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on Africa |
| By: | Ambler, Kate; Balana, Bedru; Bloem, Jeffrey R.; Maruyama, Eduardo; Olanrewaju, Opeyemi |
| Abstract: | Access to credit can be important for improving the performance of smallholders, as it enables farmers to purchase inputs while sustaining their livelihoods. In rural Nigeria, however, access to credit—particularly from formal financial institutions—is limited. As a result, farmers often have little to no choice but to depend on alternative credit sources, including informal lending. Small holder agricultural households often turn to friends and family, or local money lenders and other informal and semi-formal sources to meet their credit needs (EFInA, 2020). |
| Keywords: | access to finance; credit; smallholders; inputs; repayment of debts; Nigeria; Africa; Western Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2025–07–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:prnote:175654 |
| By: | Delavallade, Clara Anne; Das, Smita; Rouanet, Lea Marie; Clerkin, Aidan; Gonzalez, Chris; Jamison, Julian |
| Abstract: | This paper validates a new set of behavioral measures for socioemotional skills across three Sub-Saharan African countries—Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Tanzania—and compares them to widely used self-reported measures. The behavioral measures demonstrate strong psychometric properties and are significantly associated with key outcomes, particularly in employment and income. Relationship management skills emerge as the most consistent predictors of economic outcomes, especially when measured behaviorally. Behavioral measures show weaker associations with social desirability bias and stronger correlations with economic outcomes, and self-reports are more predictive of mental health. In two countries, changes in behavioral socioemotional skills over time significantly predict labor market improvements—an effect not observed with self-reports—highlighting their value for program evaluation. Correlations between measurement types are modest, with variation often driven more by measurement modality than underlying skill differences. These findings suggest that behavioral measures can offer more reliable instruments for policy and intervention design in low-income settings. |
| Date: | 2025–09–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11201 |
| By: | Artuc, Erhan; Falcone, Guillermo Enrique; Porto, Guido; Rijkers, Bob |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the welfare impacts of import bans in Nigeria, and how these are shaped by evasion. Bans were not effectively enforced, and contributed to informal trade. The imposition of bans nonetheless increased consumer prices by 5.8% on average. However, price increases are substantially attenuated for goods for which trade policy is harder to enforce. Import bans disproportionately hurt the rich: the benefits of evasion are regressive. |
| Date: | 2025–09–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11195 |
| By: | Bachas, Pierre; Brockmeyer, Anne; Ferreira, Alipio; Sarr, Bassirou |
| Abstract: | Can algorithms enhance bureaucrats’ work in developing countries? In data-poor environments, bureaucrats often exercise discretion over key decisions, such as audit selection. Exploiting newly digitized micro-data, this study conducted an at-scale field experiment whereby half of Senegal’s annual audit program was selected by tax inspectors and the other half by a transparent risk-scoring algorithm. The algorithm-selected audits were 18 percentage points less likely to be conducted, detected 89% less evasion, were less cost-effective, and did not reduce corruption. Moreover, even a machine-learning algorithm would only have moderately raised detected evasion. These results are consistent with bureaucrats’ expertise, the task complexity, and inherent data limitations. |
| Date: | 2025–09–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11205 |
| By: | Darko, Francis Addeah; Martey, Edward |
| Abstract: | This study examines the sustainability and healthiness of Ghana's current dietary patterns and explores pathways for promoting sustainable healthy diets through agrifood policy interventions. Using secondary data from the Food and Agriculture Organization's Statistics, Ghana Statistical Service, and other sources, the study assesses food security dimensions, estimates greenhouse gas emissions from current diets, analyzes the relationship between income and meat consumption, and generates Pareto-optimal dietary solutions. The analysis reveals significant dietary imbalances: Ghanaians overconsume staple foods (279 percent of recommended levels) and severely under-consume fruits (57 percent); vegetables (43 percent); and legumes, pulses, and nuts (20 percent). Despite adequate national caloric availability (135 percent adequacy), 63 percent of the population cannot afford healthy diets, with 21.1 million people facing affordability constraints. Ghana's current dietary patterns generate 46 million metric tons per year of greenhouse gas emissions and fail to meet international sustainability targets, with a positive correlation (0.3 percent increase per 1, 000 GHS income) between economic development and meat consumption. Pareto optimization demonstrates that although government dietary guidelines can achieve up to 32 percent emissions reduction at higher costs, EAT-Lancet recommendations offer superior outcomes with 47 percent lower costs and 70 percent lower emissions. The policy landscape analysis spanning 2014–23 reveals progress from food security–focused to holistic approaches incorporating nutrition and sustainability. Key recommendations include revising national dietary guidelines to align with sustainability targets, enhancing production support for diverse crops, improving food system infrastructure, and developing sustainable protein transition policies to decouple economic growth from increased environmental impacts. |
| Date: | 2025–09–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11197 |