Suchergebnisse

Metadata only record ; This book examines the complexity of household decision-making and resource allocation, and the need for policies to consider the identity and bargaining power of individuals within a household in order to successfully address issues and impact people. Nineteen contributors from various disciplines analyze the factors that impact decisions at the household level, and argue that the alleviation of individual and household poverty cannot occur without policies that address both levels of decision-making. They suggest that even policies that do take intrahousehold behavior into account may fail, but there are serious consequences of neglecting those processes completely.

There is little rigorous evidence on the comparative impacts of cash and food transfers on food security and food-related outcomes. We assess the relative impacts of receiving cash versus food transfers using a randomized design. Drawing on data collected in eastern Niger, we find that households randomized to receive a food basket experienced larger, positive impacts on measures of food consumption and diet quality than those receiving the cash transfer. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; E Building Resilience; GRP28; CRP2 ; PHND; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

IFPRI5; B Promoting healthy food systems; E Building Resilience ; PHND ; Non-PR ; 27 pages

Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have become increasingly popular in low-income countries, particularly in Latin America. CCTs involve cash payments to poor families when they participate in educational, health-related, nutritional, or other services that could help lift them out of poverty. The apparent success of CCTs has led some development specialists to refer to CCTs as "a magic bullet." Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America evaluates the effectiveness and reliability of CCTs in reducing poverty. The contributors synthesize evidence and analysis from four case studies of Brazil, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Using state-of-the-art quantitative and qualitative methods, the studies examine various aspects of CCTs, including the trends in development and political economy that fostered interest in them; their impacts on education, health, nutrition, and food consumption; and how CCT programs affect -- and how their outcomes are affected by -- social relations shaped by gender, culture, and community. Throughout, the authors identify the strengths and weaknesses of CCTs and offer guidelines to those who design them. Successful programs depend on a clear definition of program goals, adapting program design to a particular country's circumstances, effective communication with CCT beneficiaries, high-quality services, and an appreciation of social relations within a given community. This new study is a valuable resource for anyone trying to understand, implement, improve, and build on the success of established conditional cash transfer programs. ; PR ; IFPRI1 ; PHND

Many factors inhibit the development of the agricultural sector in much of Sub-Saharan Africa: poor infrastructure, limited dissemination of new technologies, inappropriate government policy, and so on. One factor that is again receiving attention is that of uninsured risk. It is well understood that smallholders in Africa are exposed to a wide range of risks, including those deriving from climatic events, economic shocks (such as sudden drops in output prices or increases in input prices), illness and death, and social and political conflicts. Not only is the threat of such adverse events pervasive, but also formal credit and insurance mechanisms in much of the subcontinent are badly underdeveloped. ; PR ; IFPRI1

"The primary goal of emergency food aid after an economic shock is often to bolster short-term food and nutrition security. However, these transfers also act as insurance against other shock effects, such as destruction of assets and changes in economic activity, which can have lasting deleterious consequences. Although existing research provides some evidence of small positive impacts of timely food aid disbursements after a shock on current food consumption and aggregate consumption, little is known about whether these transfers play a safety net role by reducing vulnerability and protecting assets into the future. We investigate this issue by exploring the presence of persistent impacts of two major food aid programs following the 2002 drought in Ethiopia: a food-for-work program known as the Employment Generation Schemes (EGS) and a program of free food distribution (FFD). Using rural longitudinal household survey data collected in 1999 and 2004, we estimate the impact of these programs on consumption growth, food security, and growth in asset holdings 18 months after the peak of the drought, when food aid transfers had substantially or entirely ceased in most program villages. Overall, these results suggest that emergency food aid played an important role in improving welfare, access to food, and food security for many households following the drought in 2002. However, improved targeting, especially in EGS, and larger, sustained transfers may be required to increase benefits, particularly to the poorest households. The impacts of food aid identified here indicate some persistence or accumulated effects of transfers on consumption growth over time. Although the time lag between receipt of transfers and observed consumption is not more than one year in most cases, the estimated impact on consumption growth relative to the size and timing of transfers suggests possible savings or multiplier effects of emergency food aid. -- Authors' Abstract ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; Theme 4; GRP26; Food systems: disaster prevention, relief, and rebuilding after crises ; FCND