In April 2012, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) commissioned CommsConsult to undertake a review of the effectiveness of their communication and reach to their key stakeholder audiences.

IFPRI seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. It is one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organisations.

The study conducted by CommsConsult was made up of an online survey, advertised through IFPRI’s main website and satellite sites, semi-structured interviews with 42 key informants and Washington-based IFPRI staff, and a series of ‘communication healthchecks’ performed on selected IFPRI products including websites, social media and Policy Briefs.

The survey asked respondents to detail the frequency with which they use the IFPRI communication products and IFPRI publications and how often they attend IFPRI events. It also aimed to decipher how many of the respondents used the IFPRI social media platforms.

A number of recommendations were made at the end of the report, including:
  1. Develop an organisational Theory of Change that will make explicit the proposed uptake pathways for research in order to meet the organisation’s strategic vision.
  2. Evolve the organisational incentives in a way that clearly communicates a collective responsibility to communicate strategically, at multiple levels to multiple audiences, in order to maximise uptake.
  3. Strengthen both monitoring and reporting of IFPRI Communication work and be more strategic about what is collected and how it is analysed.
  • Project Type: External Communications Review
  • Client: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)