Thematic Policy Briefs (English)

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Gendered Analysis of Households’ Uptake of Agricultural Technology, Production, and Food Consumption in Rural Nigeria
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-04-12) Ngozi, Atata Scholastica; Belmondo, Tanankem Voufo; Uchenna, Efobi; Emmanuel, Orkoh
The literature suggests marked gender inequality in the use of agricultural technology despite the availability of evidence that women could be as productive as men when given equal access to agricultural resources. This underscores an urgent need to consider improving women’s access to agricultural technology to ensure sustainable provision of food for all people and particularly those in developing countries. This study addresses two specific objectives: (a) it examines gender differences in households’ use of farm-level technology (herbicide, pesticide, and inorganic fertilizer) and (b) it assesses the impact of the uptake of agricultural technology on farm production and food consumption with particular attention to the gender of the household head. The results of the Three Stage Least Squares (3SLS) regression reveal that households’ uptake of agricultural technology has a significant positive effect on their dietary diversity and food consumption expenditure per capita due to increased farm production. While these results are consistent regardless of the gender of the household head, the extent of effects for female-headed households are almost twice those for male-headed households. Therefore, an essential policy implication of our result is that the government could use input subsidies to address some of the gender gaps with regard to agricultural technology access and use. Such efforts address any entrenched inequalities in women’s access to agricultural production resources and consider other socioeconomic factors such as education and landholding which contribute to gender inequality in agricultural technology uptake.
Tea Prices and Household Consumption Patterns in Tanzania
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-04-12) Nchake, Mamello A.; Mtenga, Threza L.
Tea production is a significant contributor to Tanzania's output and income. The country is a price taker in regional and international tea markets, and this makes it vulnerable to price shocks, which can have a detrimental impact on smallholder farmers, especially those who heavily rely on tea production for their income. This vulnerability is particularly critical for net producers who lack alternative income sources, especially in rural areas. The study uses a panel dataset from the Tanzania National Panel Survey (TNPS), collected over the periods 2008- 2009, 2010-2011 and 2012-2013. The study's main findings indicate that tea price shocks have a strong negative effect on consumption patterns of smallholder farming households in Tanzania. The results also highlight that the impact of price shocks is not uniform across all households. It varies based on factors such as the gender of the household head and the location (rural or urban). The study underscores the importance of government intervention to support households affected by price shocks. Safety net programmes and welfare management initiatives can be vital in assisting these households to cope with economic uncertainties. Moreover, policies that encourage savings and the accumulation of productive assets can serve as a cushion against future shocks. Recognizing the variations in the effects of price volatility among different households, the study suggests the need for policies and strategies that are specifically designed to address the uncertainties in the tea market. This implies a nuanced approach to policies that address the diverse needs and vulnerabilities of tea-producing households.
Investigating the Gender Wage Gap in the Nigerian Labour Market: A Distributional Approach
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-04-12) Nwosu, Emmanuel O.; Orji, Anthony
This study investigates the gender wage gap in Nigeria by extending the focus of the existing literature in two ways. First, we apply an extension of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition that relies on recentred influence function (RIF) regressions to analyze the gender wage gap at all points along the wage distribution. Second, we investigate changes in the gender wage gap between 2003/2004 and 2018/2019. The results unambiguously show that there is a significant gender wage gap in favour of men in Nigeria. This gap is statistically significant at all points of the wage distribution. Over time, we find that most of the wage difference is significantly accounted for by the wage structure effect, while the composition effect accounted for the wage gap at the lower end of the wage distribution during 2018/19. We also found a general decline in the gender wage gap along the entire wage distribution. In 2018/19, the gap is bigger at the bottom than at the top of the wage distribution, which is evidence in favour of a sticky floor in the Nigerian labour market. In terms of the contributions of individual covariates, we found that urban residence, unionization, education, public sector employment, and wage employment in agriculture has a significant reducing effect on the wage gap in favour of women. To address the gender wage gap in Nigeria, policy should focus more on ways to improve human capital among women and ensuring women are not segregated in top positions at the workplace.
Horizontal Equity in the Use of Maternal Health Services in Cameroon
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-04-11) Josiane, Saleu Feumeni
An equitable healthcare system should be the health policy goal of all countries. The objective of this study is to measure horizontal equity in the use of maternal health services in Cameroon from 2004 to 2018. Specifically, it aims to determine the level of inequity in assistance during delivery and in the intake of tetanus vaccine from 2004 to 2018. It identifies sources of inequity in assistance during delivery and at the intake of tetanus vaccine. To accomplish this, we used the indirect standardization of health care method and the 2004, 2011, and 2018 Demographic and Health Surveys. The results show that there are significant inequities in wealth, education, region of residence, and in access to the nearest health facilities. Furthermore, sociodemographic and economic inequities are associated with health care utilization inequities. A health policy implementation monitoring team is therefore essential if the observed inequities in the use of maternal health services in Cameroon are to be significantly reduced.
Financial Inclusion and Resilience to COVID-19 Economic Shocks in Nigeria
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-04-11) Adeniran, Adedeji P.; Muthinja, Moses M.
We examine the role of financial inclusion, ownership of bank accounts, and previous use of formal financial saving facilities as a resilience factor in the effect of COVID-19 on households' welfare in Nigeria. Using a novel data set that tracks food security among families in Nigeria before and during COVID-19, we find a negative effect of COVID-19 on welfare. The impact is more severe among male-headed households, those living in the southern region of Nigeria, and lower educated households. We also test how financial inclusion mitigates this effect through a triple difference analysis in which the households that are financially included and in non-agricultural sector are considered as the treatment group. Financial inclusion did not support resilience to shock among non-agricultural homes. Given the magnitude and multisectoral dimension of the COVID-19 shock, financial inclusion was not enough to mitigate the effect. This, therefore, points to a role for stronger government support in a large shock like COVID-19.

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