Alessandra Garbero is the Senior Econometrician in RIA. Her work focuses on impact assessment methodologies and applied econometrics in developing regions. She holds a Ba in Economics from University of Rome La Sapienza,  an Msc in Demography from London School of Economics, an Msc in Statistics and Social Research Methods from the University of Rome La Sapienza, and obtained her PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, with a thesis focusing on the econometric estimation of the impact of adult deaths on households’ welfare using panel data in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Her prior work experience involved working at the United Nations Population Division on population projections and at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on the impact of HIV/AIDS on food security and agriculture, as well as on the improvement of the collection, dissemination and use of gender disaggregated data in agriculture and rural development. She also developed a methodology to evaluate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the agricultural labour force. Prior to joining IFAD, she was a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Session I - Agriculture and Rural Development - 26/10/2017 10:00 - 11:30

A systematic review of the impact of agricultural research of farmers welfare

This study assesses the impact of agricultural research on poverty and welfare by performing a systematic review synthesis of experimental and quasi-experimental impact evaluations of improved seeds interventions over a period ranging from 2007 to 2014. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed on 6 papers for poverty, 13 papers for income, and 8 papers for expenditure outcomes over different food crops and included unpublished studies. We found that improved seeds reduced poverty by 6 per cent, increased income and expenditure by 32 and 14 per cent respectively in rural areas. These results confirm that agricultural research and improved seeds interventions are contributing effectively to poverty reduction through direct channels, that is productivity gains.

Other speakers in this session

Vincenzo Salvucci (United Nations University)
Effects of Food Price Shocks on Child Malnutrition: the Mozambican Experience 2008/2009

Ervin Prifti (FAO)
Risk-Related Effects of Cash Transfers on Modern Inputs Demand