Rachel Levenson (Senior Project Associate, IPA Zambia) presented on the Food Constraints study as part of a Cargill learning tour.The study examined the impact of food or cash loans during lean seasons on smallholder farmers in Zambia, finding that there was high take-up of the loans, and that villages where loans were offered saw an increase in food consumption, a decline in the number of households engaging in casual day labor, and an increase in wages for those who did engage in casual labor.

Dean Karlan (Yale; President, IPA; Chair, J-PAL's Finance Sector) presented the results of the Graduating the Ultra-Poor studies during a conference hosted by IPA, J-PAL LAC, the Ministry of Finance of Peru, and Plan International at Pacífico University in Lima.Dean presented results from the six-country study, with a focus on the Peru evaluation.Plan International discussed their experience in implementing the model, as well as lessons and next steps from evaluation results.

IPA hosted a workshop in coordination with the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of Mongolia to share interim results of the Peri-Urban Rangeland study.Daniel Rubenson (Ryerson University) presented the findings to representatives from the Mongolian Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Swiss Development Cooperation, USAID, and the US Embassy.Also in the audience were international and local rangeland researchers.