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Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies

MAFAP programme brings policy optimization to the forefront at key Kenya meetings
Policy Optimization Modelling Tool (PolOpT) generates strong interest among African stakeholders during regional livestock conference. MAFAP team set to support Kenya’s fertilizer subsidy evaluation and play a role in FAO-IFAD’s Food Systems Integrated Programme.
PolOpT brochure now in three languages!
Read more about FAO's new Policy Optimization Tool (PolOpT) in this short brochure now available in English, French and Spanish. 
MAFAP meets with Mozambique’s oilseeds institute to help set reference prices for sesame, soybeans and sunflower

The MAFAP programme has been supporting the country's Cotton and Oilseeds Institute (IAOM) to align prices and farmers' incentives for the three major oilseeds with exports promotion, domestic production and value addition policy goals.

MAFAP and Ghanian experts a review and validate first results of agrifood public expenditure review

Find out some key findings from the review!

The MAFAP programme looks into "nutrition-sensitive" public spending in Ethiopia
The new analysis is fruit of a success collaboration between the Policy Studies Institute of Ethiopia, FAO's Food and Nutrition Division and the MAFAP programme that puts a focus on government spending on nutrition to enable healthy diets.
Nouveau rapport: Prioriser pour mieux diversifier les exportations du Burkina Faso
Une nouvelle étude vise à prioriser les produits agricoles selon leur potentiel à diversifier et accroître les exportations du Burkina Faso. 
New updates on the data hub!
Updates include new data on key commodities for Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda and Senegal, as well as new data on public expenditure on food and agriculture in Malawi and Rwanda up to 2023.
Bangladesh and FAO chart new course for nutrition-friendly public spending to support healthy diets
Workshop in the capital Dhaka engaged national stakeholders in validating public expenditure data to support more effective “nutrition-sensitive” investments in Bangladesh’s agrifood sector to promote healthy diets.
Gates Foundation and MAFAP programme convene for annual update
A yearly meeting to review of progress, challenges, and future strategies for inclusive agricultural policy reform took place on 12 and 13 March 2025
MAFAP and Government of Bangladesh join forces to make public spending a key driver of agricultural productivity and prosperity
Policymakers and experts gather in Dhaka to track public expenditure and investments in food and agriculture and understand pathways to optimize them for agricultural transformation
FAO showcases policy optimization tool developed by the MAFAP programme at Global Environment Facility's technical advisory meetings
Marco V. Sánchez joined environmental experts in Washington, DC to table the tool as powerful way to support countries in tracking and optimizing public spending on agrifood systems, climate action, and biodiversity in drive for better policy coherence.
All about MAFAP's policy optimization tool (PolOpT)

Check out the new brochure'Spending smarter on food and agriculture – Making public spending more effective with FAO's policy optimization tool (PolOpT)'

MAFAP and Uganda’s Labour Ministry tackle labour productivity in the country's agricultural sector
Labour productivity in the agricultural sector faces a number of binding constraints including land access, uncertain markets, volatile prices, inadequate farmer training, limited infrastructure, and technology uptake.

The Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme, within the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division at FAO, is a leading policy support initiative that has been working since 2009 with mainly African countries to strategically prioritize, reform and implement agrifood policies for inclusive agricultural transformation. 

MAFAP does this by supporting governments with agrifood policy monitoring on public expenditure on food and agriculture and price incentives for key country commodities, with policy prioritization to optimise their public budgets and prioritize their investments in commodities, and with agrifood policy reforms to address issues on food and nutrition, pricing, marketing, strategy development and trade. 

Countries where MAFAP is providing support
Videos
Nineteen officials meet to sharpen skills at policy monitoring and data validation workshop in Burkina Faso
26/02/2025

Le Faso covers MAFAP's policy monitoring upskilling workshop in Burkina Faso

All about agrifood policy prioritization in 1 minute with Marco V. Sánchez
06/05/2024

Find out in this 1-minute video with Agrifood Economics and Policy Deputy Director Marco V. Sánchez how the MAFAP Programme is partnering with countries...

All about agrifood policy monitoring in 1 minute with Valentina Pernechele
06/05/2024

Find out in 1 minute from Economist Valentina Pernechele how the MAFAP Programme is helping countries through policy monitoring and data analysis on...

All about agrifood reform in 1 minute with Thibault Meilland
06/05/2024

Find out from Policy Advisor Thibault Meilland how the MAFAP Programme is supporting countries through a 4-step process to repurpose and reform their...

MAFAP Policy Monitoring E-learning Series
24/06/2022

Upskill your agrifood policy monitoring through an interactive, in-depth e-learning series on globally recognized methodologies on public expenditure...

News
MAFAP programme brings policy optimization to the forefront at key Kenya meetings
16/06/2025
Policy Optimization Modelling Tool (PolOpT) generates strong interest among African stakeholders during regional livestock conference. MAFAP team set to support Kenya’s fertilizer subsidy evaluation and play a role in FAO-IFAD’s Food Systems Integrated Programme.
MAFAP meets with Mozambique’s oilseeds institute to help set reference prices for sesame, soybean, and sunflower for 2024/2025 agricultural marketing year
02/06/2025
The MAFAP programme has been supporting the Cotton and Oilseeds Institute (IAOM) to align oilseeds prices and farmers' incentives with exports promotion, domestic production and value addition policy goals.
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Publications
Cómo gastar mejor en la alimentación y la agricultura –Incrementando la eficiencia del gasto público con la Herramienta de optimización de políticas (PolOpT) de la FAO
11/06/2025

La Herramienta de optimización de políticas (PolOpT) de la FAO permite a los gobiernos reasignar sus presupuestos públicos destinados a la alimentación...

Analysis of nutrition-sensitive public expenditure in Ethiopia's agrifood sector to enable healthy diets
20/05/2025

This study aims to provide an analysis of nutrition-sensitive public expenditure in the food and agriculture sector in Ethiopia, to inform and support...

Prioriser pour mieux diversifier les exportations du Burkina Faso – Analyse du potentiel de diversification de seize produits agricoles
09/05/2025

Cette étude vise à prioriser les produits agricoles selon leur potentiel à diversifier et accroître les exportations du Burkina Faso. Deux étapes structurent...

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E-Learnings
Monitoring price incentives for food and agriculture: the MAFAP method
02/11/2021

Learn how policies influence prices at different stages of the value chain, such as at producer, wholesale and retail level, is fundamental to determine...

Monitoring public expenditure on food and agriculture: the MAFAP method
02/11/2021

Learn how public spending on food and agriculture is a critical to better understand agricultural public expenditure and how it affects agricultural...

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Contact

Marco V. Sánchez

Deputy Director

Agrifood Economics and Policy Division & Officer-in-Charge MAFAP

[email protected]