Melissa Hidrobo
Senior Research Fellow, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, IFPRI
Melissa Hidrobo is a Senior Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit at IFPRI. She is an applied microeconomist working at the intersection of gender, rural livelihoods, poverty reduction, and social protection. Her gender research focuses on how different interventions affect intrahousehold dynamics and how intrahousehold dynamics affect agricultural production. Her recent research involves impact evaluations in Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Senegal of nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs, social protection and economic inclusion programs, and edutainment to change gender norms. Melissa holds a PhD in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Recent work by Melissa Hidrobo
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C’est la Vie! How a popular West African edutainment series changed minds, but not behaviours
A West African TV series in Senegal led to short- and medium-term gains in knowledge and attitudes around violence against women and sexual and reproductive health, though impacts on behaviours were limited, and a podcast version extending content du...
Published 12.05.26
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Can cash and therapy work in conflict settings?
A randomised evaluation of a cash and psychological intervention in Ethiopia shows that the joint intervention is needed to improve both mental health and economic outcomes, but the effectiveness of the combined intervention is attenuated by active c...
Published 15.04.26
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Can simpler, cheaper graduation programmes still deliver?
A randomised evaluation of a lower-cost graduation-style programme in rural Ethiopia finds modest gains in savings and livestock income but no sustained improvements in consumption or food security, suggesting that smaller transfers and lighter suppo...
Published 25.03.26
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How programme design and local context shape the lasting effects of cash and food transfers
A transfer programme in Bangladesh led to sustained consumption increases and reduced poverty four years post-programme, but design and context mattered.
Published 16.12.24
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Cash transfers and intimate partner violence
Cash transfers are a promising tool to reduce intimate partner violence, but can they be effective across diverse contexts and programme design?
Published 29.03.19