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

_IMF Working Papers, December 5, 2025_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [The Food and Agriculture Sector in IMF Publications: A Text-Mining Analysis](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2025/12/05/the-food-and-agriculture-sector-in-imf-publications-a-text-mining-analysis-572366)

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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

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### 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.

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2025/12/05/the-food-and-agriculture-sector-in-imf-publications-a-text-mining-analysis-572366_