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on Africa |
| By: | AfDB |
| Date: | 2013–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:472&r=afr |
| By: | Henderson, J. Vernon; Roberts, Mark; Storeygard, Adam |
| Abstract: | In the past dozen years, a literature has developed arguing that urbanization has unfolded differently in post-independence Sub-Saharan Africa than in the rest of the developing world, with implications for African economic growth overall. While African countries are more urbanized than other countries at comparable levels of income, it is well-recognized that total and sector gross domestic product data are of very low quality, especially in Africa. When instead viewed from the perspective of effective technology, as suggested in endogenous growth frameworks (and as proxied by educational attainment), the African urbanization experience overall matches global patterns. There are differences, however, at the sector level. Agricultural trade effects that improve farm prices deter African urbanization, while they promote urbanization elsewhere. Potential reasons include differences in land ownership institutions and the likelihood of agricultural surpluses being invested in urban production. Positive shocks to modern manufacturing spur urbanization in the rest of the developing world, but effects are dependent on the level of development. Thus many countries in Africa, with their lower level of development, do not respond to these shocks. Finally, historical indicators of the potential for good institutions promote urbanization both inside and outside Africa. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Emerging Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,E-Business |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6481&r=afr |
| By: | Musumba, Mark; Mjelde, James |
| Abstract: | The flow of remittances can affect poverty rates, development, and investments in the receiving country and households. Using World Bank survey data from three countries, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya, this research addresses the senders’ and recipients’ characteristics may affect remittance amounts. The recipients’ household income and living in a rural area tend to increase the amount of the remittance. Senders living in North America tend to send larger amounts than those living in Africa or Asia. Ethiopia and Uganda recipients tend to receive a larger amount than those living in Kenya. The effects of characteristics on remittance amounts are very similar between the countries. Only, Kenya appears to differ in three of the eighteen characteristics. |
| Keywords: | remittances, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, International Development, O01, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150123&r=afr |
| By: | AfDB |
| Date: | 2013–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:470&r=afr |
| By: | Kadjo, Didier; Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob; Alexander, Corinne; Tahirou, Abdoulaye |
| Abstract: | This study uses nationally representative data from 360 farm households in Benin to estimate how access to storage technologies and storage losses from insects affects a smallholder African farmer’s decision to hold grain from production, in an environment of high price variability. We find that access to storage chemicals increases the average amount stored by 196 kilograms with results approaching statistical significance. Farmers who use plastic bags store 293 kilograms less grain on average, likely because bags are used for transport to market in addition to storage. Results from our study also suggest that market-driven farmers rely on high price variability as shield against storage losses, whereas subsistence farmers jeopardize their food security in lean season because of aversion to stock losses. Expected post-harvest losses might therefore be more detrimental to storage decision for farmers with low physical and financial assets. These findings highlight the need to develop effective and accessible new or improved storage technology for small farmers in SSA (Sub-Saharan Africa). |
| Keywords: | food security, price variability, storage losses, storage technology, Benin, SSA, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150522&r=afr |
| By: | Sheahan, Megan; Ariga, Joshua; Jayne, T.S. |
| Abstract: | Kenya is one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa experiencing an impressive rise in fertilizer use on food crops grown by smallholder farmers since the liberalization of input markets starting in the early-1990s. The impacts of these reforms and associated private sector investments on national fertilizer use and food production have never been rigorously quantified, though doing so could shed new light on policy makers’ options for raising food crop productivity in the region. This study estimates a double-hurdle model of fertilizer demand that controls for common forms of unobserved heterogeneity then simulates the effect of changes in fertilizer prices and distances from farm to the nearest fertilizer retailer associated with fertilizer market liberalization on the demand for fertilizer and the production of maize, the major staple crop in the country. The study concludes that over the period 1997-2010 the reduction in real fertilizer prices associated with input market liberalization is estimated to have raised maize yields by 15 to 100 kg/ha, depending on the province and year. Low average physical response rates of maize to fertilizer application in high fertilizer consuming areas of Kenya limits the degree to which increased fertilizer use via liberalization policies translates into food production improvements. These increases in maize yield specifically linked to changes in fertilizer prices accounted for between 1 and 11 percent of changes in maize production between survey years. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150697&r=afr |
| By: | Asgari, Mahdi; Nogueira, Lia |
| Abstract: | Countries successful in achieving growth and equity throughout their development process could provide continuing gross flow of resources to agriculture in the form of technical, educational, and financial elements combined with proper institutions and policies to increase agricultural productivity. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of institutional differences in governance, health and markets on the overall agricultural performance of Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Government spending, corruption control, and lower mortality rates at birth imply better governance and health situations in the countries and had significant positive impact on the value added by agriculture to the GDP of those countries. |
| Keywords: | agricultural performance, institutions, Sub-Saharan Africa, growth, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150611&r=afr |
| By: | Berazneva, Julia |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to our understanding of the use and management of crop residues in East African highlands and farmers' decision-making associated with this important on-farm resource. Using the data from a socio-economic and household production survey of a sample of 310 households in 15 villages in western Kenya conducted in 2011-2012, the analysis shows that the decision to allocate maize residues to organic fertilizer and the amount of such allocation among Kenyan farmers is in uenced by the quantity of maize residues produced, as well as conventional inputs into production such as labor and chemical fertilizer. However, such allocation decisions may be independent of other competing uses of residues { livestock feed and cooking fuel. The value of maize residues as an input into crop production is also estimated. |
| Keywords: | crop residues, maize production, biomass, value of natural resources, western Kenya, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, International Development, |
| Date: | 2013–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150367&r=afr |
| By: | Mathenge, Mary K.; Smale, Melinda; Opiyo, Joseph |
| Abstract: | Off-farm work accounts for a substantial and growing share of household income among smallholder farmers in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, but evidence on the effects of these earnings on farm investments remains sparse. We use panel data from a sample of smallholder farmers in Kenya to estimate input demand for fertilizer, testing the effects of earnings from nonfarm activities, agricultural wage labor on other farms, and combined off-farm sources. We compare effects among three types of crops: a major food staple (maize), and emerging cash crop (vegetables), and a traditional export crop (tea). We use the Correlated Random Effects Model while accounting for the potential endogeneity of the off-farm work variables. We find that, holding other factors constant, off-farm earnings contribute positively to fertilizer application rates per hectare on both maize and tea, but not on vegetables. Nonfarm income drives most of this pattern, attesting to the potential for complementarity between working in activities off-farm and farm investments. Though representing only a minor share of off-farm earnings, agricultural wage labor negatively affects fertilizer application rates on maize and vegetables, indicating that there is competition for resources. The results have implications for public investments in rural development as smallholders commercialize in Kenya. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150638&r=afr |
| By: | Takeshima, Hiroyuki; Liverpool-Tasie, L. Saweda O. |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of previous fertilizer subsidy program on local grain prices in Nigeria. The program has been considered ineffective in targeting and stimulating demand for fertilizer, with potentially rampant leakages. If the program has reduced food price, however, it can still be partly justified regardless of targeting efficiency. We exploit the panel structure of Living Standard Measurement Survey – Integrated Survey on Agriculture (LSMS) collected in 2010 post-planting season and 2011 post-harvesting season. Our methods use Euclidian distance between each district and state governors’ origin district in each state to identify fertilizer subsidy distribution. We also use proxy variable that accounts for both direct subsidy provision and indirect leakage effects to measure the effective size of subsidy. Fertilizer subsidy generally had no effect on maize and sorghum price. In northern Nigeria, fertilizer subsidy might have lowered district level price of local rice, but only to a limited extent. Low market orientation of many subsidy recipients, crowding out of commercial fertilizer, and political influence in subsidy allocations may explain such low impact. We also discuss how our methods minimize potential biases due to errors-in-variable and sample selection. |
| Keywords: | fertilizer subsidy, food price, fiscal federalism, political influence, Nigeria, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150327&r=afr |
| By: | Brown, Molly; Higgins, Nathaniel; Hintermann, Beat |
| Abstract: | In this article we specify a model of millet prices in the three West African countries of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Using data obtained from USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) we present a unique regional cereal price forecasting model that takes advantage of the panel nature of our data, and accounts for the flow of millet across markets. Another novel aspect of our analysis is our use of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to detect and control for variation in conditions for productivity. The average absolute out-of-sample prediction error for 4- month-ahead millet prices is about 20 %. |
| Keywords: | Millet, cereal, West Africa, price forecasting, remote sensing, NDVI, regional panel data, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, O13, O18, Q11, Q13, Q17, R32, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150714&r=afr |
| By: | Kamau, Mercy; Smale, Melinda; Mutua, Mercy |
| Abstract: | Use of soil amendments, including organic materials and mineral fertilizers, is highly recommended for the replenishment of soil nutrients, improved soil structure and more efficient fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa, where the fertility status of most soils cannot adequately support crop production without a combination of practices. Along with other constraints, underdeveloped markets are often cited as a reason for limited uptake of these practices. Recognizing the potential interrelationship among practices, we estimate seemingly-unrelated, multivariate probit models to identify the determinants of farmers’ choices, based on plot-level household data collected in 2008/9 from 1001 households in eight districts of Western and Central Kenya. We then estimate demand for most common soil nutrients (N and P) with Tobit models. Results suggest that while farmers are price-responsive, imperfect markets affect access to mineral fertilizers, also confirming that farm household decisions on use of soil fertility management practices are correlated. |
| Keywords: | soil management, fertility, multivariate probit, demand, plot-level, Kenya, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, International Development, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150722&r=afr |
| By: | Nicholas Apergis (Department of Banking and Financial Management, University of Piraeus, Greece); Beatrice D. Simo-Kengne (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically examines the long-run impact and short-term dynamics of housing wealth and financial wealth on household consumption in South Africa using annual provincial-level panel data for the period 1995 to 2011. Based on available data, recently developed econometric techniques for heterogeneous panel cointegration analysis are applied which allows us to circumvent the data restrictions, given that observations are pooled across provinces. The empirical results provide strong evidence of a stable long-run relationship between household consumption, income and (housing and stock market) wealth in South Africa. We then estimate the long-run elasticities of income and wealth with respect to consumption. The results indicate that income elasticity is not significantly different from unity, hence corroborating the permanent income hypothesis. As expected, the marginal propensity to consume out of housing wealth and stock market wealth is positive and significant, implying that consumption spending adjusts to both house price and stock price fluctuations. Interestingly, the marginal propensity to consume out of housing wealth is found to be smaller than that of the stock market wealth. Based on the panel ECM, the causality between consumption and both forms of wealth is bi-directional in the long-run, which contrasts the unidirectional causality running from wealth to consumption in the short run. |
| Keywords: | Housing and stock market wealth effects, consumption, panel cointegration; South African provinces |
| JEL: | C23 E21 G12 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201326&r=afr |
| By: | Collins, Julia C.; Foltz, Jeremy D. |
| Abstract: | In many West African countries, large rural multigenerational households farm common household plots as well as allocate individual plots to different family members. Multiple studies have found that women plot managers achieve lower yields than men. This work uses a unique 17-year panel dataset from southern Mali to investigate this gender production differential. The long-span and specificity of the data allow us to simultaneously test many of the reasons put forth in the literature for gender production differentials: input & labor use, land tenure, polygamy, and social status. We find that female plot managers in this dataset do achieve significantly lower yields than men and that the effect is mostly explained by labor allocation and social status within the Malian household. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, International Development, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150130&r=afr |
| By: | Zeng, Di; Alwang, Jeffrey; Norton, George; Shiferaw, Bekele; Jaleta, Moti; Yirga, Chilot |
| Abstract: | A procedure is developed to examine the ex-post impacts of improved maize varieties on poverty in rural Ethiopia. Yield and cost effects of adoption are estimated econometrically under assumptions of both homogeneous and heterogeneous treatment effects. A backward derivation procedure is employed within an economic surplus framework using estimated treatment effects to identify the counterfactual income distribution without improved maize arieties. Poverty impacts are estimated as the differences in poverty indices computed using observed and counterfactual income distributions. Improved maize varieties have led to noticeable reduction in the poverty headcount ratio, depth, and severity in rural Ethiopia. However, poor producers benefit the least from adoption because their land areas are limited. |
| Keywords: | improved maize varieties, poverty, impact, rural, Ethiopia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149823&r=afr |
| By: | Müller, Marc; Sanfo, Safietou; Laube, Wolfram |
| Abstract: | Rainy-season farming is a major source of income for the rural population in the Guinea Savannah zone of West Africa. Farming systems in the region are dominated by rain-fed production of cereals, but include also leguminous crops and oilseeds. A recent World Bank study has identified high potentials for competitive agricultural production and agriculture-led growth in the Guinea Savannah zones of Sub-Saharan Africa. This optimistic outlook is conditional on appropriate investment strategies, policy reforms, and institutional changes. Furthermore, the World Bank warns that global climate change could pose a potential constraint for agricultural growth due to likely reductions in rainfall levels and significant increases in rainfall variability. This could lead to serious dry spells and a drop of crop yields. The study regions are the département Atakora in Benin, the région Sud-Ouest in Burkina Faso, and the Upper East Region in Ghana. Climate projections and trend estimates for these regions show very heterogeneous results for level and variability of monthly rainfall patterns. Therefore, we want to investigate which potential future developments pose the greater threat for agricultural production in the study regions. We develop a set of regional agricultural supply models, each representing 10-12 cropping activities and roughly 150.000 ha of agricultural area. We distinguish two stages of crop production: The planting stage from April to June and the yield formation stage between June and November. Preliminary results suggest that drought events during the planting stage have a more severe impact on the output of individual crops than drought events during the second stage. In contrast, the impact on total farm revenues appears to be more prominent during the second stage, when farmers have a limited capability to adjust their production plan. A clear if not surprising result is the larger vulnerability of crops with growth cycles ranging from the very beginning to the very end of the rainy season. The observed diversity of cropping activities serves the purpose to reduce the vulnerability to adverse rainfall events within a certain range. However, some extreme events are associated with very poor harvests of specific cash crops, thus severely affecting the income of the farming sector. A comprehensive picture will be obtained once the climate change scenarios are completed and the model results are tested and validated for various settings. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, West Africa, agricultural production, stochastic production frontier, highest posterior density estimation, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150412&r=afr |
| By: | Thomas Laurent; Fabrice Murtin; Geoff Barnard; Dean Janse van Rensburg; Vijay Reddy; George Frempong; Lolita Winnaar |
| Abstract: | In this paper we assess the determinants of secondary school outcomes in South Africa. We use Bayesian Averaging Model techniques to account for uncertainty in the set of underlying factors that are chosen among a very large pool of explanatory variables in order to minimize the risk of omitted variable bias. Our analysis indicates that the socioeconomic background of pupils, demographic characteristics such as population groups (Black and White) as well as geographical locations account for a significant variation in pupils’ achievement levels. We also find that the most robust policy determinants of pupils’ test scores are the availability of a library at school, the use of IT in the classroom as well as school climate. This Working Paper relates to the 2013 OECD Economic Survey of South Africa (http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/southafrica2013.htm).<P>Les politiques d'éducation face à l'incertitude de la modélisation : l'Afrique du Sud à l'étude<BR>Cette étude estime les déterminants des résultats scolaires en Afrique du Sud. Des techniques Bayésiennes de sélection de modèle sont utilisées pour traiter l’incertitude dans le choix des variables explicatives, lesquelles sont tirées d’un ensemble très large de variables candidates aidant à minimiser le biais d’omission. Les résultats indiquent que le profil socio-économique des élèves, les caractéristiques démographiques telles que l’appartenance ethnique ou la localisation géographique expliquent une partie importante des différences de performance scolaire entre élèves. Les politiques éducatives corrélées aux résultats scolaires sont la disponibilité de bibliothèques à l’école, l’utilisation des technologies de l’information en classe ainsi que la discipline à l’école. Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l'Étude économique de l’Afrique du Sud, 2013, (http://www.oecd.org/fr/eco/etudes/afriq uedusud2013.htm). |
| Keywords: | education, South Africa, Bayesian model averaging, éducation, Afrique du Sud, choix de modèles par estimateur Bayésien |
| JEL: | C2 H4 I2 O2 |
| Date: | 2013–06–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1057-en&r=afr |
| By: | Cook, Aaron M.; Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E.; Sesmero, Juan P. |
| Abstract: | We use three waves of national representative household level panel data from Malawi to employ a structural model to estimate how households make land and labor allocation decisions in response to climate change. We first model the allocation of land to improved maize varieties as a function of precipitation history, input and output prices, household characteristics and extension advice and then estimate the welfare benefits associated with this decision in a household net income equation. This second stage also reveals the extent to which the household shift labor off-farm as total growing season precipitation fluctuates. We find that a 1% increase in intra-seasonal precipitation variability reduces household income by 1.5%. This effect falls to 1.3% after we account for the expected adjustment in improved maize adoption. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150507&r=afr |
| By: | Debnath, Deepayan; Elobeid, Amani E.; Carriquiry, Miguel A. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to determine the impact on both the world cotton and cottonseed market from the policy reform of adopting genetically modified Bt cotton, which would increase yields in the C4 (Ghana, Chad, Burkina Fuso, Mali and Benin) African countries. The results show that with the adoption of Bt cotton in the C4 African countries, in the year 2022 the world price of cotton would decrease by 0.54%. The rest of the countries would respond to the lower prices by decreasing production and increasing use, so exports decrease, and imports increase. Therefore, one of the implications of the policy reform of adopting Bt cotton production by the C4 African countries, is an increase in their domestic cotton production by around 4.72%, which may increase farm income and strengthen foreign exchange in the cotton sector for those countries, and might contribute in the reduction of poverty. Also, additional availability of bioenergy feedstock derived from cottonseed oil can be either used for biodiesel to extend local energy supply or to be exported to areas in which the demand for biofuels is large, such as the US and EU. |
| Keywords: | Bt Cotton, FAPRI/CARD Model, West African Cotton Producing Countries, Policy Implication, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, International Development, International Relations/Trade, C30, F17, O11, |
| Date: | 2013–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149828&r=afr |
| By: | Fisher, Monica; Reimer, Jeffrey J.; Carr, Edward R. |
| Abstract: | This study tests the null hypothesis that it is sufficient to interview only the household head to obtain accurate information on household income. Results show that using a husband’s estimate of his wife’s income does not produce statistically reliable results for poverty analysis. Estimates of the wife’s income provided by the husband and wife are in agreement in only six percent of households. While limiting interviews to one person has the advantage of reducing the time and expense of household surveys, this appears detrimental in terms of accuracy, and may lead to incorrect conclusions on the determinants of poverty. |
| Keywords: | Africa, gender, household dynamics, household surveys, Malawi, poverty, International Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149924&r=afr |
| By: | Murray, Anthony G; Mills, Bradford F |
| Abstract: | Groundnuts are an important crop for Ugandan smallholders since they are high in protein, resupply nutrients to the soil, and are a storable source of wealth once dried. Adoption of improved, virus-resistant seed should have a positive impact on household food security, as yields are expected to increase leading to more food for either sale or consumption. This paper considers the effect of improved groundnut seed on smallholder food security in Eastern Uganda, with emphasis on the high adopting Teso sub-region using a household data set collected in 2011. Model results indicate that adopters significantly increase household food security as measured by the World Food Programme food consumption score index in the Teso sub-region, where the scores of adopters increase by nearly 18 points (6.5 percent)—the equivalent to consuming pulses six days. But food security does not increase in other regions of Eastern Uganda where aggregate rates of adoption are lower. Differences in impact on food security between regions of high and low adoption suggest careful consideration of current conditions in policy responses to improve household well-being. |
| Keywords: | Food Security, Technological Adoption, Uganda, International Development, O13, Q12, Q18, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149790&r=afr |
| By: | Chiputwa, Brian; Kostandini, Genti |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150300&r=afr |
| By: | Fabrice Murtin |
| Abstract: | South Africa has achieved remarkable progress in educational attainment relative to other emerging countries, but the quality of basic education for a large fraction of the Black African population is still very low. This study identifies several hurdles to the upgrading of basic education quality, such as the lack of investment in school infrastructure and learning materials in disadvantaged areas, uneven administrative capacity at the local level, low teacher quality and poor teaching of English among Black Africans. Bold action is recommended to empower schools with more physical resources, more competent school leadership and an accountable teacher workforce. Skill mismatches of supply and demand on the labour market may be further addressed by vocational education reforms and an alleviation of credit constraints at the tertiary level.<P>Améliorer la qualité de l'éducation en Afrique du Sud<BR>L’Afrique du Sud a accompli des progrès remarquables en matière d’éducation par rapport à d’autres pays émergents, mais la qualité de l’éducation de base reste très faible pour une large partie de la population africaine noire. Cette étude met en évidence plusieurs obstacles à l’amélioration de la qualité de l’éducation de base, notamment le manque d’investissement dans les infrastructures scolaires et les matériels pédagogiques dans les zones défavorisées, des capacités administratives inégales au niveau local, une mauvaise qualité des enseignants et un enseignement médiocre de l’anglais aux élèves africains noirs. Il est recommandé de prendre des mesures audacieuses pour doter les écoles de davantage de ressources matérielles, d’une équipe de direction plus compétente et d’un corps enseignant responsable. L’inadéquation des compétences entre l’offre et la demande sur le marché du travail peut en outre être traitée par des réformes concernant l’enseignement professionnel et par l’allègement des contraintes de crédit dans l’éducation supérieure. |
| Keywords: | education, school leadership, skills mismatch, education quality, teacher, teacher accountability, test score, return to schooling, éducation, Rendements de l’éducation, qualité de l'éducation, inadéquation des compétences, enseignant, responsabilité des enseignants, test scolaire, direction d’école |
| JEL: | I20 I24 I25 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2013–06–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1056-en&r=afr |
| By: | Ragasa, Catherine; Berhane, Guush; Tadesse, Fanaye; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes new empirical evidence and nuanced analysis on the gender difference in access to extension services and how this translates to observed differences in technology adoption and agricultural productivity. We employ a cross-sectional instrumental-variable regression method using a regionally-representative dataset of more than 7,500 households and 32,000 plots in four major regions in Ethiopia that was collected during the 2010 main season. Results suggest that female heads of households and plot managers are less likely to get extension services and less likely to access quality services than their male counterparts after controlling for plot, household, and village level characteristics. Receiving advice from development agents (DAs) is strongly and positively related to adoption of improved seed and fertilizer for both females and males, as hypothesized. However, beyond their influence through fertilizer and improved seed use, visits by or advice from DAs are not significant in all productivity models estimated for females and males, which is in contrast to past studies. In some crop-specific productivity models estimated, it is the perceived quality of DA visits and access to radio that appear to be strongly and positively significant in explaining productivity levels for both female and male farmers. Our results highlight the need for productivity models that are stratified by gender and crop. |
| Keywords: | technology adoption, agricultural inputs, instrumental variable regression model, agricultural information, Ethiopia, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150487&r=afr |
| By: | Han, Peter; Foltz, Jeremy |
| Abstract: | The global child mortality rate has dropped significantly in the last two decades with Sub-Saharan Africa experiencing the fastest decline. However, Mali seems to be an exception, with a barely noticeable annual reduction rate of 1.8% between 1990 and 2011. We hypothesize that an increase in the number of climate shocks are partially responsible for the slow decline of child mortality in Mali. Using unique household survey panel data between 1994 and 2010 and daily climate measures from National Climate Data Center, we analyze the impact of climate shocks on child mortality in Sikasso, Mali. Applying survival analysis, we find significant effects of rain shocks on child mortality. Furthermore, higher numbers of women in the household and proximity to health facilities have a positive effect on child survival. When faced with an increased number of climate shocks, better infrastructure and healthcare facilities in the most affected regions may be able to mitigate the risk of child death in the future. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Health Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150395&r=afr |
| By: | Nicola Branson; Murray Leibbrandt |
| Abstract: | In this paper we document the impact of education levels on labour market outcomes from 1994 to 2010 using national household survey data. We show that higher levels of education are strongly rewarded in the labour market in terms of earnings and that a tertiary qualification improves an individual’s prospects of employment. While the premium for matric and incomplete secondary has fallen marginally over the period, the premium to tertiary has risen, especially for women. Differences in the reward to education level are evident for Africans versus the overall population, between urban and rural areas and for younger versus older workers. In particular, the premium to tertiary education has increased at a higher rate for Africans than for the overall population.<P>L'éducation et son rendement sur le marché du travail en Afrique du Sud, 1994-2010<BR>Dans cette étude nous examinons les rendements de l’éducation sur le marché du travail entre 1994 et 2010 à l’aide d’enquêtes-ménages nationales. Nous montrons que le rendement de l’éducation supérieure en termes de salaire est très élevé et qu’un diplôme du supérieur augmente également la probabilité d’être employé. Alors qu’un niveau d’éducation secondaire a eu des rendements en légère baisse au cours de la période, le rendement de l’éducation tertiaire a augmenté, surtout pour les femmes. A niveau éducatif donné, des différences de rendement sont observées entre les Africains et la population totale, les zones rurales et urbaines et entre les jeunes et les séniors. En particulier, les rendements de l’éducation tertiaire a augmenté plus rapidement pour les Africains que pour la population totale. |
| Keywords: | education, employment, earnings, South Africa, national household survey data, emploi, éducation, salaires, Afrique du Sud, enquête ménage nationale |
| JEL: | I24 J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2013–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1022-en&r=afr |
| By: | Lubungu, Mary |
| Abstract: | Does participation in livestock markets improve the welfare levels of smallholder farmers in Zambia? Are there any biases in the distribution of benefits between poor and better off households? To address these questions, we employ propensity score matching and decomposition techniques on nationally representative household survey data collected from smallholder farmers in Zambia. Our findings suggest that, other factors constant, participation in cattle markets raises household income by over 50% on average among cattle selling households. However, decomposition results suggest that poor households derive relatively smaller benefits from participation than their non-poor counterparts due to discrimination which accounts for 80.3% of the inter-group income differential. |
| Keywords: | livestock market participation, smallholder farmers, income, propensity score matching, decomposition, Zambia, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150606&r=afr |
| By: | Hightower, Lisa S.; Brennan, Mark A. |
| Abstract: | African immigrants in the United States (U.S.) experience immense challenges in the form of poverty, unemployment, and underemployment. Limited English language proficiency often restricts African immigrants to low-paying, unskilled positions. Ethnic entrepreneurship in the form of small-scale farming provides some African immigrants with an alternative to mainstream employment. Key to the success of many African immigrants is participation in beginning farmer programs. These programs operate as social networks, connecting immigrant farmers to training, farming resources, and members of the local community who provide access to additional resources and markets. Drawing from social capital theory, this mixed methods study investigates economic outcomes and social capital development within immigrant farmer programs. Immigrant farmer programs are analyzed as social networks that connect immigrants to technical training, farming resources, and community members who can provide access to markets. Data were collected through a survey of 112 agricultural educators working with immigrant farming programs across the United States. Data were also collected through case studies of programs in Ohio and Virginia. Bivariate correlation tests found the following agricultural training topics were significantly associated with economic outcomes, specifically training on farm equipment use, organic certification, and pest management. Ten marketing training topics were associated with economic outcomes, including business management, identifying markets, and introduction to direct markets. Social network ties were also associated with economic outcomes. These relationships were with the following organizations: farmers markets, community-supported organizations, the Extension Service, local farm supply stores, restaurants, and the Farm Bureau. Multiple regression tests found that 24.8% of the variance in economic outcomes could be accounted for by social network development, market training, and agricultural training. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic entrepreneurship, social capital, social networks, immigrant farmers, African immigrants, local food systems, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149696&r=afr |
| By: | Isaac, Shinyekwa; Lawrence, Othieno |
| Abstract: | This paper examines factors that determine Uganda’s trade flows and specifically compares the impact and performance of the different trade blocs on Uganda’s trade patterns and flows. The empirical question is whether Uganda’s trade is getting more integrated in the East African Community (EAC) region or is still dominated by other trading blocs, namely European Union (EU), Asia and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)? Two analytical approaches are used, namely: trade indicators and estimation of the gravity models using data extracted from COMTRADE for the period 2001 – 2009 (panel). We estimate determinants of export and import trade flows separately using static random, dynamic random and IV GMM models. The results suggest a strong relationship between belonging to a trading bloc and trade flows. Likewise, Uganda’s import and export trade flows have conspicuously adjusted to the gravitational forces of the EAC during the progress of the integration. Whereas exports are being integrated more in the EAC and COMESA regions, imports are more integrated in the Asian and EU trading blocs. Therefore, strong links with trading blocs outside the EAC (i.e. EU and Asia) with regards to imports still exist. The trade indicators demonstrate that Uganda exports largely primary products and imports manufactured products. It is imperative for Uganda to target implementation of regional trade agreements to expand the country’s export markets. The EAC region should attract investment in production of high technology products to increase intra-EAC imports and reduce imports from Asia and the EU. |
| Keywords: | Gravity model, imports, exports, intra, trade intensity index, trade indices, trade flows, trade shares, blocs, regional integration, panel, random and fixed effects., Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital, Political Economy, |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:150227&r=afr |
| By: | Saenz, Mariana |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the Double-Hurdle model on panel household data for small scale farmers in Zambia to examine policy gender effects on technology adoption by farmers. Technology adoption in this paper is defined as fertilizer use by small-scale farm households. The paper uses the correlated random effects framework to account for unobserved heterogeneity between farmers and its correlation with explanatory variables used in the Double-Hurdle Model. A control function approach is used to account for potential endogeneity of subsidized input. |
| Keywords: | Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150176&r=afr |
| By: | Foltz, Jeremy; Gars, Jared; Özdoğan, Mutlu; Simane, Belay; Zaitchik, Ben |
| Abstract: | Long term increases in rural incomes and productivity in Ethiopia are threatened by weather uctua- tions. Changes in weather variability and the number of extreme weather events (specically droughts) has the capacity to undermine development eorts if it translates into decreased food availability and incomes. This study integrates downscaled daily weather data with household surveys to study the impact of weather and temperature on rural household welfare in Ethiopia. Our panel data economet- ric approach is one of the rst to measure the impacts of weather on household consumption directly. Generally, we nd that food and non-food consumption are a function of weather in Ethiopia, and that this link is lessening over time but more pronounced for poor households. Evidence from these survey villages suggests that being in a vulnerable area may not actually result in being worse o relative to being poor in a non vulnerable area. These ndings have implications for focusing climate mitigation strategies on the poor regardless of location rather than just the poorest regions. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, International Development, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150298&r=afr |
| By: | Lawrence, Bategeka; Julius, Kiiza; Ibrahim, Kasirye |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1990s, Uganda has implemented a number of reforms in the agricultural sector. However, in the past 10 years, the performance of the sector has lagged behind other sectors particularly services and industry. There are concerns among researchers and policy analysts that institutional constraints in agriculture play a central role in the lacklustre agricultural performance registered during the 2000s. This study examines the institutional constraints affecting agricultural production in Uganda. We recommend reforming the land tenure system as well as the architecture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries as means of dealing with the major constraints. |
| Keywords: | Land rights, agricultural development strategy, agricultural sector, agricultural credit, small farmers, EPRC, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eprcrs:150228&r=afr |
| By: | de Brauw, Alan; Gilligan, Dan; Kumar, Neha; Eozenou, Patrick |
| Abstract: | Biofortification, breeding staple food crops to be dense sources of essential micronutrients, is fast emerging as a strategy to fight micronutrient malnutrition. Large scale biofortification investments are being made in several developing countries, but until recently little rigorous evidence about the impact of these investments has been available. In this paper, we report findings from randomized impact evaluations conducted in both Mozambique and Uganda to study the impact of large-scale pilot projects conducted between 2006 and 2009 to introduce provitamin-A-rich orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) as a strategy to reduce vitamin A deficiency. In both countries, projects randomly assigned interventions of different cost and intensity to distribute OFSP vines, train households to grow OFSP, and disseminate the health benefits of vitamin A. We compare the impact of the interventions within and across the two countries on OFSP adoption, knowledge about vitamin A, and dietary intake of vitamin A by children, and use causal mediation analysis (Imai et al. 2011) to examine the impact pathways on vitamin A consumption. After two years of intervention, in both countries the project led to OFSP adoption rates of 61-68 percent among project households, improved household knowledge about vitamin A, and nearly doubled average dietary intake of vitamin A, with no difference between the more and less intense intervention models. Evidence suggests that vine access played the most important role in explaining the impact on vitamin A consumption in both countries. Consequently, future programs can be designed to have similar impacts at even lower costs |
| Keywords: | Biofortification, Impact Evaluation, Randomized Control Trial, Technology Adoption, Program Evaluation, Program Design, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, International Development, Productivity Analysis, O1, Q1, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150514&r=afr |
| By: | Handschuch, Christina; Wollni, Meike |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150223&r=afr |
| By: | Dadzie, Nicholas; Kraybill, David S. |
| Abstract: | The effect of food-for-work (FFW) programs on crop choices for farm households in rural Ethiopia is analyzed. FFW compensation reduces the household’s consumption risk in the face of adverse production shocks. I explore how this reduction in consumption risk conditions households to opt for high-yielding and high-return crops. Using panel data, we find that access to FFW two periods ago positively affects maize crop choices in the current period. This result is robust to other shocks and crops in the household’s portfolio. We conclude that access to FFW programs has long-term effects on crop choice behavior hence FFW can be designed to improve adoption of high yielding crops and varieties. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150159&r=afr |
| By: | Amanor-Boadu, Vincent; Ross, Kara; Tembo, Gelson |
| Keywords: | Food Security, Value Chain, Agribusiness, Subsistence Agriculture, Agribusiness, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150046&r=afr |
| By: | Nicola Branson; Murray Leibbrandt |
| Abstract: | In this paper we include measures of school quality in regressions determining the labour market premiums to education level. We use the matric exemption score and the pupil/teacher ratio of the respondents’ closest school during childhood as proxies for education quality. We find that the employment and earnings premiums to education level are robust to the inclusion of these quality measures. Moreover, there is a significant direct relationship between our quality measures and earnings, controlling for education level. Increasing the matric exemption score by 10 percentage points increases earnings, on average, by 8% and decreasing the pupil/teacher ratio by one learner is associated with a 1% increase in earnings. No significant relationship is found between the school quality measures and employment.<P>This Working Paper relates to the 2013 OECD Economic Survey of South Africa, www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/listofeconomicsurveysofsouthafrica.htm.<P>Qualité de l'éducation et rendement sur le marché du travail en Afrique du Sud<BR>Dans cette étude nous incluons des variables de qualité de l’éducation dans les régressions déterminant le rendement sur le marché du travail des niveaux d’éducation atteints. En guise de mesure de la qualité, nous utilisons le taux de réussite au diplôme final d’études secondaires ainsi que le ratio élève/enseignant de l’école la plus proche du lieu de résidence de l’individu sondé durant sa jeunesse. Nous trouvons que les effets des niveaux éducatifs sur les salaires et les probabilités d’avoir un emploi sont robustes à l’inclusion de ces variables de qualité de l’éducation. De plus, il y a une relation directe significative entre nos variables de qualité et les salaires après contrôle pour le niveau éducatif atteint. Augmenter le taux de réussite de l’école de 10 points de pourcentage augmente les salaires d’en moyenne 8%, tandis que diminuer le ratio élève-enseignant d’un élève augmente les salaires de 1%. Aucune relation robuste n’est exhibée entre les mesures de qualité de l’éducation et l’emploi.<P> Ce Document de travail se rapporte à l’Étude économique de l’OCDE de l’Afrique du Sud, www.oecd.org/fr/eco/etudeseconomiquespar pays/listofeconomicsurveysofsouthafrica. htm. |
| Keywords: | education, employment, earnings, South Africa, education quality, emploi, éducation, salaires, Afrique du Sud, qualité de l'éducation |
| JEL: | I24 J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2013–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1021-en&r=afr |
| By: | Debebe, Z.Y.; Mebratie, A.D.; Sparrow, R.A.; Abebaw, D.; Dekker, M.; Alemu, G.; Bedi, A.S. |
| Abstract: | Based on household survey data and event history interviews undertaken in a highly shock prone country, this paper investigates which shocks trigger which coping responses and why? We find clear differences in terms of coping strategies across shock types. The two relatively covariate shocks, that is, economic and natural shocks are more likely to trigger reductions in savings and in food consumption while the sale of assets and borrowing is less common. Coping with relatively idiosyncratic health shocks is met by reductions in savings, asset sales and especially a far greater reliance on borrowing as compared to other shocks. Reductions in food consumption, a prominent response in the case of natural and economic shocks is notably absent in the case of health shocks. Across all shock types, households do not rely on gifts from family and friends or on enhancing their labour supply as coping approaches. The relative insensitivity of food consumption to health shocks based on the shocks-coping analysis presented here is consistent with existing work which examines consumption insurance. However, our analysis leads to a different interpretation. We argue that this insensitivity should not be viewed as insurability of food consumption against health shocks but rather as an indication that a reduction in food consumption is not a viable coping response to a health shock as it does not provide cash to meet health care needs. |
| Keywords: | Ethiopia;shocks;adversity of shocks;coping response;health shocks |
| Date: | 2013–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:euriss:560&r=afr |
| By: | Klasen, Stephan; Reimers, Malte |
| Abstract: | Pro-poor growth has been identified as one of the most promising pathways to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) or any subsequent set of goals aiming to reduce poverty worldwide. Related research has developed a multitude of instruments to measure pro-poor growth using absolute and relative approaches and income and non-income data. This article contributes to the literature by expanding the toolbox with several new measures based on the concept of the growth incidence curve by Ravallion and Chen (2003) and the opportunity curve by Ali and Son (2007) that take into account the extraordinary importance of agriculture for poverty reduction in developing countries. The toolbox is then applied to two comparable household surveys from Rwanda (EICV data for the years 1999-2001 and 2005-2006), a country that has experienced impressive economic growth since the genocide in the mid-1990s and that has undertaken considerable efforts to increase the population’s access to social services over the last decade. Results indicate that Rwanda achieved in this time period enormous progress in the income, but also in the education and health dimension of poverty, which was in many cases even pro-poor in the relative sense. The new tools further reveal that agricultural productivity of the labor/land productivity-poor increased relatively (but not absolutely) faster than for the labor/land productivity-rich. Lastly, we find indications that the labor productivity-poor dispose of less education than the labor productivity-rich which may imply further potential to increase the poor’s productivity levels if their education levels increased. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Productivity, Inequality, Multidimensional Poverty, Pro-Poor Growth, Rwanda, Sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Productivity Analysis, E6, I3, O1, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149745&r=afr |
| By: | Amankwah, Akuffo; Egyir, S. Irene |
| Abstract: | Irrigation is seen as the means of ensuring food security in a water-scarce urban economy such as the Accra Metropolitan Area of Ghana. The use of modern, advanced and resource efficient irrigation technologies is vital to increase farm output and take people out of poverty. The informal irrigation system is what is common among the urban vegetable producers in Accra. The study modeled the choice of informal irrigation technologies of urban vegetable farmers in Accra using the multinomial logit modeling Approach. A sample of 107 respondents provided information for the analyses. Farmers who have access to credit, frequently contact extension agents, operate larger farm size, have high labour cost of farm operations and use river as key source of irrigation water were likely to use the motorized pump with hose irrigation technology. It was suggested that extension agents should intensify education of the farmers on the benefits of modern irrigation technologies such as the motorized pump with hose. Also credit should be made available to the farmers by the government and other development partners so as to be able to invest in such water-saving and resource efficient irrigation technologies. |
| Keywords: | Irrigation technologies, urban vegetable farming, motorized pump with hose, flooding, watering can, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149772&r=afr |
| By: | Musumba, Mark; Zhang, Yuquan; DeRosa, Kyle |
| Abstract: | This study employs mathematical programming to examine the trade-off between improving biophysical attributes and preserving ecosystem services, using Southern Tanzania as a case study. This study used data primarily collected via household surveys. This study tries to provide insights into “best practices” of farming and how to minimize the environmental cost of intensification. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150126&r=afr |
| By: | Seitz McCarthy, Aine |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Financial Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150415&r=afr |
| By: | Kilic, Talip; Zezza, Alberto; Carletto, Calogero; Savastano, Sara |
| Abstract: | Land area is a fundamental component of agricultural statistics, and of analyses undertaken by agricultural economists. While household surveys in developing countries have traditionally relied on farmers'own, potentially error-prone, land area assessments, the availability of affordable and reliable Global Positioning System (GPS) units has made GPS-based area measurement a practical alternative. Nonetheless, in an attempt to reduce costs, keep interview durations within reasonable limits, and avoid the difficulty of asking respondents to accompany interviewers to distant plots, survey implementing agencies typically require interviewers to record GPS-based area measurements only for plots within a given radius of dwelling locations. It is, therefore, common for as much as a third of the sample plots not to be measured, and research has not shed light on the possible selection bias in analyses relying on partial data due to gaps in GPS-based area measures. This paper explores the patterns of missingness in GPS-based plot areas, and investigates their implications for land productivity estimates and the inverse scale-land productivity relationship. Using Multiple Imputation (MI) to predict missing GPS-based plot areas in nationally-representative survey data from Uganda and Tanzania, the paper highlights the potential of MI in reliably simulating the missing data, and confirms the existence of an inverse scale-land productivity relationship, which is strengthened by using the complete, multiply-imputed dataset. The study demonstrates the usefulness of judiciously reconstructed GPS-based areas in alleviating concerns over potential measurement error in farmer-reported areas, and with regards to systematic bias in plot selection for GPS-based area measurement. |
| Keywords: | E-Business,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences,Economic Theory&Research,Science Education,Scientific Research&Science Parks |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6490&r=afr |
| By: | AfDB |
| Date: | 2013–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:473&r=afr |
| By: | Miteva, Daniela A.; Kramer, Randall; Brown, Zachary; Smith, Martin |
| Abstract: | Previous studies have suggested that market failures are household-specific and not commodity-specific (de Janvry et al, 1991); transaction costs determine whether a household is a buyer, seller or self-sufficient for a given good and how much it is going to produce (Key et al, 2000). Focusing on fuelwood production in northern Uganda, this paper extends previous studies by introducing fixed transaction costs associated with reaching the market and the forest. We predict that households sort in space, with autarkic households being located closest to the forest and farthest from the market, buyer households located closest to the market and farthest from the forest and seller households located at intermediate distances from the market and forest. We show that the spatial predictions hold in partial and general equilibrium settings. We test the predictions of our model using data from northern Uganda and find evidence that supports the predictions from our theoretical model. The ensuing spatial-dynamic simulations based on the static allow us to make forecasts of where forest degradation is likely to occur as well as to model spillover effects resulting from the introduction of a conservation intervention like a protected area. |
| Keywords: | spatial household model, household sorting, transaction costs, fuelwood extraction, forest degradation, Consumer/Household Economics, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150523&r=afr |
| By: | Pitoro, Raul; Maredia, Mywish; Jin, Songqing |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150624&r=afr |
| By: | Boysen, Ole |
| Abstract: | This paper represents an initial attempt at assessing the importance of estimated demand systems for the simulation of large price shocks with respect to poverty analysis. Using a Ugandan household survey data set and an estimated flexible demand system, three different approaches to simulating the compensated expenditure budget due to large food price shocks are compared: a non-behavioral microaccounting, and three behavioral demand systems (LES, CDE, and QUAIDS). The aim of this study is twofold. First, to provide an indication whether it is worthwhile to invest in the estimation of a demand system for similar consumption side poverty impact analyses. Second, to provide a sense of the magnitude in the loss of fidelity from using a less flexible instead of a more flexible demand system within computable general equilibrium analyses of poverty impacts. The results show that using no demand system overestimates poverty impacts to quite some extent. The differences between using either of the three demand systems are rather small but may be more substantial in the extremes. |
| Keywords: | Demand system, simulation, Uganda, food price inflation, poverty, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150700&r=afr |
| By: | Abdoulaye, Ibrahim Djido; Sanders, John H. |
| Abstract: | In this paper we assess the performance of farmers adopting an improved sorghum technology package in the Maradi region of Niger. A propensity score matching method is used to address self-selection bias into the program. First, we estimate a propensity model to participate in the extension program, examine factors affecting the participation, and assess the average adoption effect on participants by testing for productivity difference between adopters and non-adopters. Secondly, we estimate a stochastic production technology frontier to compare technical efficiency of farmers in the extension program. We test for returns to scale, examine factors affecting technical efficiency of participants, and compare technical efficiency scores of participants based on their compliance to program recommendations. Participants in the extension program are older, have less farming experience, and operate on larger farm sizes. After controlling for bias, there is very little change in the yield differences, which in both cases are substantial. There is some evidence for greater productivity of the smaller size producers.Technical efficiency of participants is increasing overtime, younger participants are technically more efficient and farming experience increases significantly participants’ technical efficiency. Good followers of the fertilization technique recommendation are much more technically efficient. |
| Keywords: | propensity score matching, stochastic frontier analysis, productivity, efficiency, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150434&r=afr |
| By: | Ihli, Hanna Julia; Musshoff, Oliver |
| Abstract: | In this study, we experimentally analyze the investment behavior of smallholder farmers in Uganda. We ascertain whether, and to what extent, the real options approach and the classical investment theory can predict farmers’ investment behaviors. We also examine differences in the investment behavior with respect to the presence of a price floor, which is often used to stimulate investments. Furthermore, we look at learning effects. We consider a problem of optimal stopping, stylizing an option to invest in a project. Our results show that both theories do not explain the observed investment behavior exactly. However, our results suggest that the real options models better predict the decision behavior of farmers than classical investment theory. The presence of a price floor has a significant impact on the investment behavior of Ugandan smallholder farmers. Learning from personal experience during the experiment does not have an effect on the investment behavior. However, we find that specific socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics affect the investment behavior of farmers. |
| Keywords: | experimental economics, investment, price floors, real options, Uganda, Agricultural Finance, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:150331&r=afr |
| By: | Hoddinott, John; Sandstrom, Susanna; Upton, Joanna |
| Abstract: | We assess the relative impacts of receiving cash versus food transfers using a randomized design. Drawing on data collected in eastern Niger, we find that households randomized to receive a food basket experienced larger, positive impact on measures of food consumption and diet quality than those receiving the cash transfer. Other outcomes showed greater variation by season. Receiving food reduced the use of a number of coping strategies but this effect was more pronounced during the height of the lean season. Households receiving cash spent more money repairing their dwellings prior to the start of the rainy season and spent more on agricultural inputs during the growing season. Less than five percent of food was sold or exchanged for other goods. Food and cash were delivered with the same degree of frequency and timeliness but the food transfers cost 15 percent more to implement. |
| Keywords: | cash and food transfers, food security, Niger, randomized intervention, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, D04, I38, O12, |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea13:149919&r=afr |