|
on Africa |
| By: | Danielle Resnick |
| Abstract: | Drawing on insights from Latin America, this paper examines the factors that contributed to the use of populist strategies by political parties during recent presidential elections in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. Specifically, the paper argues that the nature of party competition in Africa, combined with rapid urbanization and informalization of the labour force, provided a niche for populist leaders to espouse a message relevant to the region’s growing urban poor. Simultaneously, such leaders employed ethno-linguistic appeals to mobilize a segment of rural voters who could form a minimum winning coalition in concert with the urban poor and thereby deliver sizeable electoral victories. While such strategies are similar to those used by Latin American populists, the paper highlights key contrasts as well. By combining crossregional and sub-national perspectives, this paper therefore aims to contribute to a better understanding of how demographic and socioeconomic changes in Africa intersect with voting behaviour and political party development. |
| Keywords: | Africa, democratization, political parties, populism, urbanization, voting behaviour |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-114&r=afr |
| By: | Walter, Teresa; Kloos, Julia; Tsegai, Daniel |
| Abstract: | With the political changes in South Africa in the early 1990s, the South African government introduced a reform process in the entire water sector with the goal of a more enhanced and equitable water management system. This paper analyzes existing water allocation situations and applies a nonlinear optimization model to investigate the optimal intra- and inter-regional allocations in the Middle Olifants sub-basin of South Africa. Results show higher benefit from inter-regional water allocation. Reducing water supply levels to conform to the sustainable water supply policy, it can be shown that although water supply is reduced by approximately 50%, total benefits from water are only reduced by 5% and 11% for inter- and intra-regional allocation regimes respectively. These results indicate that alternative water allocation mechanisms can serve as instruments to offset for the effects of water scarcity. |
| Keywords: | Water allocation, IWRM, Olifants basin, South Africa, Africa, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubzefd:97035&r=afr |
| By: | Arndt, Channing; Msangi, Siwa; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | Many low income countries in Africa are optimistic that producing biofuels domestically will not only reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels, but also stimulate economic development, particularly in poorer rural areas. Skeptics, on the other hand, view biofuels as a threat to food security in the region and as a landgrabbing opportunity for foreign investors. As a result of this ongoing debate, national biofuels task forces have been asked to evaluate both the viability of domestic biofuels production and its broader implications for economic development. To guide these complex evaluations, this paper presents an analytical framework that prioritizes different aspects of a comprehensive national assessment and identifies suitable evaluation methods. The findings from recent assessments for Mozambique and Tanzania are used to illustrate the framework. While these two country studies found that biofuels investments could enhance development, their experiences highlight potential tradeoffs, especially at the macroeconomic and environmental levels, where further research is needed. |
| Keywords: | biofuels, economic development, food security, poverty, Africa |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-110&r=afr |
| By: | Denis Cogneau (DIAL, IRD, Paris); Sandrine Mesplé-Somps (DIAL, IRD, Paris); Gilles Spielvogel (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR 201) |
| Abstract: | In Africa, boundaries delineated during the colonial era now divide young independent states. By applying regression discontinuity designs to a large set of surveys covering the 1986-2001 period, this paper identifies many large and significant jumps in welfare at the borders between five West-African countries around Cote d'Ivoire. Border discontinuities mirror the differences between country averages with respect to household income, connection to utilities and education. Country of residence often makes a difference, even if distance to capital city has some attenuating power. The results are consistent with a national integration process that is underway but not yet achieved. _________________________________ Les frontières actuelles des pays africains ont été tracées durant la période coloniale et délimitent dorénavant des Etats indépendants. Ces frontières séparent des zones dont les caractéristiques géographiques, anthropologiques et précoloniales sont sensiblement identiques. En appliquant la méthode des régressions avec discontinuité à un large ensemble d'enquêtes auprès des ménages couvrant la période 1986-2001, nous identifions de grands écarts de bien-être aux frontières de cinq pays africains (Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinée et Mali). Ces discontinuités aux frontières reflètent les écarts entre moyennes nationales que ce soit en termes de niveau de vie des ménages, d'éducation ou d'accès à l'électricité. Le pays de résidence fait une différence, même si la distance à la capitale exerce un pouvoir d'atténuation. Ces résultats sont cohérents avec un processus d'intégration nationale en cours quoiqu'inachevé. |
| Keywords: | Institutions, geography, Africa, Institutions, géographie, Afrique. |
| JEL: | O12 R12 P52 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201012&r=afr |
| By: | Haggblade, Steven |
| Abstract: | Africa has inherited highly arbitrary political borders that vastly complicate current efforts to accelerate agricultural growth and reduce hunger. Because Africaâs inherited political borders arbitrarily partition agro-ecological zones and natural market sheds, current country borders serve as barriers, hampering agricultural technology transfer, hindering agricultural trade and dampening incentives for farmers and agribusinesses to invest in Africaâs many regional breadbasket zones. Feasible solutions revolve around neutralizing these deleterious effects through regional scientific networks and regional corridor development programs. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Food Security, markets, technology transfer, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Marketing, R12, Q18, |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:97030&r=afr |
| By: | Paul Alagidede (University of Stirling); Theodore Panagiotidis (University Of Macedonia); Xu Zhang (Economic Research Institute, Guosen Research Institute, China) |
| Abstract: | We employ parametric and non-parametric cointegration to investigate the extent of integration between African stock markets and the rest of the world. Long-run correlation estimates imply very low association between the two. The two distinct cointegration approaches confirm the latter through recursive estimation. The implication is that global market movements may have little impact on Africa. However,we argue that including African assets in a mean variance portfolio could be beneficial to international investors. |
| Keywords: | Correlation, Long-run correlation, Cointegration, Non-parametric cointegration, African Stock Markets |
| JEL: | C22 C52 G10 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1034&r=afr |
| By: | Kambewa, Emma |
| Abstract: | Malawi continues to rely on maize for household food security. Policies to enhance food security continue to target maize production. Traditionally production and use of cassava was localized in lakeshore areas until the past two decades when maize production was increasingly affected by rainfall variability. Cassava as an alternate food crop has rapidly gained popularity and commercialization of the cassava sector is steadily taking off. Policy and institutional support to diversify the food security basket and promote the diversified applications of cassava in non-food sector has propelled cassava production in nontraditional growing areas. Production has more than quadrupled over the last decade with production of sweet cassava rapidly expanding in nontraditional areas. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midiwp:97033&r=afr |
| By: | Laure Pasquier-Doumer (DIAL, IRD, Paris) |
| Abstract: | (english) As labour income is the first source of income in developing countries, inequalities in the labour markets contribute in a large part to global inequalities. This paper aims at understanding how the socio-economic background of a person determines his opportunities in the labour markets of West- African cities. It seeks to answer the following questions: to what extent one’s position in the labour market is determined by his father’s one and what explains differences between the West-African cities? Does the father’s position influence directly the occupational situation of his children through the transmission of informational, social or physical capital gained in the course of his career? Or does it play an indirect role through determining the educational level of his children that will in turn be responsible for their position in the labour markets? Depending on whether the link between father’s and children’s occupation is direct or indirect, political implications are very different. In the first case, reducing inequality of opportunities means improving labour markets efficiency and in the second case, it means improving educational policy. _________________________________ (français) Comprendre les inégalités sur le marché du travail dans les pays en développement constitue un enjeu important dans la mesure où les revenus du travail y sont la principale source de revenu pour la majorité des ménages. Cette étude vise à identifier dans quelle mesure l’origine sociale des travailleurs détermine leur opportunités sur le marché du travail. Elle compare le degré d’inégalité des chances sur le marché du travail dans sept capitales économiques ouest africaines, définie comme l’association nette entre la position sur le marché du travail des individus et celle de leur père. Cette comparaison permet d’identifier les caractéristiques des pays présentant les degrés les plus élevés et d’apporter des éléments pour évaluer les différentes thèses expliquant les différences entre les pays en termes d’inégalités des chances. Elle estime ensuite pour chacune des villes si la situation professionnelle du père agit directement sur le positionnement sur le marché du travail ou si son effet est indirect, à travers l’éducation. Les implications en termes de politiques publiques sont très différentes selon les deux cas. Dans le premier cas, les politiques visant à égaliser les chances doivent agir directement sur le marché du travail, dans le second cas, elles doivent agir en amont, sur le système éducatif. |
| Keywords: | Inequality of opportunity, informal sector, West Africa, Inégalité des chances, secteur informel, Afrique de l’Ouest. |
| JEL: | J24 J62 D63 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dia:wpaper:dt201009&r=afr |
| By: | Simplice Anutechia , Asongu |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we contribute to existing literature on financial development and openness by, sampling twenty-nine African countries with data spanning from 1987 to 2008. Using panel empirical techniques, we provide evidence of bi-directional causality between trade openness and financial openness; albeit, the former, bearing much more impact on the later. Neither capital openness nor trade openness, significantly account for financial development. Our results are robust to variable interaction via Principal Component Analysis. For sampled countries, policy towards trade openness should be effective in view of inviting private capital flows. |
| Keywords: | Trade Openness; Financial Openness; Financial Development; Panel; Africa. |
| JEL: | G1 D6 G0 |
| Date: | 2010–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:26926&r=afr |
| By: | Fourie, Johan; von Fintel, Dieter |
| Abstract: | The arrival of European settlers at the Cape in 1652 marked the beginning of what would become an extremely unequal society. Comparative analysis reveals that certain endowments exist in societies that experience a ‘persistence of inequality’. This paper shows that the emphasis on endowments may be overstated. A more general explanation allows for ‘non-tropical products’ to contribute to the rise and persistence of an elite, and consequently inequality. The focus shifts to the production method used in the dominant industry – in this case, slave labour in viticulture – and the subsequent ability of the elite to extend these benefits to products that were typically not associated with elite formation in other societies (such as wheat). The Cape Colony is used as a case study to show how the arrival of French settlers (with a preference for wine-making) shifted production from cattle farming to viticulture. A large domestic and foreign market for wine necessitated an increase in production volume. Given differences in fixed and variable costs, this resulted in knecht (wage) labour being supplanted by slave labour, an event which institutionalized the elite and ensured that the Cape remained a highly unequal society, with ramifications for present-day South Africa. |
| Keywords: | Elites, South Africa, inequality, VOC, role of government, Engerman and Sokoloff |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-112&r=afr |
| By: | Simplice A, Asongu |
| Abstract: | The business of this study is to investigate what role openness play in bank efficiency with respect to income levels. From a panel of 29 countries spelling from 1987 to 2008, we provide evidence that; trade and financial openness, breed less bank efficiency in low income countries; justifying the absence of a banking comparative advantage in said countries and therefore a likely palaver of over-liquidity. Results for middle income countries are not significant. For policy implication, it holds that; openness will increase the economic cost of banks in low income sampled countries. Bearing this in mind, trade openness will be more detrimental than financial openness. |
| Keywords: | Bank efficiency, Openness, Panel, Africa |
| JEL: | F4 D6 F3 |
| Date: | 2010–11–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27011&r=afr |
| By: | Burke, William J.; Jayne, T. S.; Chapoto, Antony |
| Abstract: | Key Points ⢠Zambiaâs maize crop grew by 48% between the 2009 and 2010 harvests, leading to the largest crop recorded in recent history. ⢠Yield growth accounted for 59% of the maize production growth between 2009 and 2010. Expansion of area planted to maize explains an additional 23%, while the remaining 18% can be attributed to a rise in the ratio of harvested to planted land. ⢠Favourable weather conditions contributed 47% of the maize yield growth between 2009 and 2010, whilst, 25% came from increased fertilizer use from both the private and public sectors, and 23% from area expansion. The remaining 5% can be attributed to hybrid seed use and improved management. ⢠Due to favorable weather conditions in both 2008/09 and 2009/10 growing seasons, maize yield response rates to fertilizer application rose from about 3 kg of additional maize for each kg of fertilizer applied in 2006 to nearly 4 kg in 2010. ⢠Though Zambia had a good harvest in 2010, the country remains vulnerable to weather shocks. ⢠The unpredictability of government maize policies continues to generate uncertainty for participants in the marketing system. A decrease in maize production may occur next year due to the marketing problems faced by smallholder especially those caused by FRAâs lateness in paying farmers. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:97034&r=afr |
| By: | Richardson, Robert B. |
| Abstract: | Many developing countries have managed to increase their participation in the global economy through development of international tourism. Tourism development is increasingly viewed as an important tool in promoting economic growth, alleviating poverty, and advancing food security. This briefing note aims to review the relationship between tourism and poverty reduction, and to explore how investment in tourism development in Mali may contribute to national development goals. Numerous studies have demonstrated that tourism can play a significant role in balanced sustainable development, and that it can be effectively harnessed to generate net benefits for the poor (UNWTO, 2002). Tourism is a principal export for 83% of developing countries, and it is the most significant source of foreign exchange after petroleum. Figure 1 illustrates that the rate of tourism growth in lower-middle income developing countries and in the 50 least developed countries (LDCs) has been approximately double the world average growth rate in recent years, and almost triple the growth rate for high income countries. Developing countriesâ share of international tourist arrivals more than doubled from 1973 to 2000 (UNWTO, 2002). Tourism comprises a significant part of the worldâs growing service sector; in sub-Saharan Africa, tourism accounts for approximately 55% of service sector exports (UNWTO, 2004). |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:97140&r=afr |
| By: | Akresh, Richard (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Bagby, Emilie (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); de Walque, Damien (World Bank); Kazianga, Harounan (Oklahoma State University) |
| Abstract: | Using data we collected in rural Burkina Faso, we examine how children's cognitive abilities influence resource constrained households' decisions to invest in their education. We use a direct measure of child ability for all primary school-aged children, regardless of current school enrollment. We explicitly incorporate direct measures of the ability of each child's siblings (both absolute and relative measures) to show how sibling rivalry exerts an impact on the parent's decision of whether and how much to invest in their child’s education. We find children with one standard deviation higher own ability are 16 percent more likely to be currently enrolled, while having a higher ability sibling lowers current enrollment by 16 percent and having two higher ability siblings lowers enrollment by 30 percent. Results are robust to addressing the potential reverse causality of schooling influencing child ability measures and using alternative cognitive tests to measure ability. |
| Keywords: | child ability, sibling rivalry, education, household decisions, Africa |
| JEL: | O15 J12 I21 J13 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5326&r=afr |
| By: | Hassan Molana; Kwame Osei-Assibey |
| Abstract: | While flexible exchange rates facilitate stabilisation, exchange rate fluctuations can cause real volatility. This gives policy importance to the causal relationship between exchange rate depreciation and its volatility. An exchange rate may be expected to become more volatile when the underlying currency loses value. We conjecture that a reverse causation, which further weakens the currency, may be mitigated by price stability. Data from Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania support this: depreciation makes exchange rate more volatile for all but volatility does not causes depreciation in Tanzania which has enjoyed a more stable inflation despite all countries adopting similar macro-policies since early 1990s. |
| Keywords: | exchange rate, depreciation, volatility, causality, GARCH, VAR |
| JEL: | E3 F3 F4 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dun:dpaper:246&r=afr |
| By: | Chipiliro Kalebe-Nyamongo |
| Abstract: | There has been a growing recognition among scholars that politics matters in the distribution of resources in society. However, attempts to use a political economy ‘lens’ with which to explore causes of poverty and strategies for poverty alleviation have largely ignored elites. By failing to embrace the crucial role elites play in the implementation of pro-poor policy, existing research has not produced a holistic understanding of the underlying factors which inhibit or promote action towards propoor policy. Historical accounts of the evolution of welfare states in the UK and USA inform us that elites prioritization of poverty reduction is driven by the extent to which elites and the poor are interdependent, such that the presence of the poor has a positive or negative impact on elite welfare. Drawing on research into elite views of poverty and the poor in Malawi, this paper argues that in formulating effective, responsive, and comprehensive strategies for poverty reduction, the role of elites must be considered in addition to the adoption of democratic, economic, and social institutions. |
| Keywords: | Malawi, elites, politics of poverty, pro-poor policy |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-117&r=afr |
| By: | Arndt, Channing; Benfica, Rui; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | We use a gendered computable general equilibrium model to assess the implications of biofuels expansion in Mozambique. We compare scenarios with different gender employment intensities in producing jatropha for biodiesel. Under all scenarios, biofuels accelerate GDP growth and reduce poverty. However, a stronger tradeoff between biofuels and food availability emerges when female labour is used intensively, as women are drawn away from food production. A skills-shortage amongst female workers also limits poverty reduction. Policy simulations indicate that only modest improvements in women’s education and food crop yields are needed to address food security concerns and ensure broader-based benefits from biofuels. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-111&r=afr |
| By: | Guénard, Charlotte; Mesplé-Somps, Sandrine |
| Abstract: | The paper addresses the issue of the accuracy of standard-of-living measurements using household survey data. First, it highlights the fact that lighter data collection processes in some developing countries have added to measurement errors in consumption and income aggregates measurement errors. The paper reasserts the need to apply reference guidelines to the measurement of household consumption in order to compute comparable distribution indicators across countries and over time. Second, it contends that it is hard to analyze inequality solely from consumption patterns without taking income and savings into account. Two solutions are proposed for the correction of income measurement errors: by using savings declarations and by implementing a multiple imputation procedure. The results are based on a careful analysis of the EPM93 survey of Madagascar whose design is quite close to the LSMS household surveys, and the ENV98 survey of Côte d'Ivoire representative of surveys conducted nowadays in most Sub-Saharan African countries. |
| Keywords: | household survey; inequality; missing data; |
| JEL: | C81 D31 I31 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:dauphi:urn:hdl:123456789/5143&r=afr |
| By: | Boughton, Duncan; Kelly, Valerie |
| Abstract: | This selective brief on Maliâs agricultural sector trends and performance focuses on cereal,livestock and fisheries production. We also review recent developments in the fertilizer sector given the importance of sustainable intensification to reduce pressure on natural resources. We begin with a thumbnail sketch of Maliâs agricultural sector. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:97137&r=afr |
| By: | Foltz, Jeremy |
| Abstract: | This document reviews the potential agricultural technologies that exist or can feasibly be produced to help promote poverty reduction and food security in Mali in the next 5 to 10 years. Overall there are a plethora of good technologies either available, in the pipeline,or feasible with a small amount of research effort. In many cases succeeding in poverty reduction and increasing food security will not be about choosing the exact right technology, but about helping farmers access and know about a panoply of available technologies from which they can choose the right one to maximize their future potential. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:97141&r=afr |
| By: | Boughton, Duncan; Dembélé, Nango; Kelly, Valerie; Staatz, John |
| Abstract: | A key role for USAID and its partners is to identify how their resources can best contribute to increasing the capacity of the private and public sectors in Mali to scale up their investments, and increase the impact of those investments, in relation to the food security dimensions of availability, access, utilization and stability. To fulfill this role will involve identifying opportunities presented in the Malian agricultural sector investment plan (PNISA) to address critical needs in each of these dimensions, the types of investment that will best address the needs, and the set of resources and skills that will enable Malian organizations and entrepreneurs to implement those investments successfully and at scale. Even with increased resources, however, it is critically important that the USAID mission make strategic choices about where to focus resources. The scale and depth of rural poverty, and the complex nature of malnutrition, means that resources must be focused to have measureable impacts. The question is for whom, where and how should those resources be focused in the context of Maliâs CAADP compact and investment plan? To stimulate discussion of these questions we first highlight some key challenges and the nature of choices about resource allocation priorities, and then highlight the central role of information to achieve food and nutrition security objectives. We conclude with thoughts on two specific issues: graduating from fertilizer subsidies to free up resources for other investments, and the implications of smallholder heterogeneity for development strategies. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:97139&r=afr |
| By: | Boughton, Duncan; Staatz, John; Dembélé, Nango |
| Abstract: | Mali has a high incidence of malnutrition. The fourth Demographic and Health survey reports that in 2006 the incidence of wasting, stunting and underweight children under 5 years of age was 13.8%, 37.9% and 24.5% respectively in rural areas, and 12%, 24% and 25% respectively in urban areas. While malnutrition is found in all regions of Mali, the regions of Timbuktu and Sikasso have higher than average levels for all three indicators, while the region of Kidal has high levels of wasting. For a detailed analysis of food security indicators see Ward (2010). |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:97138&r=afr |
| By: | Thomas Cantens |
| Abstract: | An ethnographic approach is applied to Cameroon customs in order to explore the role and the capacity of the bureaucratic elites to reform their institution. Fighting against corruption has led to the extraction and circulation of legal ‘collective money’ that fuels internal funds. This collective money is the core of the senior officers’ power and authority, and materially grounds their elite status. Nevertheless, when reforming, wilful senior officers face a major problem. On the one hand, the onus is on them to improve governance and transparency, which can challenge the way they exert their authority. On the other hand, goodwill is not sufficient. ‘Reformers’ depend on a violent and unpredictable appointment process, driven by the political will to fight against corruption and the fact that the political authority has to keep a close eye on the customs apparatus that tends towards autonomy, thanks to its internal funds. Violence and collective representations weaken the legitimacy of the senior officers, even the reformers, by pushing individual skills into the background. This paper questions whether Cameroon’s use of official customs data to evaluate individual performance can open up fissures among customs elites such that reformers are distinguished from others. |
| Keywords: | customs, money circulation, elitism, Cameroon |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-118&r=afr |
| By: | Channing Arndt; Andres Garcia; Finn Tarp; James Thurlow |
| Abstract: | While economic growth generally reduces income poverty, there are pronounced differences in the strength of this relationship across countries. Typical explanations for this variation include measurement errors in growth-poverty accounting and countries’ different compositions of economic growth. We explore the additional influence of economic structure in determining a country’s growth-poverty relationship and performance. Using multiplier and structural path analysis, we compare the experiences of Mozambique and Vietnam—two countries with similar levels and compositions of economic growth but divergent poverty outcomes. We find that the structure of the Vietnamese economy more naturally lends itself to generating broad-based growth. A given agricultural demand expansion in Mozambique will, ceteris paribus, achieve much less rural income growth than in Vietnam. Inadequate education, trade and transport systems are found to be more severe structural constraints to poverty reduction in Mozambique than in Vietnam. Investing in these areas can significantly enhance the effectiveness of Mozambican growth to reduce poverty. |
| Keywords: | poverty, multipliers, structural path analysis, Mozambique, Vietnam |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-122&r=afr |
| By: | Diego Augusto Menestrey Schwieger |
| Abstract: | In the context of recent legal developments in Namibia promoting the common based management of water resources, the main focus of the project underlying this paper was to gain a detailed impression of how the rural communities in the country were dealing with the development of institutional arrangements for the water access and usage. Based on an anthropological fieldwork this paper aims to describe and to analyse the conflict over water a rural community in North-West Namibia is confronted with. From a theoretical perspective, the objective of this paper is to analyse the role of power in the development of institutions by means of Knight’s (1992) bargaining theory of institutional development. This paper concludes that the case study provides important evidence that the development of institutions at the local level can be the by-product of a strategic conflict and not the result of the users’ attempts to achieve collective goals, as frequently assumed by the mainstream communal natural resource management theory. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcn:rwpapr:34&r=afr |
| By: | Donovan, Cynthia; Zavale, Helder; Tschirley, David |
| Abstract: | De 1997 a 2007, os programas de monetização do TÃtulo II da Agência Americana para o Desenvolvimento Internacional (USAID) venderam mais de $200 milhões de trigo e óleos vegetais não refinados destinados à ajuda alimentar em Moçambique. Este estudo tem três objectivos: 1) documentar as lições aprendidas dos programas passados de monetização em Moçambique; 2) identificar os efeitos desejados e indesejados da monetização em Moçambique; e 3) documentar sucessos indirectos em resultado da utilização da monetização em Moçambique, se os houver. Os programas de monetização em Moçambique implementados até 1997 tiveram efeitos positivos sobre o desenvolvimento de mercados e contribuÃram para a segurança alimentar num perÃodo crÃtico. Durante os perÃodos posteriores, a ajuda alimentar monetizada revelou ter efeitos negativos com distribuições descoordenadas de ajuda alimentar e chegada de quantidades além da capacidade de absorção, causando a queda dos preços para os alimentos básicos produzidos localmente,contribuindo dessa forma para a volatilidade dos preços de mercados. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:97057&r=afr |