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on Development |
| By: | Megan Borole (Firdale Consulting); Maxine Schaefer (Click Learning); Heleen Hofmeyr (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University); Bruce McDougall (Firdale Consulting) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the relationship between learner engagement with a personalised adaptive learning (PAL) EdTech platform and English literacy outcomes in South African primary schools. Drawing on data from over 20, 000 learners across 226 poorly resourced public schools, we examine whether cumulative time spent on the curriculum-aligned PAL programme (delivered during regular classroom hours) is associated with improved literacy performance. Using cross-sectional regression models, we find a positive and statistically significant association between platform usage and English literacy scores. The association holds across grades, with only modest variation by gender and no evidence of differential effects by language of instruction or school quality. Our findings suggest that PAL technologies can support foundational literacy even in low-resource, multilingual classrooms, and may offer a scalable complement to traditional instruction in contexts facing teacher shortages and large class sizes. |
| Keywords: | Literacy; educational technology; early grade reading; South Africa |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers389 |
| By: | Chauhan, Tarana |
| Abstract: | Bank accounts are an essential first step towards formal savings and credit in most countries, yet their impact on women's control over resources remains underexplored. I investigate the effects of 2014 policy in India that provided free bank accounts and led to an unprecedented increase in women's account ownership. This paper shows that bank account ownership improves households' financial access, and in certain cases increases women's decision making on household spending. Using a difference-in-difference estimation that exploits the sharp timing of the policy and a high-frequency household panel data, I find that women's account ownership increased household's likelihood to save in formal instruments and switch to formal sources of borrowing but did not affect consumption patterns consistent with women's preferences. Exploiting regional variation in pre-policy bank infrastructure, I further analyze the effects on women's self-reported decision-making. While districts with faster account expansion did not exhibit overall improvement of women's participation in household purchase decisions or spending autonomy, there were significant gains in districts where women had greater ex-ante mobility and households trusted banking institutions. |
| Keywords: | Bank Account Ownership, Household Resource Allocation, Women's Decision Making, Government Policy, Women's Empowerment, India |
| JEL: | D13 D14 G21 G28 G51 I38 J12 J16 R28 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1689 |
| By: | Maguette Sembrene (Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech); Bradford Mills (Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech); Anubhab Gupta (Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech) |
| Abstract: | Historical data show a rising trend in extreme heat in the past four decades in the Groundnut Basin of Senegal. We evaluate the economic costs of extreme heat on groundnut production in the region. Using temperature data from the ERA5 global climate reanalysis, we define extreme heat degree days (EHDDs) as the cumulative number of degree days above 35 °C during the groundnut growing season and estimate its effect on quasi-profits and yields at the person, household, and field levels utilizing a two-year panel data of 1, 123 households. Our econometric estimations show that an additional EHDD reduces quasi-profits by 5, 460 FCFA per hectare and significantly lowers yield by 2.5%. Further, rainfall interactions with EHDD generate compounding losses under high heat and rainfall. The findings highlight important and often unseen effects of increasing temperatures on agricultural practices in climate-vulnerable areas such as the Groundnut Basin and underscore the need for adaptation and mitigation strategies to cope with the impacts of climate change. |
| Keywords: | Extreme heat Groundnut Economic costs The Groundnut Basin Senegal |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vpi:aaecpp:aaecpp2025-03 |
| By: | Manh-Duc Doan (Development and Policies Research Center (DEPOCEN)) |
| Abstract: | Exploiting a quasi-natural experiment–the Vietnam-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA)–I investigate the impact of trade liberalization on children's human capital investment in Vietnam. Using regional variation in export tariff uncertainty due to the BTA, I find that children in provinces more exposed to tariff reductions were more likely to engage in work rather than attend school, and this effect persisted for 20 years after the BTA. Additionally, the effects were more pronounced among boys, older children, rural children, and those with less-educated parents. These negative effects are driven by the increase in job opportunities, i.e., the child labor incidence, and the wage premium in the higher exposure provinces. The findings indicate that trade liberalization has increased the opportunity cost of education. These results remain robust across various alternative estimations. |
| Keywords: | trade agreement, tariff reduction, schooling, child labor, Vietnam |
| JEL: | F14 F16 J24 O12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpc:wpaper:0125 |
| By: | Hoddinott, John F.; Ahmed, Akhter; Bakhtiar, M. Mehrab; Quisumbing, Agnes R. |
| Abstract: | We assess whether a gender- and nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions, fielded in rural Bangladesh, aimed at improving food production diversity enhanced resilience and whether impacts persisted post-intervention. Four years post-program, treatment arms that included both agriculture and nutrition training reduced the likelihood that households undertook more severe forms of coping strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic. There were persistent improvements in household consumption and diet quality; impacts were largest for poor but not the poorest households in our sample. Underlying these results were the long-term beneficial impacts on women’s agricultural knowledge, agency, and increased engagement in agricultural activities. |
| Keywords: | resilience; shocks; gender; nutrition; Bangladesh; Southern Asia |
| Date: | 2025–11–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:177816 |
| By: | Barnes, Andrew P; Hammond, James; Duncan, Alan |
| Abstract: | Legumes have been promoted by a number of agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in order to support nutrition, soil quality and income growth. However, uptake is still generally low across SSA. We employ a dataset of around 20 000 smallholder households across 10 African countries to explore the drivers of intensity of planting and adoption of legumes themselves. For the former we compose an indicator of grain legume cultivation intensity, based on individual plot area planted and legumes planted. Overall, there are large proportions of non-adoption of any grain legumes within the household leading to the choice of a zero-inflation model. Moreover, adopters’ cultivation intensity ranges from 0.04% of total crop plot areas to up to 90% of area, with Ghana and Kenya having the highest mixtures of different grain legume crop types We employ a zero-inflated beta regression framework to explore both the non-adoption/adoption hurdle and also to accommodate the proportion of land cultivated under legume crops. Using the RHoMIS survey we identify a number of key drivers to explain uptake and include a measure of legume crops sold, for adopters, to proxy market access for legumes, and market-orientation, for non-adopters, to indicate the level of engagement in markets generally for these households. Overall, we find strong odds of participation where legume markets are available on the intensity of legume cultivation, but market access of other products, e.g. livestock, seems to be a strong negative influence on the decision to adopt legumes. Further drivers, such as poverty indicators, age, size of household and control over tenure seem to drive intensity but have reverse impacts on the decision to adopt legumes. Overall, the link between market access and legume growing is a key finding which suggests that focus of development budgets towards the household should be augmented by wider supply chain and value chain initiatives to create sustainability of legume cultivation across Africa. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes025:356751 |
| By: | Amare, Mulubrhan; Andam, Kwaw S.; Balana, Bedru; Olanrewaju, Opeyemi; Omamo, Steven Were |
| Abstract: | While standard agronomic recommendations advocate for increased application of inorganic fertilizer to boost maize yields across sub-Saharan Africa, there is limited understanding of how violent conflict influences smallholder farmers’ fertilizer demand, yield responses, and the overall profitability of fertilizer use. This study addresses this gap by analyzing how exposure to conflict affects input use decisions and the economic returns to fertilizer among maize farmers in Nigeria. Using detailed household-level data and spatially referenced conflict events, we estimate maize yield response functions with respect to nitrogen application and assess the profitability of fertilizer under varying levels of conflict exposure. Our findings reveal three key results. First, the marginal physical product (MPP) of nitrogen is low across the study sample, indicating limited agronomic responsiveness. Second, conflict exposure significantly reduces the likelihood and intensity of fertilizer use, suggesting that insecurity constrains both input access and willingness to invest. Third, conflict lowers the MPP of nitrogen even further, thereby reducing the marginal value-cost ratio (MVCR) and undermining the profitability of fertilizer use. These results highlight the importance of considering conflict as a key external factor that distorts input-output relationships in agricultural production. Insecurity not only affects access to inputs through higher prices and disrupted supply chains, but also alters expected returns, making fertilizer investments less attractive for risk-averse farmers. Recognizing the effects of conflict on fertilizer use and yield response is essential for designing more effective input subsidy programs, targeting strategies, and resilience-building interventions in fragile agricultural systems. |
| Keywords: | conflicts; farm inputs; maize; crop yield; fertilizer application; yield response factor; Nigeria; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Western Africa |
| Date: | 2025–11–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:178034 |
| By: | Ferreira, Francisco H. G.; Brunori, Paolo; Neidhöfer, Guido; Salas-Rojo, Pedro; Sirugue, Louis |
| Abstract: | This chapter argues that relative measures of intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunity are closely related ways of quantifying the inheritability of inequality. We review both literatures for Latin America, looking both at income and educational persistence. We document very high levels of intergenerational persistence and inequality of opportunity for education, with inherited characteristics predicting 29% to 52% of the current-generation variance in years of schooling. Inherited circumstances are somewhat less predictive of educational achievement, measured through standardized test scores, accounting for 20% to 30% of their variance. Our estimates of inequality of opportunity for income acquisition suggest that between 46% to 66% of contemporary income Gini coefficients can be predicted by a relatively narrow set of inherited circumstances, making Latin America a region of high inequality inheritability by international standards. Our review also finds a very wide range of intergenerational income elasticity estimates, with substantial uncertainty driven by data challenges and methodological differences. |
| Keywords: | inherited inequality; intergenerational mobility; inequality of opportunity; Latin America |
| JEL: | D31 I39 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:130163 |
| By: | Zié, Silué Nonlourou; Aboudou, Rachidi; Christophe, Adassé Chiapo; Assemien, Alexandre |
| Abstract: | Côte d’Ivoire, the world's leading cashew nut producer with 1, 200, 000 tons in 2022, faces low productivity of raw cashew nuts (350–500 kg/ha) due to the limited adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). This study explored the relationship between producers' perceptions and GAP adoption, identified factors influencing both the adoption and intensity of GAP use, and assessed the impact of GAP adoption on cashew nut yield. Using probit, Poisson regression, and marginal treatment effect models on data from 845 cashew producers, we found that plot preparation, direct seeding, shaping pruning, firebreak strips, thinning, and pruning were the most adopted GAP practices. The probit model results indicate that training, supervision by extension services, and producers' perceptions significantly determine GAP adoption. Additionally, gender, education level, social background, and access to extension services were key factors. Notably, the results from the marginal treatment effect models show that adopting thinning and pruning practices increased cashew nut yields by 194 kg/ha and 195 kg/ha, respectively. These findings emphasize the need for policies prioritizing training programs and strengthening extension services to boost GAP adoption and improve farmers’ yield. Scaling up these initiatives can contribute to sustainable yield improvements in Côte d’Ivoire and the wider West African region. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes025:356797 |
| By: | Hernandez, Paola Buitrago; Sardon, Daniela Maquera; Nopo Aguilar, Hugo Rolando; Rubiano Matulevich, Eliana Carolina |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes gender disparities in poverty across the life cycle in Latin America and the Caribbean using harmonized household survey data. Although gender gaps in labor market outcomes are well-documented, gendered poverty disparities have remained understudied. The results reveal a gendered poverty penalty that emerges as women enter their prime productive and reproductive years—a penalty that has increased over the past 15 years. The presence of young children significantly increases the likelihood of poverty in a household. Single-mother households and those with sole or no earners face particularly high vulnerability. To explore the determinants of the gendered poverty penalty, the paper identifies four relevant groups of individuals and applies a Kitagawa-Binder-Oaxaca decomposition. The results indicate that, beyond the presence of children at home and women’s age, unobserved factors (including potential discrimination) are behind most of the gap. These findings emphasize the critical role of household composition and life cycle factors, particularly family arrangements. |
| Date: | 2025–11–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11260 |
| By: | Aboudou, Rachidi; Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr.; Gebrekidan, Bisrat; Yabi, Jacob Afouda |
| Abstract: | COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war have been very damaging for many developing countries, rolling back many years of efforts to address poverty and food insecurity. These shocks impose immense constraints on fertilizer use and various staple value chains including rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, and millet, which are heavily consumed in many parts of Africa. In this paper, we examine the implications of these shocks on different aspects of fertilizer use and cereal consumption in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Relying on different datasets and employing both time-series and panel data estimators, we show that both shocks are positively correlated with increases in fertilizer and cereal prices (maize, rice, and wheat). These insights extend to the consumption of these cereal which are important staple for addressing food insecurity. We observe price increases for urea, DAP, Phosphate, and superphosphate. These price increases could explain the reduction in fertilizer consumption in the continent through their impact on accessibility and affordability. The Russian-Ukraine War seems to have a more pronounced association with the increase in fertilizer prices. We also underscore some nuanced heterogeneity based on geographical classifications: Central, East, and West Africa, suggesting the heterogeneous implication of shocks on both fertilizer and cereal prices, as well as fertilizer and cereal consumption. Generally, the COVID-19 pandemic caused more pronounced price increases for most commodities compared to the Russia-Ukraine war. The variability in impacts across different commodities shows the importance of understanding the specific supply chain and market dynamics of each commodity in response to global disruptions. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Political Economy |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes025:356796 |