FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
About the series (ISSN 2521-1838)
The FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Paper series, also known as ESA Working Paper series, was created in 2001 and it collects research and policy analysis on agricultural and economic development. The aim of the series is strengthening the capacity of member countries to improve decision-making on food security and nutrition, resilience, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable markets, agribusinesses and rural transformations.
An analysis of the transmission channels of commodity terms of trade shocks
Working paper, 2026
Cross-country interdependencies have been identified in the FAO’s report "The future of food and agriculture – Drivers and triggers for transformation" as one of eighteen key drivers of agrifood systems. These interdependencies, and particularly commodity...
Available in:English
A pilot study
Working paper, 2026
Metrics commonly used to assess household resilience fail to capture individual-level dietary vulnerabilities, particularly among women and young children. Considering individual dietary adequacy is essential, as it reflects a household's ability to maintain nutritional wellbeing...
Available in:English
Background paper for The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025
Working paper, 2025
This paper analyzes food security outcomes under food price inflation across 154 countries from 2015-2023, examining how different policy landscapes shape heterogeneous responses. Using group-based trajectory modeling, we identify distinct patterns in the co-evolution of...
Available in:English
Background paper for The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025
Working paper, 2025
This paper analyses global retail food consumer prices to uncover structural factors shaping the cost and affordability of healthy diets. Using data from 2011, 2017, and 2021, the study finds that prices vary systematically by...
Available in:English
A youth and gender perspective in agrifood systems using decomposition
Working paper, 2025
The modernization of agrifood systems (AFS) is transforming labour markets and generating new employment opportunities. However, are these emerging opportunities enabling youth to take up more waged employment – often associated with higher incomes and...
Available in:English
An economic application of list experiments
Working paper, 2025
List experiments utilize indirect survey questions to reduce social desirability bias in measures of sensitive behaviours and sentiments. While often used to assess retrospective behaviour or opinions of respondents, list experiments have not been widely...
Available in:English
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2025
Working paper, 2025
Understanding how much food is produced by farms of different sizes is central to shaping inclusive, sustainable and resilient agrifood systems. While smallholders are widely recognized as critical for local food security, especially in low-...
Available in:English
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2025
Working paper, 2025
Over the last decade, increasing efforts have been made to estimate the number of farms and the global distribution of farmland, providing context for the ongoing discourse on the future of farms, farm sizes, food...
Available in:English
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2025
Working paper, 2025
Research on land-related agri-environmental policies and their impact on agriculture and the environment usually focuses on individual policies in specific national and regional contexts. This study fills this gap by providing a global perspective on...
Available in:English
Exploring income diversification among agricultural households in developing economies
Working paper, 2025
Smallholder farmers remain central to rural economies across developing countries, yet small landholdings and limited non-farm opportunities constrain their ability to achieve a living income. Using harmonized household survey data from 37 countries and panel...
Available in:English