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on Development |
| By: | B. Tibesigwa, M. Visser, L. Hunter, M. Collinson and W. Twine |
| Abstract: | Climate and weather variability in sub-Saharan Africa disproportionately leave female-headed households food insecure. However, the extent and reasons for these gender differences are, thus far, not well understood. This study examines gender-food-climate connections using longitudinal data from rural households in north-eastern South Africa. Results confirm gender distinctions in that male-headed households are more food secure. Importantly, however, female-headed households are not a homogenous group. Participation in agriculture and utilisation of natural resources narrows the male-female consumption gap to 10.3% amongst de jure female-headed households – those with female heads who are single, widowed, divorced, or separated. Yet, these land-based practices are associated with a greater male-female gap (27.4%) amongst de facto female-headed households – married female heads who are married, but whose husbands are away. Further, and contrary to expectation, weather-related crop failure threatens food security in both male- and female-headed households, but less so amongst de facto female-headed households, who remain more dependent on remittances. |
| Keywords: | Gender; climate change; subsistence farming; natural resources; food security; adaptation; livelihoods |
| JEL: | Q12 Q18 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:545&r=all |
| By: | T.Ncanywa |
| Abstract: | The study seek to examine the relationship between educational inputs, primarily the Dinaledi intervention programme and school outcomes in the Eastern Cape in a period heading into the second decade of democracy. The Dinaledi programme is one of the government’s intervention programmes to redress the inequalities which provided resources to the disadvantaged Black communities, more especially in the former homeland system. The study employed a pseudo panel analysis on the attempt to answer the question of interest, of the relationship between the Dinaledi intervention programme and schooling outcomes in the Eastern Cape. Considering the random effect regression Dinaledi school/schools were less likely to increase dropout rate by 0.099% with reference to non-Dinaledi school/schools. Further extensions of the analysis were looking at the distribution of the Dinaledi programme on gender issues by using the DiNardo- Fortin-Lemieux (DFL) estimation. Gender was investigated to find out if the province still had persistent gender gaps. Eastern Cape schooling outcomes can be strongly explained by the Dinaledi intervention programme with females and Blacks becoming more responsive to dropping out than their counterparts. |
| Keywords: | Dinaledi intervention, pseudo panel data analysis, gender gaps |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:535&r=all |
| By: | Igei, Kengo; Yuki, Takako |
| Abstract: | Parental perceptions have been considered important for the primary school enrollment of girls, particularly in countries where female activities are constrained by social norms and values. In Yemen, primary school enrollment steadily improved throughout the 2000s, but the gender gap still remains. We conducted a comprehensive survey of households and schools in rural Yemen, in which fathers and mothers were separately asked about their educational aspirations for girls and their general attitudes toward girls’ education, the marriage age for girls, and their attitudes toward women in the workforce. This paper describes the perceptions of fathers and mothers, and empirically examines their relationship to primary school enrollment for girls aged 6-9 years and 10-14 years, controlling for both demand- and supply-side factors. As a result, we observe a certain degree of variation in paternal and maternal perceptions among households and son preference in both the paternal and maternal aspirations. The regression analyses reveal that both the paternal and the maternal aspirations, and the son preference in their aspirations are strongly related to the enrollment of older girls. Additionally, the analyses show that other paternal perceptions of girls’ education, the desirable marriage age, and women in the workforce are statistically significant for older girls. We also found that paternal perceptions are more highly correlated to the enrollment of both younger and older girls than maternal perceptions, and that the supply-side factors such as the qualification of teachers and the presence of female teachers are also significant to the enrollment of girls. |
| Keywords: | access , primary education , gender , Yemen |
| Date: | 2015–08–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:107&r=all |
| By: | Herrera, Catalina (Northeastern University); Sahn, David E. (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | Female secondary school attendance has recently increased in Sub-Saharan Africa and so has the risk of becoming pregnant while attending school. Using panel data in Madagascar, we analyze the impact of teenage pregnancy on young women's human capital. We instrument early pregnancy with the young woman's community-level access, and exposure to condoms since age 15. We control for an extensive set of community social and economic infrastructure characteristics to deal with the endogeneity of program placement and conduct several robustness checks to validate our instruments. Early childbearing increases the likelihood of dropping out of school by 42 % and decreases the chances of completing secondary school by 44%. This school-pregnancy related dropout is associated with a reduction of 1.1 standard deviations in Math and French test scores. Delaying the first birth by a year increases the probability of current enrollment by 5% and the test scores by 0.2 standard deviations. |
| Keywords: | fertility, female education, cognitive skills, instrumental variables, Madagascar |
| JEL: | I25 J13 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9362&r=all |
| By: | Fung, Winnie (Wheaton College); Liverpool-Tasie, Saweda (Michigan State University); Mason, Nicole (Michigan State University); Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth |
| Abstract: | The last decade has seen a resurgence of parastatal crop marketing institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, many of which cite improving food security and incomes as key goals. However, there is limited empirical evidence on the welfare effects of these programs. This article considers one such program, the Zambian Food Reserve Agency (FRA), which purchases maize from smallholder farmers at a pan-territorial price that typically exceeds maize market prices in surplus production areas. Using both fixed effects and an instrumental variables approach combined with correlated random effects, we estimate the effects of the FRA's maize marketing activities on smallholder farm household welfare. Results suggest that FRA activities have positive direct welfare effects on the small minority of smallholder households that are able to sell to it. However, the results also suggest negative indirect FRA effects, as higher levels of FRA activity in a district are associated with higher levels of poverty. |
| Keywords: | crop marketing boards, strategic grain reserves, maize, smallholder farmers, income, poverty, Zambia, sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | Q12 Q13 Q18 I38 D31 O13 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9361&r=all |
| By: | Farai Jena (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, UK) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of remittances on household decisions to purchase physical investments and durable goods in Kenya using household survey data. Remittances are found to be endogenous in the durable goods case and their effects are estimated using bivariate and IV probit models. In the physical investments case, remittances are found to be exogenous and remittance effects are estimated using univariate probit models. The evidence obtained is supportive of remittances having a positive and significant effect on the decisions by households to purchase physical investments and durable goods. |
| Keywords: | migrant remittances; household expenditure; physical investments; durable goods |
| JEL: | D12 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:7915&r=all |