policy, Analysis and Engagement, Bureau of Resilience, Environment and Food Security, USAID
• Alan Nicol, Co-lead, CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS) and Principal Researcher, IWMI

Resource:

Mockshell, J.; Resnick, D.; Omulo, G.O.; Blanco, M.; Nicol, A. (2023) Political Economy and Policy Analysis (PEPA) sourcebook. A guide to generating evidence for National Policies and Strategies (NPS) for Food, Land, and Water Systems Transformation. Cali (Colombia): International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT); Washington DC (USA): International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) #60 p.

This PEPA Sourcebook brings together a collection of frameworks, analytical tools, and methods for analyzing contested questions about transforming agri-food systems across multiple domains, including food and nutrition, land and water, and climate and ecology. page 9

Food system policy research and development asks what works where, why, and how? page 9

• What role should governments play in agricultural transformation? 
• Are input subsidy programs an effective strategy to increase agricultural productivity? 
• What are the merits of agroecology versus sustainable agricultural intensification or blended sustainability? 
• Do small-scale farms have development potential or is supporting them ‘romantic populism?” 
• What social protection programs work best to solve food and nutrition security challenges? 
• Are biotech crops part of the solution to solving food and nutrition security challenges in developing economies? 
• What institutional innovations are “best-fit” for managing shared natural resources to avoid conflict and foster inclusion? page 9

These differences shape a policy environment characterized by the formation of stakeholder coalitions, fragmented policy instruments, and development programs that fail to provide adequate solutions to prevailing structural weaknesses in agri-food systems.  

The Sourcebook supports development practitioners’ efforts to understand and explain
political interests, ideas, beliefs, networks, coalitions, influence, and power dynamics. The Sourcebook can help practitioners identify policy winners and losers and visualize the impacts of development strategies. Collectively, the Sourcebook provides useful approaches to answering key questions relevant to inclusive agri-food system transformation, such as: 

1. Who are the influential actors driving policy processes and programs? 
2. What ideas, beliefs, and narratives shape crises and policy responses? 
3. What are the “windows of opportunity” for reform and policy change? 
4. What factors drive the effectiveness of policy implementation following reforms? and 
5. How do gender and equity considerations shape policy development and implementation? page 10