How we work | SERA | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Socio Economic Research and Analysis (SERA)

Thematic pillars and priority policy areas

The research agenda of the SERA team is organized around the thematic work areas of economic inclusion and inclusive climate actions in rural spaces, and focuses on four key policy pillars: social protection, land tenure, labour markets and value chains, and rural institutions. The agenda is designed to support the thematic areas of work of the ESP division, and FAO’s mandate to reduce poverty and hunger through inclusive rural transformation in line with the organization's Strategic framework.

Demand driven and forward-looking approach

The SERA team draws on a diverse range of methodological tools and approaches to support policy-relevant evidence generation that is actionable and scalable. The team works closely with policymakers and project implementers to ensure close alignment between evidence needs and evidence generation. In this way, the team provides concrete support to improve the design, targeting, and implementation of projects and programmes. Through a coordinated and strategic approach to evidence generation, the SERA team seeks to inform global discourses on priority actions and investment to reduce poverty and end hunger through inclusive and resilient rural transformation.

To this end, the SERA team specializes in conducting rigorous impact evaluations of complex and multifaceted interventions. This involves both experimental and quasi-experimental approaches to assess the causal impacts of policies, programmes, and specific interventions on the welfare and economic lives of rural people.

In order to better understand the complex interactions between rapidly changing climatic and biophysical systems, and the livelihoods of rural people, the SERA team integrates spatially explicit biophysical data with detailed socio-economic information. This approach allows the SERA team to support policy decision making that is attentive to the unprecedent challenges posed to rural transformation by global climate change.

Technical backstopping and capacity building

SERA team provides technical backstopping and input to project implementers, policymakers, civil society actors, and technical units within FAO and beyond on methods, survey design, and analytical approaches to generate rigorous socio-economic evidence in the context of complex, multifaceted projects and programmes.

Collaborative research and outreach is a hallmark of the team's approach.

Through close collaboration with local research organizations and universities in the countries where it works, the team seeks to transfer skills, build research capacity, and closely integrate research with policy actions and investments.