Impact assessment of push-pull pest management on incomes,productivity and poverty among smallholder households in Eastern Uganda

The paper evaluates the impact of adoption of push-pull technology (PPT) on household welfare in terms of productivity, incomes and poverty status measured through per-capita food consumption in eastern Uganda. Push-pull is a habitat management strategy for the integrated management of stemborers, striga weeds and poor soil fertility involving the use of a natural repellent (push) and an attractant (pull). This biological technology simultaneously reduces the impact of three major production constraints to cereal-livestock farming in Africa ? pests, weeds and poor soil. Cross sectional survey data were collected from 560 households in four districts in the region (Busia, Tororo, Bugiri and Pallisa), in November and December 2014. Generalized propensity scoring (GPS) was used to determine the intensity of adoption of the technology (i.e., land area allocated to PPT) and also to estimate the dose-response function (DRF) relating intensity of adoption and household welfare. Results revealed that with increased intensity of reported adoption of PPT, the probability of being poor declined through increased maize yield per unit area, incomes, and per capita food consumption. However, its impact varied with the intensity of adoption. With an increase in the area allocated to PPT from 0.025 to 1 acre, average maize yield per unit area increased from 27 kg to 1400 kg, average household income increased from 135 US$ (Uganda Shilling (USh) 370,000) to 273 US$ (USh 750,000) and per capita food consumption increased from 15 US$ (USh 40,000) to 27 US$ (USh 75,000). The average probability of a household being poor (below a rural poverty line of US$ 12.71) declined from 48% to 28%. These findings imply that increased investment in the dissemination and expansion of PPT is essential for poverty reduction among smallholder farmers in Uganda.     

Impact of improved maize adoption on household food security of maize producing smallholder farmers in Ethiopia

In recent years, maize has gained prominence as an important staple crop in Ethiopia second only to teff in terms of acreage. Most of this is grown by semi-subsistence farm households whose livelihoods are tied to crop production and some livestock keeping. Therefore, an important policy question concerns the impact that the reported maize revolution has had on household food security. This paper answers that question by examining the empirical regularities that explain the adoption of improved maize varieties (IMVs) and how this has impacted household food security in a sample of 2327 maize producing households in 39 districts of Ethiopia. An endogenous switching regression model supported by the dose-response continuous treatment effect method was used to empirically assess the impact of IMV adoption on per capita food consumption expenditure and perceived household food security status. Results show that IMV adoption has a robust and positive impact on per capita food consumption and also significantly increases the probability of a smallholder being in food surplus. The advances in the adoption of improved maize has thus contributed significantly to the food security of maize producing smallholders, confirming the role of crop improvement in contributing to food security of agrarian households.     

Hungry for tobacco: an analysis of the economic impact of tobacco consumption on the poor in Bangladesh

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the extent of tobacco expenditures in Bangladesh and to compare those costs with potential investment in food and other essential items. DESIGN: Review of available statistics and calculations based thereon. RESULTS: Expenditure on tobacco, particularly cigarettes, represents a major burden for impoverished Bangladeshis. The poorest (household income of less than $24/month) are twice as likely to smoke as the wealthiest (household income of more than $118/month). Average male cigarette smokers spend more than twice as much on cigarettes as per capita expenditure on clothing, housing, health and education combined. The typical poor smoker could easily add over 500 calories to the diet of one or two children with his or her daily tobacco expenditure. An estimated 10.5 million people currently malnourished could have an adequate diet if money on tobacco were spent on food instead. The lives of 350 children could be saved each day. CONCLUSION: Tobacco expenditures exacerbate the effects of poverty and cause significant deterioration in living standards among the poor. This aspect of tobacco use has been largely neglected by those working in poverty and tobacco control. Strong tobacco control measures could have immediate impact on the health of the poor by decreasing tobacco expenditures and thus significantly increasing the resources of the poor. Addressing the issue of tobacco and poverty together could make tobacco control a higher priority for poor countries.     

经济增长对我国城镇居民粮食消费影响实证研究

以我国城镇居民粮食消费水平为研究对象,采用1995--2010年城镇居民粮食人均消费支出和人均国内生产总值数据来研究我国城镇居民粮食消费现状。结果表明,经济增长与我国城镇居民粮食消费支出之间具有强相关关系,二者存在稳定的长期均衡关系;如果短期波动远离长期均衡,就会以0．7652的调整力度快速回到均衡状态;我国城镇居民的粮食消费支出是经济增长的Granger原因,即城镇居民粮食消费的增长对我国经济发展起着重要的促进作用;而经济水平的提升却不是城镇居民粮食消费水平增长的原因。     

The 2007/2008 food price acceleration in Namibia: an overview of impacts and policy responses

This paper provides an overview of the short-term household-level effects and the national policy responses in Namibia to the rapid acceleration in food prices in 2007/2008. Price increases are found to have disproportionately affected low-income households, who have higher relative shares of food expenditure and whose own-production was reduced due to crop failures, and urban households who rely relatively less on in-kind consumption and more on cash purchases. Drawing on the literature on tax incidence and welfare dominance the paper further assesses the potential distributional and poverty reduction effects of the ‘zero-rating’ of the VAT for basic food items that was introduced by the Namibian government to mitigate the impacts of the food crisis. The results show that the VAT reform only led to a small and statistically insignificant improvement in the highly unequal distribution of consumption expenditure in Namibia. An illustration is provided of how a more effective way to reduce poverty and shield the poor from the worst impact of the crisis is through the existing system of cash transfers.     

Welfare effects of alternative targeted food subsidy programs in Iran

In many developing countries, consumer food subsidies are major parts of social safety net programs. The primary objective of these programs is to generate a sustained decrease in poverty in these countries. But, due to improper targeting, a large proportion of these food subsidies are “leaked” to high-income groups. Using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, the effects of alternative food subsidy reforms on production, foreign trade, households’ welfare and government expenditure in Iran was investigated. These were commodity targeting and cash transfer targeting of the food subsidy for needy groups. Replacing the existing food subsidy program with one targeted to foods consumed heavily in low income households would reduce government expenditure by 4.4 %, increase agricultural exports, reduce non-agricultural exports, and have a negative impact on consumer welfare for all urban consumers, and for all rural consumers except those in the poorest quintile. Replacing the existing program with a cash transfer targeted to poor households would reduce government expenditure by 3.1 %.     

Targeting performance of three large-scale,nutrition-oriented social programs in Central America and Mexico

This study evaluated whether three nutrition-oriented programs in Central America and Mexico have been successful in targeting those households most vulnerable to undernutrition and poverty. For each country, nationally representative data sets were used to estimate cutoff points dividing the population into 10 equal-sized groups according to child anthropometric measurements (age-standardized height) and household income (per capita household expenditures). Households meeting eligibility criteria were then assessed using special baseline surveys or national data obtained before implementation of the program. Children in these households were classified according to national deciles of height-for-age, and households were classified according to expenditure deciles. In spite of markedly differing targeting strategies, each of the programs was well targeted, with 45% (Honduras and Mexico) and 52% (Nicaragua) of children in eligible households coming from the lowest two deciles of the national distributions, and virtually none from the upper two deciles. Similar results pertained to household income. These experiences demonstrate that vulnerable households can be targeted relatively straightforwardly, and that the need to do this does not in every case imply household-level income screening.     

Female-headed households and food insecurity in Brazil

The National Household Survey carried out in 2009 by Brazil??s bureau of the census contains information on a representative sample of 121,708 households. The questionnaire includes items that enable us to identify households that experience moderate and severe degrees of food insecurity. The results of logistic regression analyses support the hypothesis that the odds of food insecurity are higher among female-headed households compared to male-headed households. Net of statistical controls for region, urban residence, age, monthly per capita household income, and five indicators of the internal composition of the household, the odds of moderate and severe food insecurity are, respectively, 32?% and 16?% higher among households headed by women compared to households headed by men. Further analyses show that the likelihood of food insecurity increases with presence of young children 0?C10?years of age and older children 11?C18?years of age. The importance of intra-household characteristics is confirmed by results that show that the odds of both moderate and severe food insecurity increase with additional adult males but decrease with additional adult females. Evidence that the presence of adult females reduces food insecurity is consistent with studies of gender differences in household decision making which show that, compared to men, women??s spending patterns have a greater positive effect on the welfare of children and other members of the household. The conclusions are discussed in the context of the poverty and hunger alleviation initiatives in Brazil??s new social policy agenda.     

Does monetary poverty reflect caloric intake?

The use of expenditure surveys to measure food insecurity is widely discussed. In this study, we investigate food insecurity in terms of monetary poverty. Using a Malian survey that incorporates exceptionally detailed information on food consumption, we estimate that 35 % of the households are in a paradoxical situation, some poor households managing to cover their caloric requirements by eating cheap calories and some non-poor households not doing so because they consume expensive calories and/or face constraints such as the obligation to share meals with visitors and high expenditure on health care or transportation. These findings highlight precautions that need to be taken when measuring food insecurity through monetary income or expenditure indicators.     

Aspirations and food security in rural Ethiopia

Despite some improvements in recent years, poverty and food insecurity remain widespread and the main challenges in Ethiopia. Much of the empirical literature focuses on identifying the resource-related constraints for farmers to achieve food security and move out of poverty, with little attention paid to ‘internal’ or psychological factors such as aspirations. Using individual and household data collected in rural Ethiopia, we examined if aspirations were strongly associated with well-being outcomes, in our case food security, as posited in the theoretical framework of aspirations failure. We found that aspirations of the household head were positively and strongly associated with various triangulating measures of household food security including per-capita calorie consumption, the food consumption score (FCS), the household dietary diversity score (HDDS), and negatively associated with the household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS). In contrast, results suggest that the aspirations of the spouse of the household head are negatively associated with per-capita calorie consumption and FCS. We discuss the channels through which aspirations may affect food security and the avenues for future research.     

The impact of the homestead food garden programme on food security in South Africa

The South African government has implemented homestead food garden (HFG) programmes directed at enhancing food production in order to reduce food insecurity, malnutrition, poverty and hunger. The present paper evaluated the impact of this programme on household food insecurity using surveys of 500 households. Endogenous switching regression, propensity score matching and household food insecurity average scores were employed in our analysis. Our findings demonstrated that participation in an HFG programme could significantly enhance the food security status of participants by increasing household food supply and consumption as well as by income derived from selling any excess production from the garden. Specifically, our empirical findings showed that participation in the HFG programme significantly reduced food insecurity among rural households by as much as 41.5%. Therefore, we recommend that policy makers should encourage more rural households to participate in the programme in order to reduce their food insecurity. Facilitating easy access to credit, extension services, fertilizer, irrigation facilities and land are policy options needed to promote farmers participation in HFG programmes. Furthermore, the formation of farmer-based organizations and the building of positive perceptions about HFGs are some of the key policy options that can be employed to improve households’ participation in the programme. Promotion of education, participating in off-farm activities, access to market, irrigation, extension and credit, and adoption of fertiliser are some policy interventions that can reduce food insecurity among rural house holds whether or not they participate in the HFG programme.     

Vulnerability of smallholder rural households to food insecurity in Eastern Ethiopia

Although several empirical methodologies as to how best assess vulnerability to food insecurity have been proposed in the literature, none of these has evolved into a unanimously accepted approach. This article contributes to this literature by adapting the Vulnerability as Expected Poverty approach from poverty analysis methodology with the aim of scrutinizing factors determining household level vulnerability to food insecurity based on cross-section data collected from 277 randomly selected households in eastern Ethiopia. Vulnerability to food insecurity was strongly associated with several factors which included family size, size of cultivated landholding, soil fertility status of plots, access to irrigation, number of extension visits, use of fertilizer and improved seed. The probability that any given household??s food consumption expenditure would fall below a specified cut-off level has also been computed and vulnerable households identified. The total number of vulnerable households (111) was found to be greater than those who are currently food insecure (103). This implies that design and implementation of food security policies and strategies need to focus not only on those who are observed to be currently food insecure, but also on setting up social protection mechanisms to help prevent households from falling more deeply into food insecurity in the future.     

Threats to food sufficiency among smallholder farmers in Choma,Zambia

Relationships involving maize (Zea mays) production, maize retained for household consumption, household maize requirement, household size, rainfall and temperatures were assessed in order to explain food insufficiency among smallholder farmers in Choma, Zambia. Post-harvest agricultural data for 1976 to 2014 were collected from the Central Statistics Office while a survey of 319 smallholder farmers and eight key informants provided data on mean annual household maize requirements and crop preference. Despite maize production in Choma increasing at an annual rate of 230.8 t/year, maize insufficiency persisted as maize retained for household consumption could not sustain the 185.2 kg per capita maize requirement by farmers in the area. While extending the maize area planted was responsible for increasing annual maize production by 1.8 t for each additional ha planted, Choma’s annual percentage population increase was larger at 2.6%, requiring an increase of 821 t/year for maize sufficiency. Maize produced was usually enough for annual consumption before sales. However, farmers sold about 50% of what they produced making the amount of maize retained for household consumption insufficient. Government incentives attached to maize production and marketing encouraged a maize-centric farming culture among farmers. Maize which had a guaranteed market from the Zambia Food Reserve Agency was allocated 73.4% of the available land over the study period. The maize centric system has encouraged mono-cropping of maize. Farmer preference for maize, rooted in cultural norms, further encouraged maize mono-cropping at the expense of food sufficiency. In conclusion, government incentivising production and marketing of other agronomically suitable crops for the region could reduce food insufficiency.     

基于空间面板模型的卷烟销量影响因素分析

基于2006-2015年中国31个地区的省级面板数据,利用空间面板模型分析了经济环境、消费者特征、政策等卷烟消费环境因素对卷烟销量的影响。研究表明:总体上,在考察期间内卷烟销量的区域格局从相对分散逐步转向集中均匀分布,存在局部空间相关关系,空间正向溢出效应明显;人均GDP、城镇化率、农村居民人均消费支出、年龄结构等变量对卷烟销量产生显著的正向影响,教育水平、控烟制度等变量对卷烟销量产生显著的负向影响,人均GDP、城镇居民人均消费支出及年龄结构均存在负向空间相关性关系。为此,需要抓住城镇化、美丽乡村建设扩大内需的机遇,以结构和品质提升作为满足卷烟销售发力的关键,净化卷烟销售环境,积极配合烟草控制工作,及早制定适应国家社会经济形势的烟草产业转型发展战略。      

Food insecurity in urban poor households in Mumbai, India

India ranks 66th of 88 countries in the Global Hunger Index and has a quarter of the world??s hungry. Food security status of 377 million inhabitants of India??s urban areas, of which one-fourth live in extreme poverty, is poorly documented. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the extent of food insecurity among households in urban slums, (b) to quantitatively assess their subjective experiences related to food insecurity and (c) to identify sub-groups among the urban poor that are vulnerable to food insecurity. A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey of adult female respondents from 283 households, selected using two-stage cluster sampling, was conducted in slums across three municipal wards in the city of Mumbai. Food insecurity, as measured by the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), was found in a large number of households in the urban slums of Mumbai; 59.7?% (n?=?169) households were categorized as severely food-insecure, 16.6?% (n?=?47) as mildly to moderately food-insecure, and 23.7?% (n?=?67) as food-secure. Further analysis revealed that severe food insecurity was significantly associated with lower monthly household income and other socioeconomic status measures such as lower household monthly per capita income, lower rank in the standard of living index (SLI) and less monthly per capita expense on food items. Households where the woman was the primary income-earner and contributed the largest share to the monthly household income, and was older, less educated, with less media use or access were more likely to experience severe food insecurity. Although corrective steps at the household level such as livelihood security schemes and income generation programs are necessary, they will not be sufficient to eliminate this problem; state intervention is required in order to assure food security for the urban poor. The Government of India has drafted a Food Security Bill; but the criteria for determining which households are vulnerable and deserving are still being debated. The findings of this study highlight the urgency of corrective action and also provide pointers for the identification of vulnerable or priority sub-groups. Food security policies and programs have to be implemented immediately and effectively in order to ensure that subsidies and food items are allocated to the households of the vulnerable urban poor.     

Estimates of per capita exposure to substances migrating from canned foods and beverages.

A study was undertaken by European industry to estimate the consumption of canned beverages and foodstuffs. European can production data were used with adjustments for imports into and out of the EU. It was further assumed that can production, with adjustments, equalled consumption. Owing to the lack of actual consumption country-by-country or household-by-household data throughout Europe, only per capita estimates of consumption were possible. Data were compiled country-by-country for seven major can-producing EU Member States and for eight different types of canned food and two types of canned beverage (beer and soft drinks). The per capita consumption of canned foods was 1.1 cans/person/week, and consumption of canned fish was estimated as 2.2 kg/person/year. The estimate of per capita consumption of canned food was 62 g/person/day or 22.6 kg/person/year. Canned beverages account for about 60% of the consumption of canned foodstuffs. The usefulness of per capita consumption of beverages is questionable because consumption habits may vary more widely than those for canned foods. However, as the migration into beverages is insignificant, these data were added for completeness. Per capita consumption of canned beverages is 67 cans/person/year or 61 g/person/day. From the average can sizes, the surface area of the cans consumed was estimated. The per capita surface area exposure was 0.55 dm(2)/person/day for canned foods and 0.55 dm(2)/person/day for canned beverages, giving 1.1 dm(2)/person/day. Migration of a substance at 0.02 mg dm(2) gives an exposure of 0.01 mg/person/day assuming a per capita consumption, using a surface area model. Migration at 0.12 mg kg(-1) in food gives an exposure of 0.007 mg/person/day using a weight model. Both models assumed migration into all food types at the same level, which is highly unrealistic. Exposure to BADGE from canned foods has been used as a case study. The best estimate for a worst case per capita exposure to BADGE and relevant derivatives was between 6 and 10 micro g/person/day, depending upon the approach and assumptions used.     

我国居民食品消费变化趋势分析

随着我国整体经济水平的提升,居民可支配收入不断增加,居民消费观念和结构都有了显著变化。尤其是在食品消费方面,居民的消费需求和习惯都在逐渐发生改变。本文首先分析了我国居民食品消费的现状,主要食品消费量趋于稳定,城乡食品消费占比仍存差距,绿色食品和保健食品消费量不断提升。其次,本文分析了我国居民食品消费的影响因素,包括居民人均可支配收入增加的影响、消费观念的变化、膳食结构的变化、城镇化和生活节奏变化的影响。再次,本文指出了我国居民食品消费的趋势,主要有食品消费结构不断升级、方便食品和健康食品成为消费主要趋势、食品消费更加追求个性化和新颖化。最后,根据居民食品消费趋势的变化得出了相应启示。     

我国贫困地区动物性食物消费研究——基于西部农村的调查分析

中国贫困地区人口食物安全问题引起人们广泛的关注。本文对西部3省138户农户实地调查,结果发现农户食物安全存在动物性食物消费量低等问题;分析表明,收入、教育程度、劳动力比率和是否饲养肉类牲畜对家庭动物性食物消费有显著的影响。最后提出了贫困地区农村家庭食物营养改善的政策性建议,如口粮援助、开发地方资源和加强食物安全方面的综合扶贫措施等。     

Welfare and distributional impacts of price shocks in Malawi: a non-parametric approach

This analysis used measures of Compensating Variation and Net Benefit Ratio to assess the short-run effects of higher prices on different wealth groups in rural and urban areas of Malawi. Compensating Variation analysis indicated that in aggregate terms, both rural and urban households had suffered with the recent price increases, but urban areas were more severely impacted. Relatively better-off households in urban areas had much larger welfare losses than the poorest, while in rural areas there was not much difference across wealth groups. Losses in expenditure on food consumption (particularly dominated by cereals and grains) were higher in rural areas. In both areas, the poorest households carried the heaviest burden of the food price increases. The opposite result was found for non-food items, where negative effects were stronger among urban households and, in both areas, the relatively better-off carried a heavier burden. Accounting for substitution effects in consumption, with households adjusting away from more expensive items, resulted in a significant reduction in welfare losses and poverty incidence in urban, but not in rural areas. In each scenario, female-headed households experienced the most adverse impacts. Results were translated into tangible policy and programmatic recommendations, specifying alternative budget scenarios which could compensate the most adversely affected groups. Net Benefit Ratio Analysis, which brings in supply side considerations, found that, assuming “no wage effects”, doubling the price of food would reduce real income by about a third in urban areas, and by less that a fifth in rural areas, with the poorest in each area suffering the most. This is a reflection of the fact that there are relatively more households that produce and sell in rural areas than in urban areas. Assuming a wage response to price increases, we find that the adverse effects were reduced more strongly in urban areas, which is a reflection of a more active wage labor market in those areas, where wage adjustments help to minimize the negative effects of price shocks. This analysis suggested that policies should be oriented towards supporting household livelihoods by strengthening social protection interventions, including direct cash transfers and labor intensive public works programs, to effectively protect and compensate households for welfare losses that result from price shocks. In order to be able to capture general equilibrium and long-term effects of price shocks and adjustment to them, it is recommended that future research should combine partial equilibrium methods with a general equilibrium framework.     

Interactions between plants in intercropped maize and common bean

BACKGROUND: Intercropping maize (Zea mays L.) with common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) can give silage yields that are as high as with monocropped maize, but with more crude protein. Interactions between maize and common bean intercropped in the UK were assessed at a range of plant densities (maize 100 000, 75 000 and 50 000 plants ha^?1 and beans at a fixed density of 50 000 plants ha^?1). RESULTS: In monoculture, maize yield per plant increased as planting density decreased from 100 000 to 50 000 plants ha^?1. At a density of 50 000 maize plants ha^?1, both dry weight yield per plant and shoot N concentrations of maize were greater when intercropped with 50 000 Type III (bush‐type) bean plants ha^?1 than in monoculture (196.4 g plant^?1 and 167.0 g plant^?1; 21.6 g N kg^?1 dry mass and 17.4 g N kg^?1 dry mass, respectively), but intercropping Type IV (climbing) beans at this density combination had no effects on either maize plant weight or shoot N concentration. Invariably, however, the beans grown at 50 000 plants ha^?1 were adversely affected by competition with maize at all densities. Weight per plant of both Type III (bush‐type) and Type IV (climbing) beans grown in competition with 50 000 maize plants ha^?1 was only about half that of when grown alone. Intercropping gave increased mycorrhizal colonization of both species, especially in unfertilized plots, and gave a higher shoot N concentration in the maize. The beans had more nodules in the intercrop than in the monocrop. CONCLUSIONS: Intercropping maize with Type III common bean at 50 000 plants of each species ha^?1 increases yield per maize plant above that of monoculture maize at 50 000 plants ha^?1, despite plant density being doubled. This increase is brought about by increased maize shoot N concentration. Mycorrhizal infection of both species, and bean plant nodulation, are stimulated, and N moves from the beans to the maize. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry