|
on Africa |
| By: | Rashid, Shahidur; Minot, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | Paper to be presented at the Comesa policy seminar âFood price variability: Causes, consequences, and policy options" on 25-26 January 2010 in Maputo, Mozambique under the Comesa-MSU-IFPRI African Agricultural Markets Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Sub saharan Africa, food security, food prices, markets, efficiency, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q18, q17, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58562&r=afr |
| By: | Chapoto, Antony; Jayne, T.S.; Kirimi, Lillian; Kadiyala, S. |
| Abstract: | Campaigns to prevent the spread of HIV require accurate knowledge of the characteristics of those most likely to contract the disease. Studies conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa during the 1980s generally found a positive correlation between socioeconomic characteristics such as education, income, and wealth and subsequent contraction of HIV. As the disease has progressed, the relationship between socioeconomic status and HIV contraction may have changed, although there is little evidence to support this. An emerging strand of the literature on the AIDS epidemic in Africa posits that poverty is increasingly associated with the spread of the disease. However, this conclusion is somewhat contentious, as other recent studies find mixed evidence of a poverty-AIDS connection. This study attempts to shed light on these issues by reporting findings from two linked studies on the socioeconomic characteristics of prime-age individuals (defined as ages 15 to 59) dying of disease-related causes in Zambia and Kenya. |
| Keywords: | africa, hiv/aids, food security, Zambia, Kenya, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q10, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:56782&r=afr |
| By: | Minot, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | Paper to be presented at the Comesa policy seminar âFood price variability: Causes, consequences, and policy options" on 25-26 January 2010 in Maputo, Mozambique under the Comesa-MSU-IFPRI African Agricultural Markets Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Africa, food security, food prices, global markets, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q17, q18, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58563&r=afr |
| By: | Dembele, Niama Nango; Staatz, John |
| Abstract: | The situation analysis and perspectives on food security West Africa shows a widening gap between the needs of consumption and nutrition and food availability at Global countries, households and individuals. Low gains productivity in food production and import capacity are the major constraints to the achievement of security Food in the region. The agricultural growth becomes the prerequisite for improving the food situation. |
| Keywords: | Food Security, West Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, q18, q17, q13, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58546&r=afr |
| By: | Mather, David; Donovan, Cynthia; Boughton, Duncan |
| Abstract: | This brief summarizes detailed analysis of the determinants of household crop income in rural Mozambique from 2002 to 2005. Increased crop income is associated with increases in household land area, use of animal traction, crop diversification into tobacco or cotton, access to market price information, and access to extension agents (for tobacco/cotton growers). Decreases in crop income are associated with drought. Results demonstrate that there are both public and private investments that can enhance farmersâ ability to increase crop income and avoid losses. Priority investments include: development and dissemination of drought-resistant varieties for maize and cassava, conservation farming, animal traction, market information, access to high-value crops and small-scale irrigation. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, africa, mozambique, food security, assets, household, rural, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q12, |
| Date: | 2009–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:56805&r=afr |
| By: | Haggblade, Steven; Longabaugh, Steven; Tschirley, David |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to develop and test methods for spatial mapping of population, food production, consumption, and marketed quantities in Africa. As an initial, exploratory exercise, the paper examines the spatial pattern of population, food production, consumption, and trade in the three countries of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. This largely descriptive initial work will lay the empirical foundations for future analytical work modeling regional trade flows of food staples. By mapping population, food production, and trade flows, the paper aims to help policy makers better understand and anticipate spatial interactions in staple food markets. Through visual presentation of market information, these spatial mapping tools offer prospects for animating an ongoing dialogue among public and private stakeholders on key market flows, key bottlenecks, and key opportunities for improving food security in good and bad harvest years. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Food Security, Production, Marketing, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Q13, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:54553&r=afr |
| By: | Haggblade, Steven; Longabaugh, Steven; Tschirley, David L. |
| Abstract: | Zambiaâs population clusters tightly in cities along the north-south line of rail and in the primarily rural areas of Eastern Province (Figure 1). Staple food consumption and purchases are similarly concentrated in these heavily populated clusters (Figures 4 and 5). Across the border, several high-density population centers lie close to the Zambian border â in the copperbelt cities of southern DRC, in the highlands of southern Tanzania, in Malawi and in Zimbabwe (Figure 2). This results in sizeable potential food markets for Zambian farmers across the border in southern DRC and, intermittently, in Zimbabwe and Malawi. Zambiaâs staple food production and sales likewise cluster spatially in three main areas: along the line of rail, in the large commercial farming blocks of north-central Zambia, and to a lesser extent in Eastern Province (Figure 6). This spatial clustering offers opportunities for Zambia to benefit from regional trade in food staples. In normal and good harvest years, significant export potential exists in matching the large cereal-producing blocks in north-central Zambia with the nearby copperbelt cities of both Zambia and DRC. Conversely, in years of domestic shortfall, significant import supplies may be available from cross-border farmers and traders in southern Tanzania, northern Mozambique and, in time, Zimbabwe. If Zambian farmers are to invest in the productive capacity necessary to serve these external markets, they will require consistent and predictable trade policies. Figure 1. |
| Keywords: | Zambia, food security, Africa, staple food production, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, q18, q13, q17, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:58544&r=afr |
| By: | Derek Yu (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | There is an abundance of literature adopting the monetary approach (i.e., using per capita income or expenditure variables) to derive poverty and inequality trends for South Africa since the transition. The most commonly used data sets used for these analyses are the censuses and the Income Expenditure Surveys (IESs) conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). However, in some recent studies, alternative data sources were used, namely the All Media Products Survey (AMPS) by the South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF), as well as the National Dynamic Income Study (NIDS), which is conducted by Southern African Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU). Some of the data sets are problematic in a particular year or in more than one year, which in turn makes the comparison of poverty and inequality results across the years difficult. Examples of these problems are as follows: the serious decline of income and expenditure between the 1995 and 2000 IES; the high proportion of households with zero or unspecified income in the censuses; too few household expenditure bands in the General Household Surveys (GHSs). In addition, in the various studies mentioned above, different poverty lines were used in the poverty analysis, with the most commonly used poverty line values being R250 per month in 1996 Rand, US$1 a day, US$2 a day, as well as R211 per month and R322 per month in 2000 Rand (i.e., the two official poverty lines proposed by Woolard and Leibbrandt (2006). This paper aims to consistently apply the same poverty lines (i.e., the proposed official poverty lines mentioned above) across all the available survey data, in order to explore the poverty and inequality trends over the years, and to find out if these trends are consistent across different surveys during the period under investigation. The data quality problems mentioned above are addressed (if possible), before the poverty and inequality trends are derived. |
| Keywords: | South Africa, Household survey, Poverty, Inequality, Missing data, Imputation |
| JEL: | I32 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers103&r=afr |
| By: | MSU Food Security Group |
| Abstract: | Decades of research have led to substantially improved understanding of the nature of food insecurity. A combination of economic growth and targeted programs resulted in a steady fall (until the food crisis of 2007/08) in the percentage of the worldâs population suffering from undernutrition (from 20% in 1990/92 to 16% in 2006). Yet over a billion people still face both chronic and/or transitory food insecurity due to long-standing problems of inadequate income, low-productivity in agricultural production and marketing, and related problems of poor health and absence of clean water. Assuring adequate food security for such a large share of the worldâs population is increasingly challenging due to continuing resource degradation driven by a combination of population pressure and outdated agricultural practices, poorly functioning input markets, rapid urbanization, increased concerns about food safety, and climate change. This document contains an overview of the past 25 years of research, capacity-building, and outreach by MSUâs Food Security Group. The paper describes key elements of the FSG approach and draws lessons regarding the value of that model. Insights gained from research and outreach and their value in addressing the major current challenges facing food and agricultural systems in Africa are summarized in FSG (2009). |
| Keywords: | Africa, Food Security, research, capacity building, outreach, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, q10, q18, q12, q13, |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midips:55050&r=afr |
| By: | Chamberlin, Jordan; Jayne, T.S. |
| Abstract: | This report uses panel data on 1,267 smallholder households to monitor changes in their access to markets and services. We find that Kenyan smallholdersâ proximity to infrastructure, markets, and services has improved markedly over the last decade. These improvements, however, have not been uniformly distributed over either time or space. Farmers in high-potential areas of the country continue to enjoy closer proximity to most kinds of markets and services compared to low-potential areas, but the greatest relative improvements over the 1997-2007 period have been in areas of medium and low potential. We also distinguish between public and private investments in examining changes in smallholdersâ access to markets. Changes deriving from public investments have tended to be most geographically equitable; private investments appear to have been relatively concentrated in the less productive farming areas of the country, possibly because earlier investments focused on high-potential areas, leaving unexploited investment opportunities in the less productive areas. These changes in smallholdersâ access to markets may offer important insights about the private sectorâs response to market liberalization in recent Kenyan history. |
| Keywords: | Kenya, markets, food security, Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, q18, q13, |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58545&r=afr |
| By: | Food Security Group |
| Abstract: | Decades of research have led to substantially improved understanding of the nature of food insecurity. Until the food crisis of 2007/08, a combination of economic growth and targeted programs resulted in a steady fall in the percentage of the worldâs population suffering from under-nutrition (from 20% in 1990/92 to 16% in 2006). Yet over a billion people still face both chronic and/or transitory food insecurity due to long-standing problems of inadequate income, low-productivity in agricultural production and marketing, and related problems of poor health and absence of clean water. Among regions of the world, the greatest number of the food insecure lives in South Asia, while Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest proportion of population that is food insecure. Achieving adequate food security for such a large number of people is increasingly challenging due to a combination of economic, social, political and environmental factors. This document contains an overview of the past 25 years of research, capacity-building, and outreach by MSUâs Food Security Group. The paper describes key elements of the FSG approach and draws lessons regarding the value of that model. It also examines the insights gained from research and outreach, primarily in Africa, and their value to the U.S. Global Food Security Initiative in addressing the major current challenges facing food and agricultural systems. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Food Security, research, capacity building, outreach, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, q10, q18, q12, q13, |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:55047&r=afr |
| By: | Rashid, Shahidur |
| Abstract: | Prepared for the COMESA policy seminar on âVariation in staple food prices: Causes, consequence, and policy optionsâ, Maputo, Mozambique, 25â26 January 2010 under the African Agricultural Marketing Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Ethiopia, food security, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, q11, q18, q17, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58552&r=afr |
| By: | Mason, Nicole M.; Jayne, T.S. |
| Abstract: | After two decades of de-urbanization, Zambia is again becoming increasingly urban. While the urban share of the population fell to 35% in 2000 due primarily to the decline of the copper industry, over half of Zambiaâs people will be residing in urban areas by 2040. Given this urbanization trajectory, to be effective, policies to promote smallholder agriculture and improved urban food marketing system performance in Zambia will need to take into consideration the demand patterns of urban food consumers. Urban consumption patterns will increasingly determine the opportunities available to small-scale farmers. Accurate information on urban consumer preferences can also help identify key leverage points and investment priorities to improve the performance of the food marketing system. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, food security, africa, zambia, consumption urban, staple foods, survey, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q19, |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:56803&r=afr |
| By: | Seck, Abdoulaye (Suffolk University & Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, Economics); Cissokho, Lassana (Suffolk University, Economics); Makpayo, Kossi (Suffolk University, Economics); Haughton, Jonathan (Suffolk University & Beacon Hill Institute, Economics) |
| Abstract: | It is widely believed that the countries of Africa trade relatively little with the outside world, and among themselves, despite an extensive network of regional trade agreements. We examine this proposition by focusing on agricultural trade. Specifically, we ask whether non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are stunting agricultural trade within ECOWAS, a grouping of 15 countries in West Africa that has removed tariffs on agricultural trade among its members. Our survey of truckers in Tambacounda (Senegal) in August 2009 found evidence of extensive bribery by police and border officials, effectively representing a barrier to trading. |
| Keywords: | Non-tariff barriers; ECOWAS; gravity model; regional trade agreements; Africa |
| JEL: | F15 Q17 O55 O24 |
| Date: | 2010–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:suf:wpaper:2010-3&r=afr |
| By: | Ariga, Joshua; Jayne, T.S.; Njukia, Stephen |
| Abstract: | Prepared for the COMESA policy seminar on âVariation in staple food prices: Causes, consequence, and policy optionsâ, Maputo, Mozambique, 25-26 January 2010 under the Comesa-MSU-IFPRI African Agricultural Marketing Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Kenya, food security, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q18, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58559&r=afr |
| By: | Minot, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | Prepared for the Comesa policy seminar on âVariation in staple food prices: Causes, consequence, and policy optionsâ, Maputo, Mozambique, 25-26 January 2010 under the African Agricultural Marketing Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Malawi, food security, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q18, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58558&r=afr |
| By: | Chapoto, Antony; Jayne, T.S. |
| Abstract: | There is continuing debate in east and southern Africa about the effects of food market reform on the welfare of small-scale farmers and low-income consumers. At the center of this debate is the perception that food prices have become more unstable in countries that have liberalized their staple food markets, thereby exacerbating the plight of poor consumers and farmers. This perception has led many governments in the region to shun an open maize borders policy and pursue a variety of food marketing and trade policy tools to stabilize food prices. Unfortunately, there remains a dearth of empirical evidence on the effects of alternative food marketing and trade policies, including that of liberalization, on price stability and predictability. Assessments of this issue are complicated by the fact that market reform programs are not monolithic in their design or implementation â impacts of reform on price instability may depend on variations in implementation. It would be particularly important to compare the magnitude of food price instability in countries that have embraced relatively comprehensive staple food market reform policies over time versus those in which the state continues to influence and stabilize food prices through the operations of marketing boards and controls on trade. This study examines the amplitude of price instability and unpredictability between countries using trade barriers and marketing board operations to stabilize prices versus countries with relatively open trade policies. Instability is defined as the unconditional variance in food prices over time, whereas unpredictability is defined as the unanticipated component of price instability, i.e., the conditional variance from a price forecast model. |
| Keywords: | africa, food security, maize, trade, markets, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, q13, |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:56798&r=afr |
| By: | Akay, Alpaslan; Martinsson, Peter; Medhin, Haileselassie |
| Abstract: | We investigated attitudes toward positionality among rural farmers in northern Ethiopia, using a tailored two-part survey experiment. On average, we found positional concerns neither in income per se, nor in income from aid projects among the farmers. These results support the claim that positional concerns are correlated with absolute level of income of a country. |
| Keywords: | Ethiopia, relative income, positional concern |
| JEL: | C90 D63 |
| Date: | 2010–02–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-10-05-efd&r=afr |
| By: | Simasiku, Phyllis; Chapoto, Antony; Richardson, Robert B.; Sichilongo, Mwape; Tembo, Gelson; Weber, Michael T.; Zulu, Alimakio |
| Abstract: | Natural resource use, including land, and rural population location is an important topic for Zambia's development strategy. Among other efforts, the Government of Zambia (GRZ) has designated 22% of total land area, as Game Management Areas (GMAs) for human settlements and wildlife conservation. Other GRZ programmes seek to improve food security and agricultural productivity, including the use and improvement of conservation farming techniques. GRZ is currently reviewing policies in the agricultural, forestry, fisheries, wildlife and land sectors. Research in these fields has much to contribute to effective management of MAs, increased agricultural productivity and improved welfare, especially for the rural population. |
| Keywords: | Zambia, Africa, natural resources management, GMA, wildlife management policies, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q34, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58518&r=afr |
| By: | Equipe Técnica do SIMA |
| Keywords: | Mozambique, agriculture, Africa, food security, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Q18, |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:53454&r=afr |
| By: | Francesco Strobbe; Claudia Olivetti; Mireille Jacobson |
| Abstract: | The safety net provided by the African extended family has traditionally been the basis for the assertion that “there is no such thing as an orphan in Africa” (Foster 2000). The assumption is that even families lacking sufficient resources to properly care for existing members are predisposed to take in orphans. Chronic poverty, coupled with an increasing malaria burden and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, has put this safety-net under severe strain, giving rise to an increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children and, in the extreme, to “street children.” Drawing on original fieldwork in the slums of Ndola in Northern Zambia we study the role of family structure in caring for vulnerable children. We try to isolate those features of a child’s nuclear and extended family that put him most at risk of ending up on the streets. We find that older, male children and particularly orphaned children are more likely to wind up on the street. Families with a male household head who is in poor health are more likely to originate street children. The educational level, age and employment status of the male head of household has little impact on the likelihood the family is associated with a child who has taken to the street. In contrast, households with surviving maternal grandparents or with a male head who has many sisters are significantly less likely to originate street children. These findings support the critical role that women play in poor countries, highlighting the importance of policies aimed at empowering women. At the same time, our findings show that policies aimed at improving the health of the male head of household can also yield important benefits. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that moving male heads from poor to good self-rated health status can increase the rate of GDP growth by as much as 0.20 to 0.33 of a percentage point per year. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:11109&r=afr |
| By: | Jayne, T.S.; Zulu, Ballard; Kajoba, Gear; Weber, M.T. |
| Abstract: | Key Policy Message: - Despite having relatively low population densities, inadequate access to land is one of the major causes of rural poverty in Zambia. - The apparent paradox of inadequate access to land for many rural households in a country of low population density is partially reconciled when taking into account that economically viable arable land requires at least some degree of access to basic services, water, road infrastructure, and markets. The basic public investments to make settlement economically viable have yet been made in many areas of Zambia. - Depending of future land allocation policy, access to good quality land with a market potential may become increasingly beyond the reach of many small-scale farm households, making it more difficult to achieve a smallholder-led, pro-poor agricultural development trajectory. |
| Keywords: | zambia, food security, land, policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, q18, q15, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:55054&r=afr |
| By: | Haggblade, Steve; Dewina, Reno |
| Abstract: | Prepared for the Comesa policy seminar on âVariation in staple food prices: Causes, consequence, and policy optionsâ, Maputo, Mozambique, 25-26 January 2010 under the African Agricultural Marketing Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Uganda, food security, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q17, q18, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58553&r=afr |
| By: | Patrick Minford; Ruthira Naraidoo (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria; Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the optimal monetary authorities’ response to deviations of inflation and output from their target values for South Africa over the inflation targeting era. This is achieved using an empirical framework that allows the central bank’s policy preferences to be zone-like as well as asymmetric. The main findings are that the monetary authorities react in a passive manner when inflation is within the target band and become increasingly aggressive when it deviates from the target band and that they react with the same level of aggressiveness regardless whether inflation overshoots or undershoots the inflation target band, that is, the monetary authorities’ response towards inflation is zone symmetric. The second major finding shows that the monetary authorities’ response to output fluctuations is asymmetric such that they react more aggressively to negative deviations of output from the potential, therefore weighing more business cycle recessions versus expansions. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy preferences, target zones, asymmetries |
| JEL: | C51 C52 E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201004&r=afr |
| By: | Chapoto, Antony; Govereh, Jones; Haggblade, Steven; Jayne, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Prepared for the COMESA policy seminar on âVariation in staple food prices: Causes, consequence, and policy optionsâ, Maputo, Mozambique, 25-26 January 2010 under the Comesa-MSU-IFPRI African Agricultural Marketing Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Zambia, food security, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q18, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58556&r=afr |
| By: | Chamberlin, Jordan; Jayne, T.S. |
| Abstract: | Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development |
| Keywords: | kenya, agriculture, food security, market access, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Marketing, q18, q11, q12, |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:55056&r=afr |
| By: | Minot, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | Prepared for the Comesa policy seminar on âVariation in staple food prices: Causes, consequence, and policy optionsâ, Maputo, Mozambique, 25-26 January 2010 under the African Agricultural Marketing Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Tanzania, food security, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q18, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58555&r=afr |
| By: | Parsley, David |
| Abstract: | This paper studies exchange rate pass-through in South Africa at the most disaggregated level possible. To accomplish this, two distinct panels of disaggregated data are employed. The first data set contains annual prices of 158 individual goods and services at the consumer level from 1990 to 2009. The second panel contains quarterly average import unit-values for twenty-six 8-digit import categories from ten of South Africa’s top trading partners from 1998 Q1 to 2009 Q2. The study finds low pass-through to consumer prices (between 15 and 25 percent in the two years following an exchange rate change), slow convergence to long run purchasing power parity (6.4 years), and no apparent tendency for pass-through to have declined during the last twenty years. Relatively high estimates were found for import price pass-through from Brazil and the United States (75 percent), while Taiwan, Switzerland, India, Great Britain, and Germany were nearer the overall average of 60 percent. As with final consumer prices, there is little evidence of a decline in pass-through to import prices. |
| Keywords: | exchange rate pass-through; |
| JEL: | F40 F30 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:21115&r=afr |
| By: | Donovan, Cynthia; Zavale, Helder; Tschirley, David |
| Abstract: | From 1997-2007, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Title II monetization programs sold more than US$200 million of food aid wheat and unrefined vegetable oils in Mozambique. This research has three objectives: 1) to document the lessons learned from past monetization programs in Mozambique; 2) to identify the intended and unintended effects of monetization in Mozambique; and 3) to document indirect successes as a result of using monetization in Mozambique, if any. Monetization programs in Mozambique prior to 1997 demonstrated positive effects on market development and contributed to food security in a critical period. During later periods, the monetized food aid displayed the negative effects of uncoordinated food aid deliveries and arrival of quantities beyond absorptive capacity, depressing prices for locally produced staples and adding to market price volatility. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Mozambique, monetization, Title II, Wheat, edible oils, emergency, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Marketing, q19, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:56800&r=afr |
| By: | Donovan, Cynthia; Tostao, Emilio |
| Abstract: | Prepared for the Comesa policy seminar on âVariation in staple food prices: Causes, consequence, and policy optionsâ, Maputo, Mozambique, 25-26 January 2010 under the Comesa-MSU-IFPRI African Agricultural Marketing Project (AAMP) |
| Keywords: | Mozambique, food security, food prices, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, International Relations/Trade, q11, q13, q18, |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:58561&r=afr |
| By: | Simasiku, Phyllis; Chapoto, Antony; Richardson, Robert B.; Sichilongo, Mwape; Tembo, Gelson; Weber, M.T.; Zulu, Alimakio |
| Abstract: | More effective policies are needed to improve access and secure rights to land and other natural resources for various stakeholders, particularly smallholder farmers. Service delivery at all levels of governance needs to be restructured and strengthened in order to promote and improve economic development and management of natural resources in both open and protected areas. New strategies are needed for protecting and developing natural resource areas based on appropriate resource management systems that promote broad-based participation and sharing of benefits, and offer potential for more effective community-based natural resource management. Improvements are needed in natural resource policy and law review processes in order to take better advantage of accumulated technical knowledge among stakeholders. In addition more efforts are required to achieve effective public-private pooling of interests and resources as well to adopting business-oriented approaches to natural resource management. Coordinated efforts are required to raise productivity of smallholdersâ agricultural land through greatly expanded applied research and extension, and complementary infrastructure investments. |
| Keywords: | Zambia, food security, rural development, natural resource management, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q16, q18, q27, q30, |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:58543&r=afr |
| By: | Tembo, Gelson; Bandyopadhyay, Sushenjit; Pavy, Jean-Michel |
| Abstract: | Key Policy Points - Game Management Areas (GMAs) in Zambia aim to combine nature conservation with economic empowerment of rural households and communities. - We find evidence of consumption gains from living in GMAs and from participating in natural resource management through Community-Resource Boards (CRBs) and Village Action Groups (VAGs). - However, these benefits are unevenly distributed. Only GMAs with limited alternative livelihoods (Bangweulu and South Luangwa) exhibit significant consumption benefits. Also, the benefits accrue mainly to the relatively well off while the poor do not gain even if they participate. - Resources from ZAWA to CRBs seldom reach the VAGs. Richer, more educated community members participate at CRB or higher level while poorer households participate at VAG level. There is need to address impediments to effective participation by the majority of the community members. - Infrastructure development, which is more evident in Kafue and Lower Zambezi park systems, does not necessarily translate into household level consumption gains in the short run. Moreover, the observed infrastructure development in these areas cannot be attributed to the GMA institution. |
| Keywords: | zambia, food security, policy, natural resources, conservation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q18, q56, |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:55055&r=afr |
| By: | Fernandez, Ana; Richardson, Robert B.; Tschirley, David; Tembo, Gelson |
| Abstract: | FOOD SECURITY RESEARCH PROJECT, LUSAKA, ZAMBIA |
| Keywords: | zambia, food security, tourism, conservation, household income, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Land Economics/Use, q18, q26, q27, q56, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:55053&r=afr |
| By: | Gebreegziabher, Zenebe; Mekonnen, Alemu; Kassie, Menale; Köhlin, Gunnar |
| Abstract: | Trees have multiple purposes in rural Ethiopia, providing significant economic and ecological benefits. Planting trees supplies rural households with wood products for their own consumption, as well for sale, and decreases soil degradation. We used cross-sectional household-level data to analyze the determinants of household tree planting and explored the most important tree attributes or purpose(s) that enhance the propensity to plant trees. We set up a sample selection framework that simultaneously took into account the two decisions of tree growers (whether or not to plant trees and how many) to analyze the determinants of tree planting. We used logistic regression to analyze the most important tree attributes that contribute to households’ tree-planting decisions. We found that land size, age, gender, tenure security, education, exogenous income, and agro-ecology increased both the propensity to plant trees and the amount of tree planting, while increased livestock holding impacted both decisions negatively. Our findings also suggested that households consider a number of attributes in making the decision to plant trees. These results can be used by policymakers to promote tree planting in the study area by trengthening tenure security and considering households’ selection of specific tree species for their attributes. |
| Keywords: | tree plantin, tree species, tree attributes or purposes, sample selection, Tigrai, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | Q2 Q23 Q28 |
| Date: | 2010–01–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-10-01-efd&r=afr |
| By: | Don J. Webber (Department of Business Economics, Auckland University of Technology and Department of Economics, UWE, Bristol); Stephanié Rossouw (Department of Business Economics, Auckland University of Technology and Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Most empirical investigations into economic vulnerability focus on the national level. Although some recent contributions investigate vulnerability from a sub-national perspective they contribute to the literature in an aspatial manner, as they do not explicitly account for the relative locations of areas and for the potential of spillovers between contiguous areas. This paper extends the current literature on a number of important fronts. First, we augment a principle components model to take explicit account of spatial autocorrelation and apply it to South African magisterial district level data. Second, by comparing spatial and aspatial models estimates, our empirical results illustrate the presence and importance of spatial spillovers in local vulnerability index estimates. Third, we augment the methodology on the vulnerability intervention index and present results which highlight areas that are performing better and worse than would be expected. After accounting for spatial spillovers, the results illustrate a clear urban-rural vulnerability divide. |
| Keywords: | Economic vulnerability; Environmental vulnerability; Governance vulnerability; Demographic vulnerability; Health vulnerability |
| JEL: | R11 C21 I31 |
| Date: | 2010–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:1004&r=afr |
| By: | Mason, Nicole M.; Jayne, T.S. |
| Abstract: | ⢠The Zambia Urban Consumption Survey, a survey of 1,865 urban households in Lusaka, Kitwe, Mansa, and Kasama, was conducted in August 2007 and February 2008 by the Central Statistical Office in collaboration with the Zambia Food Security Research Project. ⢠Survey results indicate that in Lusaka and Kitwe, wheat has overtaken maize as the most important staple in terms of urban consumer expenditures. Maize is no longer the dominant staple food in urban Zambia, except among the poor. This finding is consistent with broader regional trends toward declining dependence on maize for urban staple food needs. ⢠Hammer-milling services are readily available to the vast majority of urban households and in most cases their cheapest maize meal option is to obtain maize grain and have it custom-milled for a fee. However, maize grain is not consistently available in public markets during the lean season (December-March). GRZ could promote urban food security by ensuring that maize grain is available in public markets at all times. ⢠In Kasama and Mansa, and particularly among relatively poor households, cassava is an important consumption item and serves as a buffer against high maize prices and poor maize grain availability during the lean season. ⢠Supermarkets have only 5-17% of the market share for staple foods and are frequented mainly by wealthier households. Urban consumers are heavily dependent upon non-supermarket, informal retail outlets such as public markets and grocers for their staple food purchases. Policies and public investments to support these traditional retailers, help them operate more efficiently, and reduce the transaction costs they face may have higher payoffs for most urban consumers as well as smallholder farmers than policies presupposing the rapid takeover of supermarkets and other more formal retail channels. |
| Keywords: | zambia, food security, consumption, household, urban, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q19, |
| Date: | 2009–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:56810&r=afr |
| By: | Haggblade, Steven |
| Abstract: | Distributed as: Appendix 1. Background Paper for Agriculture and Lands. African Ministers Meeting, April 2009. Prepared under the Food Security III Cooperative Agreement (GDG-A- 00-02-00021-00) between the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). |
| Keywords: | agriculture, growth, poor, food security, Food Security and Poverty, Q12, |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:57446&r=afr |
| By: | Pitoro, Raul; Walker, Tom; Tschirley, David; Swinton, Scott; Boughton, Duncan; de Marrule, Higino |
| Abstract: | Institute of Agricultural Research of Mozambique Directorate of Training, Documentation, and Technology Transfer |
| Keywords: | cotton, Mozambique, food security, Bio Technology, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q16, |
| Date: | 2009–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:53461&r=afr |
| By: | Fernandez, Ana; Richardson, Robert B.; Tschirley, David; Tembo, Gelson |
| Abstract: | KEY POLICY POINTS ⢠Tourism is increasingly important in Zambia as a vehicle for economic growth, and has been identified as a key sector for poverty reduction due to its potential to generate off-farm income and employment in rural areas. Growth in arrivals and receipts in Zambia has outpaced average growth rates for developing countries. ⢠Tourism in Zambia relies mostly on the stock of natural resources, including the protected area system which includes national parks and game management areas (GMAs). Co-management agreements between Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and rural communities present opportunities and threats for households living in GMAs. ⢠Households living in GMAs have lower average income than households in other rural areas. Yet we find that, for prime GMAs (those well stocked with wildlife), the GMA designation leads to higher incomes than households would otherwise be expected to achieve, based on their own characteristics and those of the areas in which they reside. ⢠We further find that the benefits of living in a prime GMA accrue mostly to the wealthier segments of the population. ⢠Though overall effects on households are positive, losses from crop damage by wildlife are a threat to this success: we find that such losses are statistically significant, large enough to be meaningful to households, and greatest in prime GMAs |
| Keywords: | wildlife conservation, rural households, zambia, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q57, |
| Date: | 2009–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:53453&r=afr |