Dr. Catherine Ragasa is a Senior Research Fellow in the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). She is an agricultural and applied economist, focusing on impact evaluation and mixed-method assessments of agrifood innovations, policies, and institutions. Prior to joining IFPRI, she worked in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department at the World Bank, Washington, DC, focusing on gender research and inclusive agricultural innovation systems and value chains. Catherine received her PhD in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University in 2008 and holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. She has more than 20 years of extensive field work, research, and policy engagements in various countries in Sub-Saharan African and Southeast Asia.
Many systemic challenges hinder the localization of ICT to revolutionize agriculture in the global South. Inadequate infrastructure limits access to digital resources and services. Data and tools that power AI often fail to accurately represent the specific contexts of local agrifood systems. Gender gaps in the ownership and usage of digital tools exacerbate these challenges. Language barriers also present significant obstacles, as local languages are frequently underrepresented in ICT tools. This session will explore how diverse stakeholders—including development agencies, research institutions, innovation accelerators, and non-profit organizations—are collaborating to tackle these issues and evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches.
New Delhi, India
Texcoco, Mexico
Washington, D.C., United States
