The African Growth and Development Policy Modeling Consortium

The African Growth and Development Policy (AGRODEP) Modeling Consortium is an initiative led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The goal of AGRODEP is to position African experts to take a leading role in both (1) the study of strategic development questions facing African countries as a group and (2) the broader agricultural growth and policy debate, which traditionally has been dominated by external actors and concerns.

Building on more than three decades of research and capacity building activities in Africa, IFPRI aims to provide locally relevant solutions to agriculture-related development challenges. Through AGRODEP, IFPRI and its partners will equip African countries with the tools to perform science-based research that will enable them to formulate sound and effective policies.

AGRODEP is a collaboration among IFPRI; the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA); the West African Council on Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD); and the Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Policy Network (FANRPAN).

The AGRODEP Modeling Consortium pursues three essential activities:

1. Promote access to and use of state-of-the-art economic modeling tools to meet the demand for high-quality, locally based research.
2. Facilitate access to existing data sources for research and policy analysis, improve the quality of available datasets, identify and bridge data gaps, and complement sources to raise their local content and relevance. 

Support collaboration among leading African scientists and their peers outside Africa and build a dynamic research community that can respond to the emerging and long-term needs of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme’s (CAADP) growth and poverty reduction agenda.