Innovations for Poverty Action recently partnered with US-based Michigan State University (MSU) and two partners in Burkina Faso, the Institute for the Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA) and the Association of Wholesalers and Agricultural Input Retailers (AGRODIA), on an evaluation entitled "Investment Orientation to Sustainable Agricultural Intensification in Africa." Despite the availability of new agricultural technologies, which may increase yields and household income, few farmers in Burkina Faso and elsewhere in the Sahel region of Sub-Saharan Africa are using improved seeds and fertilizer.

Helping the ultra-poor develop sustainable livelihoods is a global priority, and policymakers are faced with competing ideas about the best way to approach this problem. In Uganda, Village Enterprise and IPA partnered with researchers to conduct a randomized evaluation that measured the impact of diverse components and variants of Village Enterprise’s graduation-style program, which provides poor households with a combination of cash transfers, mentorship, business training, and support for the formation of businesses and savings groups over a one-year period. At this dissemination event in Kampala, researchers joined representatives from IPA, Village Enterprise, and the Government of Uganda.