VIEW
PUBLICATIONS
BY:

→ RESEARCH THEME

→ GEOGRAPHICAL FOCUS

→ PUBLICATION DATE

SAGA
B16 MVR Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-8931
Fax (607) 255-0178
saga@cornell.edu

SAGA PUBLICATIONS Included here are Working Papers and Conference Papers. Publications on this page are organized by author: RETURN TO MAIN AUTHORS PAGE Jackson, Lee Ann Implications of Genetically Modified Food Technology Policies for Sub-Saharan Africa October 2004 Kym Anderson and Lee Ann Jackson The first generation of genetically modified (GM) crop varieties sought to increase farmer profitability through cost reductions or higher yields. The next generation of GM food research is focusing also on breeding for attributes of interest to consumers, beginning with ‘golden rice’, which has been genetically engineered to contain a higher level of vitamin A and thereby boost the health of unskilled laborers in developing countries. This paper analyzes empirically the potential economic effects of adopting both types of innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It does so using the global economy-wide computable general equilibrium model known as GTAP. The results suggest that the welfare gains are potentially very large, especially from nutritionally enhanced GM rice and wheat, and that – contrary to the claims of numerous interests – those estimated benefits are diminished only slightly by the presence of the European Union’s current barriers to imports of GM foods. In particular, if SSA countries impose bans on GM crop imports in an attempt to maintain access to EU markets for non-GM products, the loss to domestic consumers due to that protectionism boost to SSA farmers is far more than the small economic gain for those farmers from greater market access to the EU. Presented at the DPRU-TIPS-Cornell University Forum on "African Development and Poverty Reduction: The Macro-Micro Linkage," October 13-15, 2004, Cape Town, South Africa Jah, Fatou Integrating Education and Population Policy: The Gender-Equity Payoffs of Reducing Pregnancy-Related Dropouts May 2004 Eloundou-Enyegue, Parfait M., J. Mayone Stycos, and Fatou Jah Plausible arguments suggest that policies to avoid pregnancy-related dropouts can help close gender gaps in education in Africa but these payoffs require quantification. This research uses schooling life tables to simulate how the gender gaps in secondary school completion within 23 sub-Saharan African countries would narrow if these countries reduced the incidence of pregnancy-related dropouts. Results suggest that reducing pregnancy-related dropouts is neither indispensable nor sufficient to close current gender gaps in most cases, yet it could halve these gaps in one third of the countries studied. Janssen-Tapken, Ulrike Cattle Breeding Strategies using Genetic Markers as a Pathway for Improving Competitiveness of Pastoral Systems in Kenya June 2006 Janssen-Tapken, Ulrike, Haja N. Kadarmideen and Peter von Rohr Pastoralists in Kenya have increasingly become less food secure and vulnerable to poverty over the last two decades. This is due to increasing human population and changes in land tenure system as well as the harsh agro-climatic conditions associated with their environments. (Rushton, et al., 2002, Wollny, 2003) Livestock keeping is the mainstay of the pastoral systems and 15 million livestock keepers in rangeland-based systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are poor according to the national poverty rate (Thornton, et al., 2003). The enterprise is beset by several constraints, one of the most important of which is livestock diseases, particularly endemic diseases transmitted by vectors such as ticks and tsetse flies (Rushton, et al., 2002). Resistance against trypanocides for controlling tsetse-transmitted trypanosomiasis becomes increasingly a problem (Geerts, et al., 2001, Sinyangwe, et al., 2004). Owing to the strong attachment to livestock by the pastoral communities, any poverty alleviation goal targeted at pastoral communities will have to focus on strategies to improve livestock productivity by minimizing some of the livestock enterprise constraints. One of the issues that this paper focuses on is the breeding strategies as a pathway to minimize cattle disease constraints, especially trypanosomosis, which is ranked among the top ten global cattle diseases impacting on the poor in pastoral systems (Thornton, et al., 2002) As will be shown, our strategy is to develop cattle breeding schemes to ensure genetic gain through selection programs that utilize identified trypanotolerant genotypes, using conventional genetic evaluation techniques with or without the use of genetic (DNA) markers for trypanotolerance. Presented at the Policy Research Conference on “Pastoralism and Poverty Reduction in East Africa,” held in Nairobi, Kenya, June 27-28, 2006. Jayne, Thomas S. HIV/AIDS and Rural Livelihoods in Zambia: A Test of the New Variant Famine Hypothesis May 2007 Mason, Nicole M., Antony Chapoto, Thomas S. Jayne and Robert J. Myers The ‘new variant famine’ (NVF) hypothesis postulates that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is eroding rural livelihoods and making rural households more vulnerable to drought and other transitory shocks. Despite limited empirical evidence, the NVF hypothesis has become an important part of the conventional wisdom surrounding the relationship between HIV/AIDS and food crises in southern Africa. This study provides a new empirical test of the NVF hypothesis via econometric estimation of the relationship between AIDS-related morbidity and mortality and indicators of rural livelihoods. District longitudinal data from smallholder farmers in Zambia surveyed annually between 1991 and 2003 are used to estimate several econometric models in order to: (1) understand the effects of HIV/AIDS on rural farm production; (2) measure whether HIV/AIDS exacerbates the impacts of drought and other factors affecting rural farm production; and (3) determine whether these results are consistent with the predictions of the NVF hypothesis. We find little evidence of a systematic decline in rural livelihoods at the national or provincial level as measured by mean household agricultural production, area cultivated, or the value of production per unit of land. Furthermore, contrary to a priori expectations, we do not find evidence of a robust negative direct effect of HIV/AIDS on any of these three agricultural production outcomes. We do find some evidence that HIV/AIDS may have negative indirect effects on rural farm production by exacerbating the impacts of drought, gender inequalities and agricultural sector policy changes related to structural adjustment. This final finding is consistent with the predictions of the NVF hypothesis. Prepared for the AERC-Cornell Conference on “Bottom-Up Interventions and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa,” May 31-June 1, 2007, Nairobi, Kenya Jebuni, Charles D. Budget Implementation and Poverty Reduction in Ghana July 2004 Anthony Tsekpo and Charles D. Jebuni In a poor country, the government plays a key role in poverty reduction. A critical instrument available to government in the pursuit of the poverty reduction objective is fiscal policy – budgetary allocation and disbursement of budgetary resources. In recent times, the Government of Ghana adopted the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), which serves as the overall framework document for medium to long-term development policy in Ghana. Budget and macroeconomic policies are therefore, to be derived from the GPRS. The fact that the GPRS has poverty reduction as its focus suggests that resource allocation within the context of the budget will recognise expenditures that are more likely to have significant impact on the poor or sectors and activities where the poor are expected to benefit most. In Ernest Aryeetey and Ravi Kanbur (editors), The Economy of Ghana: Analytical Perspectives on Stability, Growth and Poverty, James Currey, 2008. Presented at the ISSER-University of Ghana-Cornell University International Conference on "Ghana at the Half Century," July 18-20, 2004, Accra, Ghana Jemison, Kyle The Demand for Education for Orphans in Zimbabwe October 2004 Craig Gundersen, Thomas Kelly and Kyle Jemison We examine the effect of orphan status on school enrolment in Zimbabwe, a country strongly impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic with a rapidly growing population of orphans. Using data from 2003, after controlling for other determinants of enrolment we find that orphans are less likely to attend school than non-orphans. The result is robust to our correction for selection bias. Two additional results have implications for targeting: we find that the effect of being an orphan is especially large for older children and that, after controlling for previous education, the effect of being an orphan on school enrolment is sharply diminished. Presented at the DPRU-TIPS-Cornell University Forum on "African Development and Poverty Reduction: The Macro-Micro Linkage," October 13-15, 2004, Cape Town, South Africa Jerome, Afeikhena Infrastructure privatisation and poverty reduction in Africa October 2004 Afeikhena Jerome and Ademola Ariyo Despite the perceived role of efficient infrastructure as critical element for economic growth, poverty reduction and the attainment of the millennium development goals, there is clear evidence that the provision of infrastructure in Africa has been much below standard in terms of quantity and quality. Over the past decade, there has been a change in the perception of the roles of the public and private sectors in infrastructure development. This study evaluates the linkages between infrastructure reform and poverty reduction in Africa. The findings indicate that the results of a decade of regulatory reform, implementation of the privatization and liberalization agenda, combined with the influx of private investment in infrastructure have decidedly been mixed. In spite of modest achievements, especially in telecommunications, there has been a gap between popular perceptions and reality on ground. Africa’s atypical experience and unique socioeconomic characteristics are such that the policy preconditions that are indispensable for effective liberalization and privatization are rarely met. Overall, infrastructure privatization has proceeded without adequate consideration being given to the needs of the poor. Even in telecommunications where privatization has improved national access to services through network expansion, weak regulation has had a negative impact on the poor through poor service quality and service cutbacks. There is now a significant base of experience around the world from which lessons can be learned. Infrastructure privatization should be viewed as a means to an end, and not an end in itself. The goal should be a more efficient sector delivering quality service while fulfilling its social responsibilities. Privatization is only an effective means towards the achievement of this goal if it is done in the context of an appropriate market and regulatory framework. Presented at the DPRU-TIPS-Cornell University Forum on "African Development and Poverty Reduction: The Macro-Micro Linkage," October 13-15, 2004, Cape Town, South Africa Johannes, Tabi Atemnkeng Household Level Social Capital and Children’s Schooling Decision in Cameroon: A Gender Analysis November 2005 Johannes, Tabi Atemnkeng This paper re-examines and incorporates household level social capital amongst the determinants of children schooling in Cameroon. Reduced form demand equations of schooling for the entire sample, male and female children as well as for rural and urban children are estimated separately. Results indicate that social capital especially female related, mothers’ education and income strongly influences parental decisions towards a child schooling. However, social capital as well as its female component is more important as both male and female children are equally given the opportunity to school and there is neither gender bias nor rural-urban difference in children schooling outcome when parents participate in groups or associations. Thus, we recommend the building of social capital by strengthening local community networks. Paper prepared for the Regional Conference on “Education in West Africa: Constraints and Opportunities” in Dakar, Senegal, November 1-2, 2005 Jones, Ben An Investigation into the Relationship Between Household Welfare and Social Capital in Eastern Uganda February 2004 Hu, Chia-Hsin and Ben Jones This paper studies the relationship between social capital and household welfare. Social capital is taken to mean, very simply, ’durable social networks’. The relationship is investigated using survey work conducted in two villages in eastern Uganda. The surveys gathered information on the quality and extent of people’s participation in local organizations, as well as household welfare. To organize the analysis of the data the paper utilizes econometric tools designed for investigating the relationship between dimensions of organizational social capital and household welfare. At the same time, the paper recognizes some of the limitations inherent in relying on econometric work to analyze this relationship. As such, the econometric analysis is limited in examining only social capital as expressed through household participation in village level organizations. Our results show that "organizational social capital", as we have termed it, has only a small effect on household welfare. That said, we also draw on anthropological work conducted in the two survey villages, and from ethnographic material we argue that social capital, as expressed in less institutionalized social networks, has a significant affect on household welfare. In others words, it is the social capital that resides in such networks as personalized relationships, peer groups, or brokerage positions between development projects and the village that has a strongly determinate effect on household. Organizational social capital, which is the type of social capital "captured" in village level survey work, does not help us explain the most significant part of the relationship social capital and household welfare. Final Report for SAGA Competitive Research Grants Program Just, David R. Do Free Goods Stick to Poor Households? Experimental Evidence on Insecticide Treated Bednets March 2009 Hoffmann, Vivian, Christopher B. Barrett, and David R. Just If the market allocates goods to those willing and able to pay the most for them, efforts to target durable health goods such as insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) to poor populations may prove ineffective, with the poor reselling donated goods to the non-poor who value them more highly. However, low market demand may be due to liquidity constraints rather than low valuation of nets. The endowment effect also militates against the resale of in-kind transfers. We quantify these two effects through a field experiment in Uganda. Our results indicate that very few nets will be resold by recipient households. In World Development 37(3):607-617, March, 2009 Jütting, Johannes P. The role of local organizations in risk management: Some evidence from rural Chad July 2005 Katinka Weinberger and Johannes P. Jütting This paper analyses the role of local organizations in Southern Chad in helping poor people to deal with risk. Different categories of risks are identified and set into relation to response strategies at the community level. Membership in local organizations is mainly motivated by the desire to reduce the occurrence of risks, however the actual impact of membership is risk mitigation. Using regression analysis we establish that while local organizations help people to mitigate risks via access to information, saving and credit and social networks, a “middle class effect” of participation materializes. The exclusion of the poorest parts of the population should seriously be taken into account when donors set up or support local organizations. Presented at the International Conference on "Shared Growth in Africa," July 21-22, 2005, Accra, Ghana Return to MAIN AUTHORS PAGE

HOME | RESEARCH | PUBLICATIONS | TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE | CONFERENCES | GRANTS | PARTNERS | PROJECT PERSONNEL | PROGRESS REPORTS | LINKS | CONTACT US | SEARCH