61 research outputs found
Social protection amid a crisis: New evidence from South Africa’s Older Person’s Grant
No full textPRIFPRI3; ISI; 5 Strengthening Institutions and GovernanceMarkets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Polic
Mobile banking in Bangladesh: An opportunity with constraints?
No full textDigital financial services (DFS), particularly mobile banking, have the potential to extend financial services to unbanked populations.[1] Specifically, DFS reduce direct and indirect transaction costs. Mobile banking allows clients to access bank accounts, save money, and send and receive payments directly from their mobile phones, eliminating travel to a physical bank. Additionally, mobile banking reduces social or administrative constraints—such as in-person meetings and paperwork, and safety concerns while travelling with money—which can be especially salient for women.Non-PRIFPRI5; G Cross-cutting gender theme; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food IndustryMarkets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Polic
All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten? Evidence from the Philippines
No full textPRIFPRI3; ISIMarkets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Polic
The psychological toll of food insecurity
No full textWe investigate the relationship between food insecurity and psychological distress among a sample of poor households in Lebanon. We first document large unconditional differences in various measures of psychological distress based on whether a respondent lives in a household experiencing acute food insecurity. Next we show that these differences persist even when accounting for heterogeneity by interview timing, geography, and other characteristics. Considering results across a variety of regression specifications, we find that experiencing acute food insecurity increases scores on a psychological distress index by at least 0.16 standard deviations. These results carry implications for the literature on the mental health consequences of food insecurity and poverty alleviation policy.PRIFPRI3; ISI; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry;MTI
The COVID-19 pandemic and food security in low- and middle-income countries: A review
No full textWe review findings from the emerging microeconomic literature on observed changes in food insecurity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, we focus our review on studies in low- and middle-income countries that include household survey data measuring food insecurity collected both before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We first focus on several studies—seven from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and one from India—that estimate immediate changes in food insecurity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Next, we review subsequent analysis studying longer term changes in food insecurity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This review, therefore, complements existing macroeconomic projections of food insecurity based on expected changes in income and prices.PRIFPRI3; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food IndustryMTI
Good intentions gone bad? The Dodd-Frank Act and conflict in Africa’s Great Lakes region
No full textPRIFPRI3; ISIMarkets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Polic
Aspirations, risk preferences, and investments in agricultural technologies
No full textPRIFPRI3; ISI; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural EconomiesMarkets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Polic
Private sector promotion of climate-smart technologies: Experimental evidence from Nigeria
No full textSustainable intensification is predicated on climate-smart agricultural input adoption. We test strategies for promoting the adoption of climate-smart agricultural inputs in Nigeria with a private sector firm. We disentangle the effects of price discount promotions (25 percent discounts) relative to the firm’s standard “business as usual” marketing package. We find that the standard marketing package increases the adoption of climate-smart urea super granule (USG) fertilizer by 24 percentage points while reducing prilled urea utilization by 17 percentage points. Discounts increase adoption of USG by an additional eight percentage points, but are not profitable for the input supply firm as a scalable marketing strategy. Although treatment reduces nitrogen runoff damages valued between USD 43 and 113 per hectare, it did not lead to increased rice yields for farmers.Non-PRIFPRI1; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural EconomiesMTI
Herder-related violence, agricultural work, and the informal sector as a safety net
No full textViolent conflict between nomadic herders and settled—mostly agricultural—communities in Nigeria occurs as both groups clash over the use of land and resources, in part, due to a changing climate. This paper uses panel data from 2010 through 2019 to study the labor responses of individuals to exposure to herder-related violence during the post-planting and post-harvest seasons. Specifically, it considers a “shadow of violence” channel, where recent exposure to a violent event alters labor-related responses to a subsequent event. Results find that in the post-planting season, exposure to a herder-related violent event leads to an increase in informal work for both men and women, a decrease in agricultural work for men, and an increase in total hours worked for women among households that have previously been exposed to herder-related violence in the preceding six months. The paper also considers two other specific forms for a “shadow of violence” channel—namely, raised tensions over open-grazing bans enacted in 2016 and 2017 within three states and a drastic peak in violence in the first half of 2018— and find similar results. Lastly, findings show how household exposure to violence can have so-called knock-on effects. Households exposed to herder-related violence in the previous post-planting season shift consumption and crop selling patterns in the post-harvest season. These findings highlight the gender-specific labor response to violence and document the role of the informal sector as a partial safety net for individuals in the presence of adverse shocks.Non-PRIFPRI5; Cross-cutting gender themeMarkets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Polic
Income aspirations, migration, and investments on and off the farm: Evidence from rural Tajikistan
No full textIn places with few casual or salaried employment opportunities, investments in farm or non-farm assets may offer the main pathway to increased incomes locally, whereas others may seek alternative investment options elsewhere—as migrants. What factors, then, explain these investment choices? One theory suggests that aspirations that are ahead, but not too far ahead, of current levels provide the best incentive for promoting investment. If this theory holds, then estimates of the relationship between the aspirations gap and investment choices should take the form of a non-monotonic inverted U-shape. We test for such a relationship between the income aspirations gap and investments in migration, farm assets, and non-farm assets using data from a household survey in rural Tajikistan. We find evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between the income aspirations gap and measures of migration, with the strongest relationship found with international migration. Strikingly, we do not observe any association between the income aspirations gap and measures of investment in farm or non-farm assets. Exploring heterogeneity, we find that these results can vary by household poverty status and by the respondent’s gender. Investigating a possible mechanism, we find that the relationship between the income aspirations gap and migration seems to be driven by remittances, which outweigh migration costs and increase household income.Non-PRIFPRI1; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; G Cross-cutting gender theme; TEAAMarkets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Policy; Development Strategies and Governance (DSG); Transformation Strategie
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