Suchergebnisse

With emerging recognition of changing climates' impact on agricultural productivity, a sharper lens is focused on how to target agricultural public investments for development. This paper contributes to an understanding of budget decision-making processes in agricultural development, by examining to what extent those with superior information and expertise on a sector have sway over how public resources to the sector are allocated. The empirical qualitative analysis of this paper employs process tracing with an embedded case study design, based on interviews of 79 senior public sector key-informants in Nigeria. We also analyzed quantitative public expenditure data in the study areas. We draw insights from theories of information asymmetries in the public sector along three dimensions. Within the first type of information asymmetry, we find that, despite the higher agricultural technical expertise that sector bureaucrats have vis-à-vis the elected non-sector-specific chief executives, it is the latter who heavily influence agricultural resource allocation. In the second form of information asymmetry, the benefits from superior lower-tier information are only exploited at one subnational (state) level but not at the other (local government) level. Within the third kind of information asymmetry, public leaders prioritize funding for those types of public investments that are more visible by their nature, and outputs of which materialize relatively rapidly; this disfavors agriculture. Going beyond the literature on the impact of information interventions, this study sheds light on the extent to which information already in the public sector is tapped into to guide the provision of public goods and services. ; IFPRI3; CRP2; Feed the Future Nigeria Agricultural Policy Project; ISI ; PIM ; PR ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

This paper seeks to understand the features of public spending in the agricultural sector within the context of Nigeria's federal structure and decentralized system. Specifically, the study aims to examine the extent to which the level and composition of public spending in the agricultural sector is consistent with both national and subnational priorities. The study also analyzed the efficiency of public resource allocation to agriculture in line with stated priorities at the federal and subnational levels. It provides analysis of public expenditures at the federal and state levels, the latter drawing from three case study states: Cross River, Niger, and Ondo states. The main period covered in this study are three important policy regimes: the era of NEEDS (National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy) during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the seven-point agenda era of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, and the era of Vision 20:2020 of President Goodluck Jonathan. Although considerable efforts have been made to identify development priorities and articulate policies and strategies for improved performance of the agricultural sector, no sharp connection has been made with the expenditure policy. At the federal level, the situation was beginning to improve in the aftermath of the articulation of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) and alignment of expenditures toward the attainment of targets set in various strategic components of the agenda. At the subnational level, expenditure decisions do not follow a results-based framework, and there is no analytical basis for a logical assessment of expenditure impact. The defective linkage between expenditure decisions and prioritization of projects manifests in the study states, in particular where some activities that were not budgeted for ended up being funded whereas those already budgeted for receive no funding at all. Future research should conduct political economy analysis to shed light on circumstances that lead to a disconnect, and what factors lead to a stronger relationship between the design of strategies and actual public expenditures undertaken. ; IFPRI3; CRP2 ; DSGD; PIM ; PR ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

This study contributes to filling the knowledge gap on the determinants of public spending. It draws on the frame-work of actor-centered institutionalism to empirically examine how the characteristics, incentives, and exchanges of different actors affect the prioritization of public investments. The study also provides insights into how the characteristics of public investments interface with actors' incentives to influence expenditure choices. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; CRP2; NSSP; F Strengthening institutions and governance; D Transforming Agriculture ; DGO; DSGD; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

This paper makes a contribution to this literature by drawing on the framework of actor-centered institutionalism (Scharpf 1997) to empirically examine how political and budget institutions affect the incentives of actors involved in the public agricultural finance process, structures the interactions between them, and ultimately shapes expenditure allocations ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; CRP2; NSSP; F Strengthening institutions and governance; D Transforming Agriculture ; DGO; DSGD; PIM ; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)

Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Sub-Saharan Africa, is home to about 75 million people. The country has a tropical monsoon climate characterized by wide topographic-induced variations. With rainfall highly erratic, Ethiopia is usually at a high risk for droughts as well as intraseasonal dry spells. The majority of the population depends on agriculture as the primary source of livelihood, and the sector is dominated by smallholder agriculture. These small farmers rely on traditional technologies and produce primarily for consumption. Famine vulnerability is high in Ethiopia. With the rapid population growth of the past two decades, per capita food grain production has declined. Cereals constitute the largest share of food production in the country. Today, with recurrent famine threats, food aid is an important source of cereal supply. Additionally, agricultural market dysfunctions are common in Ethiopia. Throughout history, the state has controlled the markets. With the enactment of a major market reform in the 1990s, the country saw some progress. Markets remain thin, however, with wide price spreads and volatility. In 2002, despite good harvests in the previous years, Ethiopia was hit by another famine: Production was insufficient, and food did not flow from surplus to deficit areas. Apart from population pressure, the causes of this crisis include production, market, policy, institutional, and organizational failures. Each time a food crisis occurs, there is a complex interaction of supply, distribution, and demand factors. It is these processes at work on national and household levels that determine outcomes for food security, food availability, access, and use. Because the causes of famine are multifaceted, multiple actions are required to prevent its occurrence. On a broader level, two points must be emphasized. First, specific programs alone cannot effectively tackle famine. Micro-level interventions should be considered in tandem with macroeconomic policies. Second, market integration and price stabilization must be in place for individual projects to function effectively. The question of policy and program choice and sequencing arise in determining the optimal program mix for mitigating and preventing famine. But how is such a program mix determined under resource and time constraints? Your assignment is to recommend a set of shortand long-term policies and programs to improve food security in Ethiopia that will be compatible with available government resources and reductions of Ethiopia's dependence on foreign food aid. ; IFPRI4 ; DGO ; Non-PR

Agricultural expenditure is critical to the transformation of the agricultural sector in Nigeria. Yet spending on agriculture remains at low levels in spite of the sector's huge potential for wealth creation, employment generation, and poverty reduction. This report is a summary of the findings of the Nigeria agricultural public expenditure review (AgPER) at the federal and subnational levels. The main objectives of this review are to (1) examine the extent to which the size and composition of public spending on agriculture is consistent with national and subnational agricultural policies and development priorities, (2) analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of public resources allocated to agriculture, (3) understand the cross-tier fiscal and planning relationships between the federal government and subnational governments, (4) develop a database of public agricultural expenditures at the federal and subnational levels, and (5) provide recommendations on how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public agricultural spending to advance Nigeria's Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). In addition to the federal-level analysis, the review analyzes agricultural public expenditures in three case study states: (1) cross river, (2) Niger, and (3) Ondo, and three case study local government areas (LGAs): (1) Akamkpa, (2) Wushishi, and (3) Odigbo. The analysis at the federal level covers the period 2008-12, while the subnational-level analysis covers the period 2000-12.

The 2008 Global Hunger Index (GHI) shows that the world has made slow progress in reducing food insecurity since 1990, with dramatic differences among regions and countries. In the nearly two decades since 1990, some regions - South and Southeast Asia, the Near East and North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean - have made significant headway in improving food security. Nevertheless, the GHI remains high in South Asia. The GHI is similarly high in Sub-Saharan Africa, where progress has been marginal since 1990. The GHI level in the world as a whole remains serious. The countries with the most worrisome hunger status and the highest 2008 GHI scores are predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Burundi, Niger, and Sierra Leone at the bottom of the list. Several dozen countries in various regions have GHI scores categorized as low. Hunger is closely tied to poverty, and countries with high levels of hunger are overwhelmingly low- or low-middle-income countries. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the regions with the highest GHI scores and the highest poverty rates. The recent advent of higher food prices has uneven effects across countries, depending on a range of factors, including whether countries are net importers or exporters of food. Among the countries for which the GHI is calculated, net cereal importers, for example, greatly outnumber exporters, implying that many more countries combating hunger are likely to suffer from higher prices than benefit from them. Higher food prices have also caused violent and nonviolent protests in dozens of countries. In this context of higher food prices, prospects for improving food and nutrition security do not appear favorable, given that at least 800 million people were food insecure even before the food price crisis hit. Higher food prices cut into poor households' food budgets, with particularly serious risks for undernourished infants and children. High prices also reduce the amount of food aid that donors can supply with a given amount of funds. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI2; GRP24; Enhanced food and diet quality ; FCND; COM; DGO

The level of public spending on agriculture in Nigeria remains low regardless of the indicator used. Agricultural spending as a share of total federal spending averaged 4.6 percent between 2008 and 2012 and has been trending downward precipitously. In contrast, Nigeria recorded an annual average agricultural growth rate of more than 6 percent between 2003 and 2010, and agricultural gross domestic product followed an increasing trend between 2008 and 2012. Budgetary allocation to agriculture compared with other key sectors is also low despite the sector's role in the fight against poverty, hunger, and unemployment and in the pursuit of economic development. Public investment has been stifled by the lopsided manner in which national revenue is being allocated among the three tiers of government that have responsibility for agricultural development. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; D.1 Agriculture's role in national development strategy; D Transforming Agriculture; NSSP ; DGO; DSGD

Die Ergebnisse des Welthunger-Indexes (WHI) zeigen deutlich, dass weiterhin nur geringe Fortschritte bei der globalen Hungerbekämpfung erzielt werden. Die WHI-Werte 2009 sind im Vergleich mit denen des WHI 1990 gerade einmal um ein Viertel gefallen. Südostasien, der Nahe Osten und Nordafrika sowie Lateinamerika und die karibischen Staaten haben den Hunger maßgeblich bekämpfen können. In Südasien konnten zwar seit 1990 Fortschritte gemacht werden, nach wie vor bewegt sich der WHI jedoch auf erschreckend hohem Niveau. Gleiches gilt für Afrika südlich der Sahara, das nur minimale Erfolge bei der Hungerbekämpfung vorweisen kann. Einige Staaten haben bemerkenswerte Fortschritte bei der Bekämpfung des Hungers erzielt: Zwischen 1990 und 2009 erzielten Kuwait, Tunesien, Fidschi, Malaysia und die Türkei die größten prozentualen Verbesserungen. Angola, Äthiopien, Ghana, Nicaragua und Vietnam konnten ihre absoluten Werte im Welthunger-Index deutlich verbessern. Aber immer noch gibt es 29 Staaten, deren Hungerstatus als alarmierend beziehungsweise extrem alarmierend bezeichnet werden muss. Die Länder mit den höchsten WHI-Werten sind Äthiopien, Burundi, die Demokratische Republik Kongo, Eritrea, Sierra Leone und der Tschad. In den meisten Ländern mit hohen WHI-Werten sind es Kriege und gewaltsame Konflikte, die zu einem weiteren Anstieg von Armut und Ernährungsunsicherheit geführt haben. Nahezu alle Staaten, deren WHI-Bewertung sich nach 1990 verschlechtert hat, liegen in Afrika südlich der Sahara. Die Mechanismen der aktuellen Krisen – der Nahrungsmittelpreiskrise und der Finanzkrise – sind eng miteinander verbunden; jede dieser Krisen hat wiederum für sich einen maßgeblichen Einfluss auf Ernährungssicherheit und auf finanzielle und wirtschaftliche sowie politische Stabilität. Die Auswirkungen der Krisen werden vor allem für diejenigen spürbar werden, die ohnehin schon arm sind und an Hunger leiden, und die Staaten mit den höchsten Hungerquoten werden besonders von den Folgen des globalen Abschwungs betroffen sein. Obwohl Arme und Hungernde insgesamt besonders schwer von der Nahrungsmittelpreiskrise und der Finanzkrise betroffen sind, wirken sich die Krisen auf Haushaltsebene sehr unterschiedlich aus. Politische Antworten auf die aktuellen Krisen müssen diese Unterschiede berücksichtigen. Soziale Sicherungsmaßnahmen sollten folglich so gestaltet sein, dass sie tatsächlich diejenigen erreichen, die am härtesten getroffen werden; gleichzeitig müssen sie den Grundstein für eine nachhaltige Verbesserung legen und negativen Folgen in der Zukunft vorbeugen. Bereits bestehende, erfolgreiche Programme, wie Schulspeisungsinitiativen und Aufklärungskampagnen zur Ernährung von Müttern und Kindern, sollten unterstützt und weltweit umgesetzt werden. Ein zentraler Aspekt beim Kampf gegen den Hunger ist die Gleichberechtigung von Mann und Frau. Der vorliegende Bericht korreliert den WHI 2009 mit dem Global Gender Gap Index von 2008, der sich aus vier Subindizes zusammensetzt: Wirtschaftliche Teilhabe, Bildung, Politische Teilhabe und Gesundheit. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass dort, wo der Hunger groß ist, die Alphabetisierungsrate unter Frauen niedrig ist und Frauen im Vergleich zu Männern einen schlechten Zugang zu Bildung haben. Daneben sind hohe Hungerquoten auch mit ungleichen Bedingungen in Bezug auf Gesundheit assoziiert. Mehr Geschlechtergerechtigkeit in einigen Bereichen, insbesondere bei Bildung und Gesundheit, ist daher ein Schlüssel, um den Hunger zu besiegen. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI2; GRP24; Enhanced food and diet quality ; FCND; COM; DGO

From the 1990 GHI to the 2011 GHI, 15 countries were able to reduce their scores by 50 percent or more. Nineteen countries moved out of the bottom two categories – "extremely alarming" and "alarming." In terms of absolute progress, Angola, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, and Vietnam saw the largest improvements between the 1990 GHI and the 2011 GHI. Twenty-six countries still have levels of hunger that are extremely alarming or alarming. The countries with extremely alarming 2011 GHI scores – Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Eritrea – are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the countries with alarming GHI scores are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Among the six countries in which the hunger situation worsened, the Democratic Republic of Congo stands out. Its GHI score rose by about 63 percent owing to conflict and political instability. (Because of time lags in the availability of data, the 2011 GHI does not reflect the impacts of the 2010–11 food price crisis or the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa.) ; PR ; GRP24; IFPRI1 ; MTID; COM; DGO