|
on Africa |
| By: | Minot, Nicholas |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:134146&r=afr |
| By: | Issiaka Coulibaly; Blaise Gnimassoun |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to study the optimality of a monetary union in West Africa by using a new methodology based on the analysis of convergence and co-movements between exchange rate misalignments. Two main advantages characterize this original framework. First, it brings together the information related to several optimum currency area criteria— such as price convergence, terms of trade shocks, and trade and fiscal policies—going further than previous studies which are mainly based on only one criterion at a given time. Second, our study detects potential competitiveness differentials which play a key role in the debate on the optimality or not of a monetary union, as evidenced by the recent crisis in the Euro area. Relying on recent panel cointegration techniques and cluster analysis, our results show that the WAEMU area has a core composed by Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal which can be joined by Ghana, Sierra Leone and, to a lesser extent, Gambia, and that Ghana and Senegal appear to be the best reference countries for the creation of the whole West Africa monetary union. |
| Keywords: | Exchange rate misalignment, Optimum Currency Area, West African countries |
| JEL: | F31 F33 O1 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2012-37&r=afr |
| By: | Carlo Koos (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies); Matthias Basedau (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies) |
| Abstract: | We employ a two-tier spatiotemporal analysis to investigate whether uranium operations cause armed conflict in Africa. The macrolevel analysis suggests that . compared to the baseline conflict risk . uranium ventures increase the risk of intrastate conflict by 10 percent. However, we find ethnic exclusion to be a much better predictor of armed conflict than uranium. The microlevel analysis reveals that uranium]spurred conflicts are spatiotemporally feasible in four countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia, Niger and South Africa. We find strong evidence in the case of Niger, and partial evidence in the case of the DRC. Namibia and South Africa do not yield substantial evidence of uranium-induced conflicts. We conclude that uranium may theoretically be a conflictinducing resource, but to the present day empirical evidence has been sparse as most countries are still in the exploration phase. Considering that the coming years will see 25 African countries transition from uranium explorers into producers, we strongly suggest that our analysis be revisited in the coming years. |
| Keywords: | civil war, uranium, ethnicity, GIS, subnational study |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:205&r=afr |
| By: | Anderson, Kym; Bruckner, Markus |
| Abstract: | To what extent has Sub-Saharan Africa's slow economic growth over the past five decades been due to price and trade policies that discouraged production of agricultural relative to non-agricultural tradables? This paper uses a new set of estimates of policy induced distortions to relative agricultural prices to address this question econometrically. First, the authors test if these policy distortions respond to economic growth, using rainfall and international commodity price shocks as instrumental variables. They find that on impact there is no significant response of relative agricultural price distortions to changes in real GDP per capita growth. Then, the authors test the reverse proposition and find a statistically significant and sizable negative effect of relative agricultural price distortions on the growth rate of Sub-Saharan African countries. The fixed effects estimates yield that, during the 1960-2005 period, a ten percentage points increase in distortions to relative agricultural prices decreased the region's real GDP per capita growth rate by about half a percentage point per annum. |
| Keywords: | Economic Theory&Research,Achieving Shared Growth,Inequality,Markets and Market Access,Emerging Markets |
| Date: | 2012–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6206&r=afr |
| By: | Liebenehm, Sabine; Waibel, Hermann |
| Abstract: | This study investigates risk and time preferences of small-holder cattle farmers in West Africa. We apply a discounted utility model and jointly estimate a prospect theory-based utility function and a quasi-hyperbolic discounting function using a maximum likelihood method. Results show that West African farmers are less loss-averse and are more patient than suggested by comparable studies in Asian developing countries. The main factors influencing farmers' risk and time preferences are cattle herd size and net revenue from sales of cattle products. |
| Keywords: | experiments, prospect theory, risk preference, time preference, West Africa |
| JEL: | D81 C61 C93 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-501&r=afr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat; Carlene Van Der Westhuizen; Sumayya Goga (Development Policy Research Unit; Director and Professor) |
| Abstract: | The literature on the union wage gap in South Africa is extensive, spanning a range of datasets and methodologies. There is however, little consensus on the appropriate method to correct for the endogeneity of union membership or the size of the union wage gap. Furthermore, there are very few studies on the bargaining council wage premium in South Africa due to the lack of data on coverage of employees under bargaining council agreements. Our study, using 2005 Labour Force Survey data, firstly reconsiders the union wage gap controlling for both firm-level and job characteristics. When correcting for endogeniety of union status through a two-stage selection model and including firm size, the type of employment, and non-wage benefits in our wage estimations, we find a much lower union wage premium for African workers in the formal sector than premia reported in some previous studies. Secondly, our study estimates bargaining council wage premia for the private and public sectors. We find that extension procedures are present in both the private and public bargaining council systems, but that unions negotiate for additional gains for their members at the plant-level. The total estimated wage premium for formal sector African workers in the public sector who are both union members and covered by bargaining council agreements stands at 22 percent. Furthermore, there is some evidence that unions negotiate for awards for their members in the private sector, irrespective of bargaining council coverage. Acknowledgements: The research, from which this paper emanates, was commissioned and funded by the Department of Labour (DoL). |
| Keywords: | Union; Bargaining Council; Wage Premium; PSCBC; South Africa |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:12151&r=afr |
| By: | Fenske, James |
| Abstract: | Motivated by a simple model, I use DHS data to test nine hypotheses about the prevalence and decline of African polygamy. First, greater female involvement in agriculture does not increase polygamy. Second, past inequality better predicts polygamy today than does current inequality. Third, the slave trade only predicts polygamy across broad regions. Fourth, modern female education does not reduce polygamy. Colonial schooling does. Fifth, economic growth has eroded polygamy. Sixth and seventh, rainfall shocks and war increase polygamy, though their effects are small. Eighth, polygamy varies smoothly over borders, national bans notwithstanding. Finally, falling child mortality has reduced polygamy. |
| Keywords: | Africa; polygamy; ethnic institutions |
| JEL: | N57 O10 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:41618&r=afr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat; Sumayya Goga (Development Policy Research Unit; Director and Professor) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the gender wage gap for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa over the 2001 to 2007 period. Separate male and female earnings equations yields no significant decline in the conditional wage gap, regardless of whether we correct for selection into the labour force and employment or not. Notwithstanding this, the data appear to reveal a decline in the “explained” proportion of the gap with no significant change in the “unexplained” proportion of the gap. Nevertheless, the “unexplained” proportion or discrimination accounted for 71 percent of the gap in 2007 when using the uncorrected estimates (and the male wage structure as the non-discriminatory norm) thus highlighting the presence, arguably, of substantial discrimination against African women in the post-apartheid South African labour market. We note though that the assumption that the “unexplained” component accounts for discrimination has been criticized for a number of reasons, including the fact that women may self-select into certain types of jobs, the impact of gender-based pre-labour market factors as well as omitted variable bias. Finally, we find that using the either the male or pooled wage structure as the non-discriminatory wage structure provides similar results when undertaking the decomposition. In turn, using the female wage structure results in the harshest results as far as gender discrimination is concerned. Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Dorrit Posel for comments on earlier versions of this study. |
| Keywords: | Gender; Wage Gap; Discrimination; South Africa; Earnings |
| JEL: | J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:12148&r=afr |
| By: | Oleg Badunenko (University of Cologne); Daniel J. Henderson (University of Alabama); Romain Houssa (University of Namur) |
| Abstract: | We employ bootstrap techniques in a production frontier framework to provide statistical inference for each component in the decomposition of labor productivity growth, which has essentially been ignored in this literature. We show that only two of the four components have significantly contributed to growth in Africa. Although physical capital accumulation is the largest force, it is not statistically significant. Thus, ignoring statistical inference would falsely identify physical capital accumulation as a major driver of growth in Africa when it is not. |
| Keywords: | Africa, bootstrap, growth, production frontier |
| JEL: | C14 O10 O40 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nam:wpaper:1208&r=afr |
| By: | Alexander Stroh (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies); Sebastian Elischer (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies); Gero Erdmann (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies) |
| Abstract: | In the early 1990s most African countries carried out extensive reforms of their electoral regimes. Adopting a historical institutionalist approach, this paper critically examines the role of institutional path dependence in accounting for the setup of six African electoral regimes. For this purpose, we distinguish between different types of path dependence. The paper further analyzes the extent to which the development of electoral institutions contributed to the regime-type outcome (democratic/hybrid/autocratic). The main emphasis herein is on so-called “hybrid regimes;” in other words, regimes existing in the grey zone between democracy and autocracy. The paper finds that, while institutional path dependence has a limited but important impact on the setup of the electoral regimes, it is ultimately the process of decision-making during critical junctures that accounts for the regime type outcome. Hybrid regimes lack long-term institutional ownership. |
| Keywords: | hybrid regimes, democratization, historical institutionalism, electoral institutions, Africa |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:197&r=afr |
| By: | Ilia Rainer; Francesco Trebbi |
| Abstract: | The study of autocracies and weakly institutionalized countries is plagued by scarcity of information about the relative strength of different players within the political system. This paper presents novel data on the composition of government coalitions in a sample of fifteen post-colonial African countries suited to this task. We emphasize the role of the executive branch as the central fulcrum of all national political systems in our sample, especially relative to other institutional bodies such as the legislative assembly. Leveraging on the impressive body of work documenting the crucial role of ethnic fragmentation as a main driver of political and social friction in Africa, the paper further details the construction of ethnic composition measures for executive cabinets. We discuss how this novel source of information may help shed light on the inner workings of typically opaque African political elites. |
| JEL: | H1 O38 O55 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18424&r=afr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat (Development Policy Research Unit; Director and Professor) |
| Abstract: | I provide six possible employment creating policy options within the arena of principally, but not exclusively, active labour market policy. The notion is that interventions in these areas should provide for short-term and possibly long-term employment creation avenues and options for the currently unemployed. In some cases, interventions are provided that could plausibly also stem the severe loss of jobs the economy experienced since the recession. Acknowledgements: The research, from which this paper emanates, was commissioned and funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the National Planning Commission (NPC). |
| Keywords: | Job Creation, Labour Market Policy, Interventions And Policy Options, Employment-Intensive Growth Path, South Africa |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:12150&r=afr |
| By: | Simplice A , Asongu |
| Abstract: | Purpose – A spectre is hunting embryonic African monetary zones: the EMU crisis. This paper assesses real, monetary and fiscal policy convergence within the proposed WAM and EAM zones. The introduction of common currencies in West and East Africa is facing stiff challenges in the timing of monetary convergence, the imperative of central bankers to apply common modeling and forecasting methods of monetary policy transmission, as well as the requirements of common structural and institutional characteristics among candidate states. Design/methodology/approach – In the analysis: monetary policy targets inflation and financial dynamics of depth, efficiency, activity and size; real sector policy targets economic performance in terms of GDP growth at macro and micro levels; while, fiscal policy targets debt-to-GDP and deficit-to-GDP ratios. A dynamic panel GMM estimation with data from different non-overlapping intervals is employed. The implied rate of convergence and the time required to achieve full (100%) convergence are then computed from the estimations. Findings – Findings suggest overwhelming lack of convergence: (1) initial conditions for financial development are different across countries; (2) fundamental characteristics as common monetary policy initiatives and IMF backed financial reform programs are implemented differently across countries; (3) there is remarkable evidence of cross-country variations in structural characteristics of macroeconomic performance; (4) institutional cross-country differences could also be responsible for the deficiency in convergence within the potential monetary zones; (5) absence of fiscal policy convergence and no potential for eliminating idiosyncratic fiscal shocks due to business cycle incoherence. Practical implications – As a policy implication, heterogeneous structural and institutional characteristics across countries are giving rise to different levels and patterns of financial intermediary development. Thus, member states should work towards harmonizing cross-country differences in structural and institutional characteristics that hamper the effectiveness of convergence in monetary, real and fiscal policies. This could be done by stringently monitoring the implementation of existing common initiatives and/or the adoption of new reforms programs. Originality/value – It is one of the few attempts to investigate the issue of convergence within the proposed WAM and EAM unions. |
| Keywords: | Currency Area; Convergence; Policy Coordination; Africa |
| JEL: | F15 F42 O55 F36 P52 |
| Date: | 2012–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:41552&r=afr |
| By: | Patrick Francois; Ilia Rainer; Francesco Trebbi |
| Abstract: | This paper presents new evidence on the power sharing layout of national political elites in a panel of African countries, most of them autocracies. We present a model of coalition formation across ethnic groups and structurally estimate it employing data on the ethnicity of cabinet ministers since independence. As opposed to the view of a single ethnic elite monolithically controlling power, we show that African ruling coalitions are large and that political power is allocated proportionally to population shares across ethnic groups. This holds true even restricting the analysis to the subsample of the most powerful ministerial posts. We argue that the likelihood of revolutions from outsiders and the threat of coups from insiders are major forces explaining such allocations. Further, over-representation of the ruling ethnic group is quantitatively substantial, but not different from standard formateur premia in parliamentary democracies. We explore theoretically how proportional allocation for the elites of each group may still result in misallocations in the non-elite population. |
| JEL: | H1 O38 O55 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18425&r=afr |
| By: | Miron Tequame (Center for Research in the Economics of Development, University of Namur) |
| Abstract: | The HIV/AIDS epidemic has dramatically altered patterns of morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa with potential consequences on fertility and population dynamics. We take advantage of a unique data-set collected in Cameroon among HIV positive patients and estimate the relationship between HAART treatment and (intended) pregnancy. HAART raises life expectancy, improves health outcomes and lowers the risk of transmission. These direct health benefits imply rational and behavioral responses in pregnancy as it allows individuals to accomplish their desired number of children. I con- duct a multivariate regression based on Before-After analysis to evaluate the effect of the 2007 policy of scaling-up HAART treatment in Cameroon on intended pregnancy. With respect to women not yet on treatment, HAART increased the propensity to pregnancy after one year with the coefficient increasing over time after 2007, when treatment was rendered free of charge. The results also show that pregnancy response is highest among people who have lower number of children pre-treatment and with CD4 counts above the average at treatment initiation. This means early treatment initiation, which results in better health outcomes, enhances pregnancy with respect to women who were too sick at treatment initiation. I discuss and test the different mechanisms that driving the behavioral response in YaoundŽ-Cameroon and exclude those that are less evident from the data. |
| Keywords: | HIV/AIDS, fertility, risky behavior |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nam:wpaper:1205&r=afr |
| By: | Enowbi Batuo, Michael; Mlambo, Kupukile |
| Abstract: | While financial liberalisation is considered to be good for economic growth in that it promotes the development of the financial sector, banking crises on the other hand tend to be inimical for economic growth. Moreover, banking crises tend to be preceded by financial liberalisation, as noted in a number of studies. This is because financial liberalisation tends to induce greater risk-taking behaviour by agents, thus leading to banking crises. In this paper we study the effect of financial liberalisation and banking crises on the economic performance of African countries during the period covering 1985 to 2010. Using a treatment effect, two step methods and a panel probit method, our results show that banking crises have a negative impact on economic growth meanwhile financial liberalisation tends to reduce the likelihood of banking crises in African countries. |
| Keywords: | O16; O47;G23; O55 |
| JEL: | O16 N17 O4 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:41524&r=afr |
| By: | Kapopo, Vincent; Assa, Maganga |
| Abstract: | This study was rolled out to assess resource use efficiency in small scale groundnut production in Kasungu district. A household survey was administered to 42 groundnut farmers in Northern part of Kasungu district. The study has established that a farmers return MK2 for every Kwacha invested. The farmer incurs MK95 for every Kg of groundnut produced. The foregoing analysis of production function indicated that farm size, seed and labour are the important factors of production that affect groundnut output in the study area. The regression coefficients of these inputs were positive and statistically significant. Farm size had the highest MVPs as compared to other inputs. Seed was the second production factor with higher MVP indicating that farmers can increase their groundnut output by using optimal seedrate. The main constraints to marketing included low output prices and poor (unstandardized) measurement scales. |
| Keywords: | Groundnut; MVP; Smallholder farmer; Kasungu |
| JEL: | D24 |
| Date: | 2012–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:41593&r=afr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat; David Tseng (Development Policy Research Unit; Director and Professor) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the take-up rate or claim-waiting rate of the unemployed under the South African Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) system. The goal is to identify disincentive effects that income replacement rates (IRR) and accumulated credits may have on the claimants behaviour in terms of their claim waiting period rate (or how quickly they apply for UIF benefits). Utilizing nonparametric and semi-parametric estimation techniques, we find that there is little evidence, if any, for job disincentives or moral hazard problems. More specifically, the majority of claimants that are quickest to claim the UIF benefits are those who have worked continuously for at least four years and accumulated the maximum allowable amount of credits. We also note that claimants‟ claim-waiting periods are indifferent with regard to levels of income replacements yet extremely sensitive to the amount of credits accumulated. Ultimately, the recipients of the UIF benefits do not depend heavily on the replacement incomes and prefer waiting longer for employment opportunities to arise as opposed to exhausting their accumulated credits. The semi-parametric Cox’s Proportional Hazard (PH) model confirms that there is a positive relationship between the claimants accumulation of credits and the associated take-up rate of the UIF. Acknowledgements: The research, from which this paper emanates, was commissioned by the Africa Growth Initiative (AGI), at the Brookings Institution. |
| Keywords: | Cox proportional hazards model, Claim-waiting period, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), Income Replacement Rates (IRR), Semi-parametric models, unemployment benefits, Survival Analysis, claiming incentives, moral hazard. |
| JEL: | J01 J08 J18 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:12147&r=afr |
| By: | Xiaobing Wang; Adam Ozanne |
| Abstract: | Abstract There are currently two contrasting approaches towards aid policy in Africa: that followed by the West is well known for its conditionality, selectivity and focus on direct financial support, while the approach adopted by China eschews conditionality and concentrates on infrastructure building. The Chinese approach has been criticised for its failure to create direct employment and because, it is argued, its unconditionality hampers good governance in Africa. However, this paper argues that the West faces a dilemma, in that governance and its improvements are endogenous to the economic development of a country. Making aid conditional upon governance therefore unduly penalises countries at the bottom. The Chinese approach, in contrast, avoids this dilemma by directly targeting constraints to development; it may therefore be more effective in generating long-run growth, which may in turn foster good governance. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:17712&r=afr |
| By: | Peralta Sanchez, Alexandra |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farmers in many areas of the semiarid tropics are planting exotic tree species that provide alternative income sources, fuel, and building materials. While providing other benefits, these trees often occupy land that could produce annual food crops. This study uses a polyperiod, linear programming model to explore the opportunity cost of planting Eucalyptus grandis and Grevillea robusta trees compared to crops in the Nyando watershed of western Kenya. Results of the ten year period wealth maximization model suggest that a representative farmer’s decisions on farm resource allocation are sensitive to changes in the relative prices of short rotation tree products and annual crops. The model also suggests that there are economic tradeoffs between planting trees and crops, as well as between planting different tree species. Timber production is not likely to replace food crops for two main reasons: (1) the high cost of meeting household subsistence requirements from marketed grains, (2) household cash flow needs met by annual crops. Farmers plant eucalyptus for commercial purposes because they can obtain timber products within four years; however if the prices of these short rotation products go down, farmers will prefer to grow timber from high yield grevillea. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Production Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midagr:134024&r=afr |
| By: | Mariapia Mendola; Franklin Simtowe |
| Abstract: | Even though land reform may be an effective means of reducing poverty, evidence on its causal effects is scant. This paper uses household panel data combined with a quasi- experimental program to assess the impact of a joint Malawi/World Bank land redistribution project on households’ productivity and well-being in southern Malawi. Double difference and matching methods are used to address sources of selection bias in identifying impacts. Results point to average positive effects of the land program on land holdings, agricultural output, income, food security and asset ownership of beneficiary households. Yet, beneficiaries do not see an improvement in access to social services such as schools and health facilities. There is also evidence of heterogeneous effects by gender and inheritance systems. Overall, our findings suggest that there is scope for reducing poverty and inequality in developing countries by implementing a decentralized, community-based, voluntary approach to land reform through the provision of land to land-poor households. |
| Keywords: | Land Reform, Program Evaluation, Community Based Rural Land Development Program, Malawi |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:227&r=afr |
| By: | Sibiko, Kenneth Waluse |
| Abstract: | Agriculture sustains the livelihoods of about 70.8% of Ugandans, while common bean has emerged to be an important cash crop as well as a staple food for the majority of farmers and consumers. Although Uganda’s bean output has more than doubled, average bean yields in the country have been between 0.6 and 0.8 Mt Ha-1, even though yields higher than 1.5 Mt Ha-1 can be realized with improved varieties. Thusthe objective of this study was to determine the factors influencing common beanproductivityand efficiency among smallholder farmers in Eastern Uganda.The study was conducted in Busia, Mbale, Budaka and Tororo districts in Eastern Uganda based on a sample of 280 householdsselected using a multi-stage sampling technique. For the data collection, a personally administered structured questionnaire was used to conduct interviews, with a focus on household heads. In the analyses, descriptive statistics, a stochastic frontier modeland a two-limit Tobit regression model were employed. It was established that bean productivity was positively influenced by plot size, ordinary seeds, certified seeds and planting fertilizers. The mean technical efficiency among bean farms was 48.2%, mean economic efficiency was 59.94% and mean allocative efficiency was 29.37%. Finally, Tobit model estimation revealed that technical efficiency was positively influenced by value of assets at 1% level and extension service and group membership at 5% level; while age and distance to the factor market negatively influenced technical efficiency at 10% and 5% levels respectively. Economic efficiency was positively influenced by value of assets at 1% level and off-farm income and credit at 5% level. However, farmers’ primary occupation negativelyinfluenced economic efficiency at 5% level. Allocative efficiency was positively influenced by value of assets at 1% level and farm size and off-farm income at 10% level; while distance to the factor market negatively influenced allocative efficiency at 5% level.Hence the study recommended on the need for increased provision of extension service and training on correct input application and improved farming technologies to increase bean productivity. It also suggested on the need for policy to discourage land fragmentation, develop road and market infrastructure in rural areas and provide affordable and easily available credit facilities to improve production efficiency of bean farms. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:134500&r=afr |
| By: | Sourisseau, J.M.; Bosc, P.M.; Fréguin-Gresh, S.; Bélières, J.F.; Bonnal, P.; Le Coq, J.F.; Anseeuw, W.; Dury, S. |
| Abstract: | The transformation of family-based agricultural structures is compelling the academic and policy environments. The questions being advanced cross the history of agricultural representations since a century. The ways of seeing and representing the different forms of agriculture relate to these transformations. Family farming has acquired an international legitimacy but is presently questioned by agricultural evolutions in developed countries as well as in developing or emerging ones. The Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL) approach allows a global comprehension of the agricultural entity as a constituent of an activity system that has become multi-sectoral and multi-situational, relating to market and non-market regulations. The relative significance and the nature of the mobilized capitals led us to schematically present six organizational forms of family agriculture in New-Caledonia, in Mali, in Viet-Nam, in South Africa, France and Brazil. A more generic characterization that foresees our representation framework proposal poses new methodological challenges. ...French Abstract : Les mutations des agricultures familiales interrogent le monde académique et les politiques. Cette interrogation traverse l’histoire des représentations de l’agriculture depuis un siècle. Les manières de voir ces agricultures ont accompagné leurs transformations. Aujourd’hui, l’agriculture familiale acquiert une légitimité internationale mais elle est questionnée par les évolutions des agricultures aux Nords comme aux Suds. L’approche Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL) permet une appréhension globale du fait agricole comme une composante de systèmes d’activités multi sectoriels et multi situés dont les logiques renvoient à des régulations marchandes et non marchandes. Le poids relatif et la nature des capitaux mobilisés permettent de représenter de manière stylisée six formes d’organisation de l’agriculture familiale en Nouvelle-Calédonie, au Mali, au Viêt-Nam, en Afrique du Sud, en France et au Brésil. Une caractérisation plus générique, qu’esquisse notre proposition de méthode de représentation des agricultures est enfin proposée, qui pose de nouvelles questions méthodologiques. |
| Keywords: | FAMILY AGRICULTURE; FAMILY FARMING; SUSTAINABLE RURAL LIVELIHOODS; PEASANTS; ENTERPRISES; PLURIACTIVITY; MOBILITY; DIVERSITY |
| JEL: | O13 O57 Q12 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umr:wpaper:201205&r=afr |
| By: | Dlamini, Menzie S. |
| Abstract: | Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the developing world have over the years attracted and received billions of US dollars (valued at over US$4 billion annually worldwide) in subsidies and concessionary funds. These subsidies are used to capitalize, promote growth, and help improve efficiency, operations and performance of newly established MFIs. At face value these interventions seem positive, yet studies have shown that they can be counterproductive in terms of their effect on the performance, efficiency and self-sustainability of the MFIs. This research addresses this issue by identifying four determinants of MFI’s performance and analysing the effect that subsidies have on them. A quantitative approach was used in the analysis in which the financial data of 92 MFIs were estimated using panel data estimation. The method of variable selection was based on the procedure used by Nawaz (2010). This method of determining the relationship between selected performance and sustainability indicators and subsidy was modelled on the Subsidy Dependant Index (SDI) method of analysis developed by Yaron (1992a) and the Return on Asset (ROA), Operational Self-Sufficiency (OSS) and Financial Self-Sufficiency (FSS) methods of analysis developed by the SEEP Network (2005). The summary results of the analysis showed that the majority of MFIs (90.22%) were not sustainable nor were they found to be profitable. However, the results show that all the institutions were operationally self-sufficient and that, on average, MFIs in SSA charged higher interest rates than MFIs in other parts of the world. The average OSS was 136.01% showing that MFIs are operationally self-sufficient. However, the average FSS value was ix 74.32% reflecting that the MFIs are not able to raise enough revenue to cover their capital and indirect costs which would ultimately result in them running out of equity funds. The inclusion of subsidies in the sustainability regressions resulted in a decline in the ability of the MFIs to attain operational and financial self-sufficiency, thus showing the negative effect subsidies have on the sustainability of MFIs. Inflation and interest rates charged on loans also had a negative effect on sustainability as they resulted in an increase in costs and a decline in the number of low income clients. MFIs located in wealthier countries were found to be more efficient because of the lower costs associated with having wealthier clients who have larger loan sizes. MFIs in lower income countries have to overcome limitations of weak infrastructures, low population densities and rural markets which increase operating costs. Older institutions were found to more likely be sustainable than new and young MFIs as expected because of their improved efficiency and productivity and also because they have more experience and are therefore better equipped to overcome challenges. However, by adding subsidy in the analysis the results show that the level of efficiency of MFIs is reduced. The results also show that with increased maturity MFIs are found to be more productive, however, when subsidies are included in the finances the levels of productivity will decline as costs increase. NBFIs are the most suitable business model to practice in MFIs in Africa according to the findings which reflect that NBFIs are more profitable and efficient than any of the other business models in the sample. However, cooperatives were found to be the most productive business model as they have a stronger borrower to staff ratio than the other institutional types. Furthermore, cooperatives and NBFIs tend to have clients who are better off and therefore can afford to take larger sized loans, unlike clients of NGOs who are poor who struggle to have a stable income. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:134487&r=afr |
| By: | Jann Lay (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies); Janosch Ondraczek (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies); Jana Stoever (GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies) |
| Abstract: | We study the determinants of households’ choices of lighting fuels in Kenya, including the option of using solar home systems (SHSs). The paper adds new evidence on the factors that influence the introduction and adoption of decentralized and less carbon-intensive energy sources in developing countries. We capitalize on a unique representative survey on energy use and sources from Kenya, one of the few relatively well-established SHSs markets in the world. Our results reveal some very interesting patterns in the fuel transition in the context of lighting-fuel choices. While we find clear evidence for a crosssectional energy ladder, the income threshold for modern fuel use – including solar energy use – is very high. Income and education turn out to be key determinants of SHSs adoption, but we also find a very pronounced effect of SHSs clustering. In addition, we do not find a negative correlation between grid access and SHSs use. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy, household fuel choice, lighting-fuel choice, solar power use, solar home systems, Kenya, energy ladder, KIHBS |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:198&r=afr |
| By: | Mailu, S.K; Muhammad, L; Wanyoike, M.M; Mwanza, R.N. |
| Abstract: | A survey was undertaken in 7 counties in Kenya covering a total of 300 rabbit farmers. Another 100 non rabbit keeping farmers was similarly interviewed for comparison purposes. Questions on the survey instrument sought to identify consumption patterns of rabbit meat among the sample farmers. Results were subjected to chi square test for association in an attempt to identify characteristics of respondents that might be pointers to rabbit meat consumption. Education, the number of rabbits kept—as well as whether the farmers actually kept rabbits were strong pointers towards making a particular farmer also a consumer of rabbit meat. Income (in this study, expenditure was used as a proxy for incomes) and the region of residence were marginally associated with rabbit meat consumption. Only 38 percent of non-rabbit farmers consumed rabbit meat compared to 82 percent for those who kept rabbits. The frequency of rabbit meat consumption was found to be very low, even for rabbit keepers with 46 percent of this group doing so at most, once every 12 months compared to 73 percent for non-rabbit farmers. |
| Keywords: | Rabbit meat; consumption; elasticity; |
| JEL: | Q13 L19 M30 D10 |
| Date: | 2012–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:41517&r=afr |
| By: | Chisanga, Brian |
| Abstract: | Efficiency and integration in the Zambian sugar market: analysing price transmission, price formation and policy By Brian Chisanga Degree: MSc. Agric (Agricultural Economics) Department: Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development Supervisor: Dr Ferdinand Meyer Zambia ranks as one of the lowest cost producers of sugar. However, Zambia‟s domestic sugar price has been high and volatile and is substantially higher than the world price. This has raised concern among stakeholders and further raises questions about the efficient functioning of the market. The study sought to determine and explain efficiency and integration in Zambia‟s sugar value chain by analysing price spreads, price formation, and price transmission through a price transmission and partial equilibrium model. The study hypothesised that the Zambian sugar market is both inefficient and it is not integrated with the world market. This was tested through the price transmission and partial equilibrium models. Price transmission is conceptually premised on the Law of One Price (LOP) which postulates that in a frictionless undistorted market, the difference between markets spatially separated should only be explained by transaction costs. To test the hypothesis long-run equilibrium between prices was tested through a series of cointegration tests and an Error Correction model (ECM) was built for cointegrating price series. Model simulations were run and tests for asymmetry for cointegrating price series were conducted. A partial equilibrium framework was developed to determine price formation for Zambia‟s sugar market from a number of behavioural equations. - v - The study establishes cointegration in the spatial price transmission (between world sugar prices and Zambia‟s wholesale prices) and vertically (between the domestic wholesale prices and sugarcane prices). The ECM for the spatial price transmission reveals low integration and efficiency evidenced by the low speed of adjustment, the Error Correction Term (ECT) of -0.09 and the model simulation, which shows that it takes approximately 3 years for the markets to revert to long run equilibrium after experiencing a price shock. The study also establishes that the spatial price adjustment is asymmetric. The vertical price transmission analysis reveals that it is relatively more integrated and efficient as it has a higher speed of adjustment (ECT of 0.199) which is twice that of the spatial price transmission. The model simulation reveals that it takes about 1 year and 6 months to revert to long run equilibrium after experiencing a shock. The vertical price adjustment is also found to be symmetric. A negative short-run elasticity of -0.29 is found for the spatial price transmission while the long-run transmission is found to be inelastic (0.91 ) which is close to unitary elasticity. The short-run vertical transmission is found to be very inelastic (0.009 ) while the long-run transmission of 0.94 is similar to the spatial transmission (inelastic but close to unitary). Farm to Retail Price Spreads are found to be widening with growing volatility owing to the volatile nature of the Retail Value. While the Farm Value has been increasing, recent spikes experienced in the Retail Value have resulted in an overall widening of the Farm to Retail Price Spread. The partial equilibrium analysis indicates that the price formation in Zambia‟s sugar market is determined by the world price through the export parity price, domestic demand, supply conditions as well as policy. The elasticity between Zambia‟s sugar price and the export parity price is found to be unitary (1.09). The price space analysis reveals that although Zambia‟s domestic price is correlated with the export parity prices it is trending closer to the import parity price. This suggests that there are distortions in the sugar market, which may include high transaction costs, high concentration in the market structure as well as inappropriate policies such as high taxation, high interest rates and a policy requiring fortification of all sugar with Vitamin A, which are driving the domestic price upwards to exceed the export parity price. The sugar baseline for Zambia is generated for 2012 to 2015 based on a number of assumptions in the exogenous variables. - vi - Sugar production domestic use and exports are on the rise while the domestic price rises in 2011, falling between 2013 and 2014 then rising in 2014 to 2015. Model simulation of the removal and/or modification of the policy requiring sugar fortification reveals that there is an increase in the flow of imports to about 25,000 tons per year. This results in a 3.2 per cent loss in production and a 6.1 per cent gain in exports while the domestic sugar price falls by 23.9 US Cents/kg (18.8 per cent). Thus Zambia gains in terms of increased consumer welfare and producer welfare because production losses are offset by revenue gains through exports since the world price also increases. The study recommends that transaction costs which include transportation costs, energy, taxation which are pushing the domestic price upwards need to be lowered. The study emphasises the need to promote investments in the sugar industry especially for smaller emerging sugar mills by lowering interest rates and taxes as well as a need to strengthen competition laws governing the industry which will protect consumers,would-be- investors and cane producers from uncompetitive pricing. It further recomments the lifting and /or modification of the barrier on imports of unfortified sugar but stresses that government can allow raw sugar imports which can be fortified in Zambia. A more open and undistorted sugar market in Zambia will result in a competitive, efficient and integrated market governed by market dynamics. |
| Keywords: | price transmission, price formation, efficiency, integration, Agricultural and Food Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:134483&r=afr |
| By: | Dury, S.; Bocoum, I. |
| Abstract: | Reducing poverty and increasing food production are usual recommandations for improving food and nutrition security. Yet linkages between poverty, agricultural production and food security are complexe and slightly clarified. The Sikasso Region in Mali shows a paradoxical situation where an important agricultural production is concomitant with a widespread children malnutrition. The comparison of this region with the other Malian regions allows to capture the specific causes of the children bad nutritional indicators. Children stunting, which is the highest in this region, is linked to a less diversified food consumption and probably to a lack of care, as a result of an overload of agricultural labor. ...French Abstract : Réduire la pauvreté et améliorer la production alimentaire sont des recommandations usuelles pour améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle. Mais les relations entre pauvreté, production agricole et sécurité alimentaire sont complexes et peu explicitées. La région de Sikasso au Mali illustre une situation paradoxale où la production agricole importante est concomitante à une malnutrition infantile étendue. La comparaison de cette région aux autres régions maliennes permet de cerner les déterminants spécifiques des mauvais indicateurs nutritionnels observés chez les enfants. Leur retard de croissance, qui est plus important dans cette région, est lié à une alimentation moins diversifiée et probablement à un manque de soins, conséquence d’une surcharge de travail agricole. |
| Keywords: | UNDERFEEDING; POVERTY; AGRICULTURE; HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY; HEALTH CARE |
| JEL: | O55 P46 Q12 Q18 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umr:wpaper:201206&r=afr |