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

RESEARCH The research component of SAGA involves collaborations with African Scholars to research four broad themes:

Schooling, education, and human capital Health and nutrition Risk, vulnerability and poverty dynamics Empowerment and institutions Without access for all Africans to education and health services, growth will be low and inequitable. Without access to markets and institutions, the poor cannot protect themselves against the vagaries of nature and of the market place. And, if the poor do not have access to local and national institutions that allow their voices to be heard, then policy making will not reflect their interests. We address these issues of access with policy-relevant research, including an examination of the determinants of primary schooling and simulation of policy alternatives for raising enrollments in Madagascar with particular attention to the role of the private sector as well as investments in new public schools and teachers. a simulation of how gender gaps in secondary school completion within 23 sub-Saharan African countries could narrow if these countries reduced the incidence of pregnancy-related dropouts. a comparative analysis of the determinants of HIV/AIDS related knowledge and behavior in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. an analysis of the intertemporal labor market behavior of women in urban Guinea, West Africa a study of Uganda’s progress on poverty reduction when poverty is measured in multiple dimensions. studies on the interrelationship between public safety nets in Kenya, such as food aid and livestock destocking/restocking programs, and private assistance schemes based on social insurance mechanisms, informal lending, and altruistic transfers, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas especially prone to climate, conflict and market shocks. FROM MALI: Andrew Dillon extended a panel data set originally collected in 1997 in the Tombouctou region of Mali with the help of a SAGA research grant. The research was carried out between December 2005 and April 2006 to investigate the dynamics of child labor and human capital formation. Before data collection began, a group of 20 enumerators were trained in good survey techniques and the sense of each question. Questions written in French were translated into local language so that enumerators would understand and know how to administer the questionnaire in local languages. Photo from Andrew Dillon. Andrew Dillon and Ousmane Bocoum are heading out to a survey village, Tomba together to administer the survey. The motorcycles were our primary means of transportation. Photo from Andrew Dillon. Enumerators administered questionnaires directly in the household with the family members concerned. The questionnaire was composed of men’s, women’s and a children’s section. Photo from Andrew Dillon. Children’s anthropometry was an important part of the survey. Here the enumerators are using measuring boards providing by UNICEF for measuring children’s height. Photo from Andrew Dillon The team of data verification and input is working in this photo. All data was checked for consistency and then entered by the two data entry specialists. Photo from Andrew Dillon

Our research methods are multidisciplinary, and we have a special interest in the combination of qualitative and quantitative studies of poverty. We also focus on the dynamics of poverty, with special attention to the microeconomic and institutional constraints that hold back Africa’s poor.

To maximize the policy relevance of our efforts, we develop SAGA’s research program collaboratively with our partner institutions, USAID missions, policy makers, and other stakeholders in each core country.

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