SAGA PROGRESS REPORT (12/04-12/05) &
UPCOMING WORKPLAN (11/05-11/06)

• First, completing the editing of the book Poverty and Policy in Post Apartheid South Africa, edited by Haroon Bhorat and Ravi Kanbur. The volume will come out in 2006, published by HSRC Press, a respected South African publisher. The overview paper is being circulated widely. The papers that will comprise the chapters of this volume are available on the SAGA website:
  
  
  • “Measuring Recent Changes in South African Inequality and Poverty Using 1996 and 2001 Census Data,” by Murray Leibbrandt, Laura Poswell, Pranushka Naidoo, Matthew Welch and Ingrid Woolard
    
    
  • “Does City Structure Cause Unemployment? The Case Study of Cape Town,” by Sandrine Rospabe and Harris Selod
    
    
  • “Half Measures: The ANC’s Unemployment and Poverty Reduction Goals,” by Charles Method
    
    
  • “Internal Labour Migration and Household Poverty in Post-Apartheid South Africa,” by Dorrit Posel and Daniela Casale
    
    
  • “Crime and Local Inequality in South Africa,” by Gabriel Demombynes and Berk Özler
    
    
  • “Public Spending and the Poor Since the Transition to Democracy,” by Servaas van der Berg
    
    
  • “Poverty and Inequality in Post-Apartheid South Africa: 1995-2000,” by Johannes G. Hoogeveen and Berk Özler
    
    
  • “Persistent Poverty, Asset Accumulation and Shocks in South Africa: Evidence from KwaZulu-Natal,” by Julian May
    
    
  • “Trade Liberalisation and Labour Demand in South Africa during the 1990s,” by Lawrence Edwards
    
    
  • “From Chimera to Prospect: Toward an Understanding of the South African Growth Absence,” by Johannes Fedderke
    
    
  • “Evolution of the Labour Market: 1995-2002,” by Haroon Bhorat and Morné Oosthuizen
    
    
• Second, selecting, refereeing and editing papers for the Cornell/DPRU/TIPS conference on Macro-Micro Linkages in African Growth and Development, for a special issue of the Journal of African Economies. The refereeing is complete and we are awaiting revised versions of the selected papers. The special issue will come out in 2006.
  
  
• Third, we have been working with our colleagues on a study which focuses on Grade 12 pass rates across all Grade 12-offering schools in an attempt at providing some estimates on the determinants of these pass rates in the post-apartheid period — through relying conceptually and empirically on a production function approach. With co-financing for our South African colleagues from SISERA and AERC, this involved three South African collaborators from DPRU visiting Cornell in May with the objective of preparing a draft paper which has recently been completed and is now under review.
  

• Researchers at INSTAT visiting Cornell to prepare for the new small school and remote region survey, as well as several visits in 2005 to both prepare reports and clean the latest round of the survey data.
  
  
• Completion of the national education survey, as well as a re-survey of small remote schools. During the course of the year, we have had several Malagasy visitors working on the preparation of the data for analysis, as well as preparation of initial research papers. In addition, we have a PhD student from Madagascar, Jean Claude Randrianarisoa, working both with the Cornell and Malagasy teams on the preparation of various research papers using the data, and related training of colleagues from Madagascar.
  

• Direct Cornell collaboration with IPAR, Tegemeo, Egerton University and the University of Nairobi on studies related to SAGA themes on empowering the rural poor and on reducing risk and vulnerability in rural Kenya. This has included extended field collaboration between Cornell graduate students and researchers at these institutions and substantive mentoring of SAGA research by these institutions, as well as extensive interaction over research design, methods and interpretation of findings.
  

• In late 2004, Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development (MOFPED) published a Poverty Research Guide, indicating areas of research that the Ministry views as critical for Uganda’s Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). (Incidentally, all of the SAGA-funded research to date falls under priority themes in this Guide.)
  

• The Guide expressed interest in supporting Ugandan researchers who want to work on these topics. Cornell, MOFPED, and EPRC are now discussing possible ways in which SAGA could support such research activities.
  
  
• In the coming year, SAGA researchers at Cornell will provide support to researchers at EPRC who are preparing an analysis of the Northern Uganda Survey, a special household survey directed at Uganda’s poorest region, for the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank.
  
  

• Even though SISERA will soon cease to exist, its funded research program continues. In July, Steve Younger attended a workshop and review session for SISERA-funded authors in Dakar as they presented their works in progress.
  

1. Economic Policy Research Center, Uganda;
   
   
2. Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, Ghana;
   
   
3. Economic and Social Research Foundation, Tanzania;
   
   
4. Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches en Economie et Gestion, Cameroun;
   
   
5. Institute of Policy Analysis and Research, Kenya;
   
   
6. Centre de Recherche Economique Appliquée, Senegal;
   
   
7. Institue of Economic and Social Research, Zambia;
   
   
8. National Institute of Economic Policy, South Africa;
   
   
9. Groupe de recherché en economie appliquée et théorique, Mali;
   
   
10. African Institute of Applied Economics, Nigeria;
    
    
11. Botswana Institute for Developmental Policy Analysis, Botswana;
    
    
12. Centre d’Orientation et de Recherche en Compétitivité, en Economie et en Décision Organisationnelle, Benin.
    
    
13. Centre d’Etudes de Documentation et de Recherche Economique et Sociale, Burkina Faso.
    
    
14. Development Policy Research Unit, South Africa.
    

• Letter/Grant Announcement to Department Chairs and Graduate Coordinators to at least two universities in every state in the country. And, in some cases, to individuals that have been in contact with us in previous years;
  
  
• The January/February issue of the American Agricultural Economics Association Newsletter, “The Exchange.”
  
  
• Distribution of flyers at the Allied Social Sciences Association annual meeting (January 7-9, 2005) Philadelphia, PA by Christopher Barrett.
  

• We screened/approved and reviewed 26 of the proposals using two anonymous reviewers (Appendix IV) and;
  
  
• Selected eleven (11) for further in-house review (Appendix III). Five (5) were approved for final support (Appendix II).
  

• Dissemination of research results through exit seminars at the host institutions, and papers/reports and publications.
  
  
• Continued collaboration/communication between the U.S.-based principal researcher and both senior and junior researchers at the host institution.
  
  
• Creating databases for the host institution.
  
  
• Completion of Ph.D. degrees and subsequent publications.
  

• Continue coordinating the field work of the awardees with the host research institutions;
  
  
• Process and coordinate the return of all awardees including completing any and all financial matters with the awardees;
  
  
• Follow up and assemble all final reports and other papers from all awardees;
  
  
• Hope to conduct/complete follow up surveys with the Awardees and their respective host institutions (i.e., using the survey instrument developed in previous years);
  
  
• Update the website appropriately.
  
  

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