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Food insecurity during COVID-19 in Cameroon: factors and adaptation strategies
Full text linkDespite the introduction of agricultural policies, social safety net programmes, investment in agricultural infrastructure, and support measures for small farmers, the country continues to face high levels of food insecurity. Agricultural policies have been hampered by corruption, mismanagement of resources, and lack of monitoring and evaluation, leading to mixed results. Social safety net programmes have faced problems of exclusion and lack of transparency in the distribution of aid. Investment in agricultural infrastructure has been delayed and poorly maintained, limiting its impact on the food supply chain. Support measures for small-scale farmers have encountered obstacles such as lack of access to credit and appropriate training. These failures in the implementation of previous policies have serious consequences for the health, well-being, and socio-economic stability of the most vulnerable populations. It is, therefore, necessary to analyze the trajectory of household food insecurity in Cameroon, in order to better understand the factors and coping strategies that enable households to maintain or improve their food security over time. This may be useful for guiding policies and programmes aimed at reducing food insecurity and strengthening household resilience to shocks and crises. To this end, we used data from a two-round telephone survey of Cameroonian households. In the first round of the survey, 2680 households were interviewed between 1 and 28 February 2021. In the second round, 1861 households from the first round were interviewed between 21 June and 21 July 2021. Using these data, several factors can be identified: (i) the characteristics of the household, including the age of the head of household, the size of the household, the sector of activity of the head of household, insurance, and mutual insurance, access to the internet, area of residence (ii) shocks can be a loss of income, the death of a household member, loss of employment, an increase in the price of inputs, an increase in the price of food consumed. Households may also use a variety of coping strategies, such as savings, stored food, borrowing, government and NGO assistance, remittances, and loans
Political Instability and Firm Performance in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Full text linkThis study analyses the effect of political instability on firm performance in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the most unstable countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We use pooled panel data for three waves of the World Bank Enterprise Survey of the DRC (2006, 2010, and 2013) to analyse the effect of political instability on five measures of performance: employee growth, sales growth, productivity, investment, and export status. Results from the endogenous switching model reveal that political instability adversely affects firm performance in the DRC. In the presence of political instability, employee POLICY BRIEF Political Instability and Firm Performance in the Democratic Republic of Congo Benjamin Kanze Muhoza and Socrates Kraido Majune October 2023 / No.786 2 Policy Brief No.786 growth, sales growth, productivity, and investment growth significantly decline. Conversely, firms that do not experience political instability grow in terms of employee growth, sales growth, productivity, investment, and exporting activities. Our results are robust when we proxy political instability with losses due to theft, robbery, and vandalism. For purposes of policy, we recommend that political stability should be enhanced through political goodwill and legislation that advocates for peace. Firms can also push for this agenda through their business associations and platforms such as public-private partnerships that link them to the government
Reforms for Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) Financing in Ghana’s Economic Recovery
No full textThe Ghanaian economy recorded its worst performance in the last three decades in 2022, evidenced by unprecedented levels of macro-economic imbalances. Although there were signs of fiscal slippages towards the end of 2019, the structural weaknesses in the country’s fiscal domain were exposed and weakened by the triple crisis – covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and rising climate shocks. In addition, unsustainably high levels of public debt, especially rising external debt, has led to a steady increase in the amount of government revenues spent on servicing these debts. Spending an increasing share of the economy’s revenues on servicing debt has resulted in declining shares for public investment in infrastructure and social services (see Figure 1 and 2). This appears to have had the tendency to induce the government to borrow more. In May 2023, the country was classified as debt distress by the IMF
The Determinants of Protective Behaviours during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Benin
No full textThis paper investigates the determinants of protective behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic in Benin. We use data from online and phone surveys collected during the period 13 September 2020 ‒ 1 October 2020 among Benin citizens aged 18 years and older. Trust in government, beliefs about others’ compliance and employment status are significant determinants of compliance with the precautionary measures such as handwashing and social distancing. We also document significant association between trust in government and media use. These findings, therefore, suggest that the Government of Benin’s messages should focus on developing and maintaining trust among the public by providing transparent, coherent, clear, timely, and accurate information that reduces people’s uncertainty and enhances compliance. Two-way communication between the government and citizens can act as bridge to ensure public engagement and disseminate information.
Key words: Compliance behaviours; Trust in government; Media use; Beni
Magnitude and Determinants of Trade Mis-invoicing in Burundi
No full textThe study examines trade mis-invoicing at both aggregated and disaggregated levels by major trading partners, and by major export and import commodities. Aggregated trade mis-invoicing and disaggregated trade mis-invoicing by major trading partners are computed using DOTS database of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the period 1970‒2019. Disaggregated trade mis invoicing by major trading commodities is computed using UN-COMTRADE database over the period 1993‒2019. The study shows that the most occurring practices in trade mis-invoicing are export under-invoicing and import over invoicing. Exports of Burundi to most of its major trading partners are found to 2 Policy Brief No.813 be under-invoiced, while imports of Burundi from its major trading partners are in general over-invoiced. The major trading commodities considered are found to be affected by trade mis-invoicing to a great extent. Moreover, an empirical analysis of the determinants of those two common practices of trade mis-invoicing indicates that financial incentives through tax fraud, civil conflicts, governance, capital account openness, the parallel market premium, and the real exchange rate, are the main determinants of export under-invoicing and import over-invoicing. Drivers of trade mis-invoicing at product level were also analysed for some major export and import commodities. The main product-specific factors of trade mis-invoicing are found to be the parallel market premium, the real exchange rate, governance, and civil conflicts. The study's findings suggest that reducing political instability, having a more open capital account, improving governance, as well as reducing taxes and duties, could be ways to reduce the extent of trade mis-invoicing in Burundi. In addition, more effort is needed in ensuring systematic and transparent reporting of international trade transactions
Réponses Symétriques et Asymétriques de l'Inflation de l'Indice des Prix des Consommateurs aux Taux de Change au Nigeria
No full textLa question de savoir si les prix intérieurs réagissent aux mouvements du taux de change officiel ou du taux de change parallèle est une question clé de la recherche, en particulier dans un pays en développement dépendant du pétrole comme le Nigeria, qui connaît des pressions fiscales croissantes et un marché de change parallèle dynamique. Du point de vue des autorités monétaires, il est également impératif de savoir si les prix réagissent de manière symétrique et/ ou asymétrique aux mouvements des taux de change officiels et parallèles. Par conséquent, cette étude examine la réaction des prix intérieurs aux mouvements Réponses Symétriques et Asymétriques de l'Inflation de l'Indice des Prix des Consommateurs aux Taux de Change au Nigeria Perekunah B. Eregha Octobre 2023 / No.801 DOCUMENT DE POLITIQUE GÉNÉRALE 2 Document de Politique Générale No.801 des taux de change officiel et parallèle pour la période 1995T1-2019T1 en utilisant l'approche ARDL non linéaire de Shin et. al (2014). Les résultats montrent que l'ampleur de l'effet des taux de change parallèles sur les prix intérieurs est supérieure à celle de l'effet du taux de change officiel dans un cas symétrique. Cependant, seuls les prix intérieurs réagissent différemment à la dépréciation et à l'appréciation du taux de change officiel au Nigeria. Par conséquent, le gouvernement doit assurer un certain niveau d'austérité fiscale, et éventuellement une unification du taux de change lorsque la prime devient trop importante, si l'intention est d'isoler les prix intérieurs des pressions fiscales. De même, la Banque centrale du Nigeria doit être consciente d'une éventuelle relation asymétrique dans ses décisions visant à garantir la stabilité des prix, afin de ne pas fausser les effets de la politique monétair
The Effect of Fertility on Women’s Labour Supply in West Africa
No full textThis study sought to identify and analyse the effect of childbirth on female labour supply, specifically that of married women with at least one young child under 6 years of age. The number of children is the result of a decision that turns out to be endogenous. To take this endogeneity into account, the study used twins as an instrument. Accordingly, we estimated an instrumented Probit model given that female labour supply is measured by two different binary variables. Based on Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from five countries (Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal), the study’s key findings are the POLICY BRIEF The Effect of Fertility on Women’s Labour Supply in West Africa M. Kenneth C. Kponou October 2023 / No.802 2 Policy Brief No.802 following: (i) the effect of fertility on female labour supply is not uniform across all the countries considered, and (ii) the relationship between fertility and female labour force participation is sensitive to the measure of participation used to measure it. Based on our findings, we make the following key recommendations: (i) put in place policies to encourage the transition of women from traditional jobs that are quite vulnerable to more formal jobs and (ii) implement corrective measures so that young children are no longer a penalty for women's access to formal jobs
Financial Inclusion and Resilience to COVID-19 Economic Shocks in Nigeria
No full textUsing data from Benin’s Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS, 2018), we examined the impact of the purchasing power of women on the quality of life of children under the age of five years. More specifically, the study examined the impact of the decision-making power of the woman on the nutritional status of children and also of nutritional status on children’s immunization status, using a Multinomial Logit model with the households as the theoretical models. The results of our study generally show that when the woman is involved in decision making within her household, the nutritional status of children and their immunization status are satisfactory. Variables such as the age of the woman, her level of education, the level of education of the head of the household, the employment status of the head of the household, the main decision maker on the health of the children, the interval between child births, the level of wealth of the household and the sex of the child significantly improve the immunization status of children under the age of five years. However, variables such as the distance from a hospital, giving birth to twins and the order of birth have a negative impact on the immunization status of children. In regard to the nutritional status of children, variables such as the age of the woman, her level of education, the management of the income of the woman, the wealth level of the household, the fact that the child is a girl and the fact that the parents collectively decide on the health of the children lower the probability of the child being malnourished. However, variables such as birth order to the children, the fact that the children are twins and age of the child increase the probability of a child being malnourished. Initiatives and approaches therefore should be undertaken in order to increase the empowerment of women. The results of this study will have a positive impact on the nutritional status of women. In the short term, these recommendations should have an impact on the scholarly results of children, in the medium term on the labour market, and in the long term on sustained economic growth
Aid Fragmentation and Development Outcomes in Sub-Saharan African Countries
No full textThis study examined the fragmentation of official development assistance (ODA) in Sub-Saharan African countries and the role played by development outcomes. Initially, it analyzed the fragmentation of aid over the period 2000 to 2019 using the Theil index. On the donor side, it appears that fragmentation of aid from bilateral Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors and bilateral non-DAC donors has decreased significantly in recent years. In addition, the aid provided by bilateral DAC donors has been less fragmented than that given by non-DAC bilateral donors. Several traditional donors and so-called emerging donors have contributed to the fragmentation of aid in Sub-Saharan African countries. As for aid recipients, the countries of Southern Africa or those belonging to the group of so-called fragile States have suffered less from aid fragmentation than their counterparts in Central, East, and West Africa and those belonging to the group of non-fragile States. We used an instrumental variables method and a panel quantile regression with non-additive fixed effect to assess the effect of the development factors on aid fragmentation. The results obtained validated that the fragmentation of aid can be reduced by better coordination of aid at the sectoral level and above all by internal development factors (structural transformation policies and equity in the use of resources). Indeed, no solution to the fragmentation of aid is possible without the implementation of structural policies to achieve a level of development capable of coordinating the action of donors and equity in the use of resources allowing the satisfaction of the needs of various social groups
L'impact de la Couverture du Réseau sur l'Adoption des Plateformes Fintech et l'Inclusion Financière
No full textCet article analyse l'effet de la couverture du réseau mobile sur l'inclusion financière en utilisant les données de l'enquête menée en 2017 auprès de 12 735 individus de neuf pays d'Afrique subsaharienne. Nous utilisons la géolocalisation des répondants pour combiner les données de l'enquête avec des informations sur la proximité des tours de réseau mobile. Nous estimons un modèle en deux étapes : dans la première étape, les consommateurs décident d'adopter un dispositif technologique, et dans la deuxième étape, ils décident d'utiliser ou non des services financiers numériques. Les résultats montrent que l'inclusion financière est positivement influencée par la couverture du réseau mobile. Dans des simulations contrefactuelles, nous considérons que l'ensemble de la population vit à moins de 2 km des tours de l'un de ces réseaux et nous constatons que l'adoption des services financiers numériques augmenterait de 2 % en moyenne, selon le pays. Dans le cas où toute la population vit dans un rayon de 2 km de la tour LTE, l'inclusion financière augmenterait de 6 % au Mozambique et de 3 % au Ghana, au Rwanda et au Sénégal. En Tanzanie, où l'argent mobile est un service financier courant, les investissements dans le GSM et l'UMTS auraient un impact plus important sur l'inclusion financière que le LTE. Ces résultats montrent que les technologies financières numériques non basées sur Internet ont un impact plus important sur l'inclusion financière dans les pays d'Afrique de l'Est que celles qui nécessitent que les consommateurs soient connectés à Internet. Les résultats indiquent également que les plateformes financières numériques se substituent à un compte bancaire chez les pauvres, et qu'elles complètent les services de ceux qui possèdent un compte bancaire