The Food and Agriculture Sector in IMF Publications: A Text-Mining Analysis

IMF Working Papers, December 5, 2025

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The Food and Agriculture Sector in IMF Publications: A Text-Mining Analysis

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Bibliographic details

• Authors: Tewodaj Mogues, Papa Niang
• Published: December 5, 2025
• Series: IMF Working Papers
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229030687.001

Overview

• Scope: Text-mining analysis of discussions of food and agriculture issues in publications of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1946 to mid-2025, with deeper analysis on subsets of this period for selected publication types.
• Objectives:
  • Examine how references to food security and agriculture (FSA) have evolved over time.
  • Assess differences across IMF outlets and regional focus of papers.
  • Explore coverage of subtopics of FSA and broader economic contexts within which FSA is contextualized.
• Data sources: IMF eLibrary metadata and full-text data processed through the Fund Document Extraction Toolkit (FDET).
• eLibrary context: The IMF eLibrary offers over 25,000 IMF publications in multiple formats.

Methodology and Data

• Text-mining applied to eLibrary metadata and full-text processed via FDET.
• Period covered: 1946 to mid-2025.
• Publication focus: Deeper analysis on subsets of the full period for selected IMF publication types.

Key Findings

• Temporal dynamics:
  • IMF attention to FSA issues tends to peak during periods of global food crises and significant agricultural policy changes.
  • These peaks closely track inflationary trends with minimal lag, suggesting rapid response of IMF work to crises.
• Regional prevalence:
  • Sub-Saharan Africa and Emerging and Developing Asia exhibit the highest prevalence of FSA references.
  • Advanced economies show lower prevalence of FSA references.
• Thematic associations:
  • FSA-focused publications exhibit greater attention to selected core macroeconomic themes (inflation and trade).
  • FSA-focused publications also show greater attention to newer thematic areas (climate change and inequality) relative to other IMF work.
• Applicability:
  • The tools and methods can be applied to macrocritical dimensions of other sectoral concerns.
  • Findings provide a foundation for further research that can extend the methodology and content of this work.

Regional Patterns

• Highest prevalence of FSA references:
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Emerging and Developing Asia
• Lower prevalence:
  • Advanced economies

Thematic Coverage within FSA Publications

• Core macroeconomic themes with greater attention:
  • Inflation
  • Trade
• Newer thematic areas with greater attention:
  • Climate change
  • Inequality

Policy Implications and Applications

• Rapid IMF responsiveness: Peaks in IMF attention to FSA correspond closely with inflationary trends, indicating rapid policy and research responsiveness to crises.
• Cross-cutting analysis: Text-mining methods enable identification of how sectoral concerns (FSA) are contextualized within broader macroeconomic debates.
• Transferability: The analytical tools and approach can be repurposed to analyze other macrocritical sectoral dimensions.