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The Impact of Irrigated Agriculture on Child Nutrition Outcomes in Southern Ghana
No full textIn this study, we investigated whether irrigated agriculture results in improved child nutrition outcomes among farm households in southern Ghana. Using panel data collected between 2014 and 2015, the results from the inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) estimator suggest that children living with irrigating households have, on average, higher weight-for age and weight-for-height than children residing with non-irrigating households. Males and under-five children gained substantial improvements. Disaggregating irrigation by type, the results indicated that households planting on riverbeds or riverbanks had improved child nutrition. Additionally, children living with households lifting water from water sources had higher height-for-age and weight-for-age. Further analysis of the underlying pathways suggests that an increase in health care financing and improvement in environmental quality rather than decreases in illness incidence may be the crucial channels. Altogether, the findings showed the importance of investments in agricultural development, particularly in small-scale irrigated agriculture technologies, to reduce childhood undernutrition
Analyse Spatiale des Effets du Climat sur l'Agriculture : Données Issues des Petits Exploitants Agricoles en Côte d'Ivoire
No full textLe changement climatique pèse sur le secteur de l'agriculture depuis quelques décennies. Cet impact pourrait avoir de graves conséquences pour les agriculteurs des pays en développement. Ce document applique l'approche spatiale pour évaluer la réponse du revenu agricole net au changement climatique en Côte d'Ivoire. Il utilise d'abord une simple approche comparative statique pour montrer que l'imperfection du marché induit une hétérogénéité spatiale dans les prix des produits agricoles et donc une autocorrélation spatiale. Prenant ces résultats comme point de départ, l'analyse empirique utilise un modèle d'erreur de Durbin spatial basé sur les données de l'enquête de 2016 de la Banque mondiale sur les ménages de petits exploitants en Côte
d'Ivoire. Les résultats révèlent que les précipitations ont un effet direct non linéaire et des retombées linéaires positives sur le revenu agricole net. En outre, le document montre que l'effet marginal total des précipitations est positif dans les régions du centre, de l'est et du nord du pays et négatif dans les régions côtières et occidentales. En outre, les prévisions indiquent qu'une diminution des précipitations moyennes de 5 à 10 % entraîne en général une diminution du revenu agricole net moyen d'environ 0,45 % à 1,38 %, tandis qu'une augmentation dans les mêmes fourchettes entraîne une diminution du revenu agricole net moyen d'environ 0,02 % à 0,05 %
The Hunger Games of Education: School Canteen Program in Madagascar
No full textChild malnutrition and food insecurity are widespread in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, students in developing countries tend to have low academic performance. To address this problem, MDG 2 calls for "eradicating hunger, ensuring food security, improving nutrition, ..." and MDG 4 "ensuring equal access to quality education for all, ..."
Asymmetric Response of Poverty to Growth and Inequality in South Africa: Implications for Current and Future Shocks
No full textThis study investigates the effect of economic growth on poverty reduction, given
inequality in South Africa. It focuses on whether the poor suffer more losses of welfare
during economic recessions and depressions than they gain during expansions, and
the factors that can assist the poor to stay afloat during times of economic shocks.
Individuals in micro data set are matches with municipality-level data and in binary,
truncated, panel, instrumental variables, and quantile regression techniques to
estimate poverty and welfare effects of positive and negative economic growth
rates. The study finds that, while economic growth reduces poverty, it is not enough
to compensate for the poverty-raising effects of inequality. Moreover, economic
decline raises poverty, but economic prosperity more than compensates by a
higher magnitude. The study also reveals that, social grants and free health care
and education policies have limited effects on poverty reduction during economic
downturns. The findings call for policy measures that reduce inequality and promote
economic growth to help cushion the poor during times of significant economic
decline. Additionally, programmes that provide good education up to tertiary level
and access to the labour market are crucial for sustaining poverty reduction efforts
in South Africa
Handwashing and Household Health Spending under Covid-19 in Cameroon
Full text linkDespite its proven effectiveness in preventing several diseases, including COVID-19, the distribution of hand-washing systems was not at the forefront of the health measures put in place in Cameroon. At the time of COVID-19, the acquisition of handwashing devices at home was the responsibility of households because they were not part of the equipment distributed free of charge such as masks or hydroalcoholic gel. As a result, the acquisition of handwashing facilities required enormous financial resources for households whose incomes were already declining due to the adverse effects of the crisis. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the adoption the handwashing device on household health expenditures in Cameroon during periods of severe restrictions related to COVID-19
Socio-Economic Status and Children’s Schooling Outcomes in Mozambique
Full text linkThis study investigates the association between socio-economic factors and children’s schooling outcomes (school access as proxied by ever enrolled, dropping out and staying in school-current enrolled or still in school) for children in Mozambique using the probit model. The results show that there is not much difference between factors that affect access and those that affect dropping out or staying in school once enrolled. Children from the poorest families, with less educated parents, from the north region, who live far away from a water source and are not the biological children of the household POLICY BRIEF Socio-Economic Status and Children’s Schooling Outcomes in Mozambique Munguni Bongai October 2023 / No.789 2 Policy Brief No.789 head were found to be most disadvantaged in all the three schooling outcomes compared to their counterparts with educated parents, from wealthy families and with water at home. The rural–urban divide, availability of electricity and land or livestock at home had no significant correlation with children schooling outcomes. This study therefore argues that policy makers must implement policies that improve the socio-economic backgrounds of children, by dealing with the demand side factors particularly enhancing adult literacy programmes, providing water sources close to households, encouraging pre-primary education centres and improving the general welfare of households where children live. In a nutshell, results showed that demand side factors were strong factors that hinder children’s schooling and have to be prioritized in drafting and implementing of education policies
Financial Inclusion and Resilience to COVID-19 Economic Shocks in Nigeria
Full text linkWe examine the role of financial inclusion, ownership of bank accounts, and previous use of formal financial saving facilities as a resilience factor in the effect of COVID-19 on households' welfare in Nigeria. Using a novel data set that tracks food security among families in Nigeria before and during COVID-19, we find a negative effect of COVID-19 on welfare. The impact is more severe among male-headed households, those living in the southern region of Nigeria, and lower educated households. We also test how financial inclusion mitigates this effect through a triple difference analysis in which the households that are financially included and in non-agricultural sector are considered as the treatment group. Financial inclusion did not support resilience to shock among non-agricultural homes. Given the magnitude and multisectoral dimension of the COVID-19 shock, financial inclusion was not enough to mitigate the effect. This, therefore, points to a role for stronger government support in a large shock like COVID-19
Leveraging Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for Sustaining Economic Recovery in Kenya
Full text linkKenya, like most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, has faced and coped with multiple shocks amid reduced fiscal headroom and increasing public debt vulnerabilities. Other than the COVID-19 global health crisis and the resulting economic effects, Kenya faced the desert locust invasion in 2020, prolonged droughts in 2021 and 2022, and the accompanying high cost of living exacerbated by the spill-over effects of the Russian-Ukraine war. These developments came when the economy had inadequate domestic resources to sustain the post-COVID-19 recovery momentum, and the mounting debt levels constrained the ability to raise new funding.Following a series of recurrent shocks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) supported member countries substantially. This support took multiple forms, including the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) and Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), which provided emergency loans to low-income and middle-income countries facing urgent balance of payments needs. Most importantly, the IMF approved issuing 420 billion) of the allocation went to developed economies. Further, statistics show that developing economies have a greater dependence on SDRs than developed economies, with net SDR positions showing significant differentiation in utilization rates between the two. CEPAL and ECA (2022) noted that developing economies have an SDR utilization rate of 42.9%, while developed economies have a utilization rate of 5.9%. In addition, low voting rights in developing countries limit their participation in the decision-making process where voting power counts. As a result, the low-income countries that need more resources and SDR allocations to address their liquidity challenges are disadvantaged
Crop Diversification, Household Nutrition, and Child Growth: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia
Full text linkRecently, there is a resurgence of interest in crop diversification as a strategy to deal with a variety of issues, including malnutrition in the context of a changing climate and poorly developed markets. However, the empirical evidence base to justify this policy position is thin. This research seeks to contribute to the growing literature and the policy discourse by providing empirical evidence on the impact of crop diversification on child growth using panel survey data, combined with historical weather data. The study finds that crop diversification has a positive but small impact on child growth. Results from analysis of heterogeneous effects POLICY BRIEF Crop Diversification, Household Nutrition, and Child Growth: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia Wondimagegn Mesfin Tesfaye October 2023 / No.795 2 Policy Brief No.795 show that the positive effects are more pronounced in areas with limited access to markets. The study demonstrates that the positive effects of crop diversification on child growth could be mediated through its positive impacts on household diet diversity, diet quality, and income
Financial Inclusion and Entrepreneurship in Six sub-Saharan African Countries: Evidence from Finaccess and Finscope Survey Data
Full text linkThis paper investigates how financial inclusion affects individuals' decisions to start businesses in the context of six sub-Saharan African countries, using micro-data from the FinScope and FinAccess surveys. To do so, we use an instrumental variable (IV) technique to assess the empirical relationships. Overall, the results reveal that access to both banking services, formal non banking services, informal financial services and mobile money services positively and significantly influenced the decision to start businesses in the six countries. Furthermore, although the results show that a range of both demand POLICY BRIEF Financial Inclusion and Entrepreneurship in Six sub-Saharan African Countries: Evidence from Finaccess and Finscope Survey Data Lewis-Landry Gakpa October 2023 / No.793 2 Policy Brief No.793 and supply side barriers prevent individuals from accessing banking services for entrepreneurial purposes, supply side constraints are the most common barriers to individuals starting a business. In view of the above, policy interventions should first aim at creating an enabling environment to increase people's access to all types of financial services and secondly, address both supply and demand side constraints to promote entrepreneurship and economic growth. All of these measures should be aimed at increasing the level of financial inclusion with a view to stimulating entrepreneurial activities, which are the real pillars in the development and poverty reduction process in sub-Saharan African countries