The six case studies in this book were prepared as background studies for a synthesis report on land administration and reform in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
... Vea más + Collectively they cover two main areas of land governance: reforms in redistributing agricultural land; and reforms in land administration. The problems in land ownership inequality and poor land administration are defined and the question of why reforms are necessary is addressed. The first two case studies focus on reforms in redistributing agricultural land in Malawi and South Africa. The Reforms in four thematic areas of land administration are addressed in the remaining case studies, encompassing experience from various countries as follows: (1) decentralizing land administration (Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda); (2) developing post-conflict land administration systems (Liberia and Rwanda); (3) reengineering and computerizing land information systems (Ghana and Uganda); and (4) improving management of government land through land inventories (Ghana and Uganda). The common elements between sometimes quite disparate experiences provide lessons of relevance to other SSA countries contemplating similar reforms.
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The 2007-2008 global food crisis has renewed interest in post-harvest loss, but estimates remain scarce, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper uses self-reported measures from nationally representative household surveys in Malawi, Uganda, and Tanzania.
... Vea más + Overall, on-farm post-harvest loss adds to 1.4-5.9 percent of the national maize harvest, substantially lower than the Food and Agriculture Organization's post-harvest handling and storage loss estimate for cereals, which is 8 percent. Post-harvest loss is concentrated among less than a fifth of households. It increases with humidity and temperature and declines with better market access, post-primary education, higher seasonal price differences, and possibly improved storage practices. Wider use of nationally representative surveys in studying post-harvest loss is called for.
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Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS6831 APR 01, 2014
The key messages of this brief are as follows: 1) The Malawi Growth Development Strategy II recognizes the crucial role of higher education as a key driver of competitiveness and growth; 2) The country's higher education system needs to beoverhauled to take in more students, achieve greater equity in enrollment, and offer higher-quality programs relevant tomarket needs; 3) A major concern is that there are far too few qualifiedgraduates to meet market needs in the country, a gap that is bound to negatively affect the economy if unaddressed; 4) University management should include private sector and civil society representatives to ensure that learning is delivered more efficiently and is aligned with market needs; and 5) Encouraging private providers and exploring more sustainable avenues of financing are critical to bridge Malawi's financing and capacity gaps in higher education.
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The key messages of this brief are as follows: 1) The Malawi Growth Development Strategy II recognizes the crucial role of higher education as a key driver of competitiveness and growth; 2) The country's higher education system needs to beoverhauled to take in more students, achieve greater equity in enrollment, and offer higher-quality programs relevant tomarket needs; 3) A major concern is that there are far too few qualifiedgraduates to meet market needs in the country, a gap that is bound to negatively affect the economy if unaddressed; 4) University management should include private sector and civil society representatives to ensure that learning is delivered more efficiently and is aligned with market needs; and 5) Encouraging private providers and exploring more sustainable avenues of financing are critical to bridge Malawi's financing and capacity gaps in higher education.
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Across the developing world, public goods exert significant impacts on the local rural economy in general and agricultural productivity and welfare outcomes in particular.
... Vea más + Economic and social-cultural heterogeneity have, however, long been documented as detrimental to collective capacity to provide public goods. In particular, women are often under-represented in local leadership and decision-making processes, as are young adults and minority ethnic groups. While democratic principles dictate that broad civic engagement by women and other groups could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of local governance and increase public goods provision, the empirical evidence on these hypotheses is scant. This paper develops a theoretical model highlighting the complexity of constructing a "fair" schedule of individual contributions, given heterogeneity in costs and benefits that accrue to people depending, for instance, on their gender, age, ethnicity, and education. The model demonstrates that representative leadership and broad participation in community organizations can mitigate the negative impacts of heterogeneity on collective capacity to provide public goods. Nationally-representative household survey data from Malawi, combined with geospatial and administrative information, are used to test this hypothesis and estimate the relationship between collective capacity for public goods provision and community median estimates of maize yields and household consumption expenditures per capita. The analysis shows that similarities between the leadership and the general population, in terms of gender and age, and active participation by women and young adults in community groups alleviate the negative effects of heterogeneity and increase collective capacity, which in turn improves agricultural productivity and welfare.
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Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS6806 MAR 01, 2014
This paper formalizes the design of experiments intended specifically to study spillover effects. By first randomizing the intensity of treatment within clusters and then randomly assigning individual treatment conditional on this cluster-level intensity, a novel set of treatment effects can be identified.
... Vea más + The paper develops a formal framework for consistent estimation of these effects, provides explicit expressions for power calculations, and shows that the power to detect average treatment effects declines precisely with the quantity that identifies the novel treatment effects. A demonstration of the technique is provided using a cash transfer program in Malawi.
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Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS6824 MAR 01, 2014
Baird, Sarah; Bohren, Aislinn; McIntosh, Craig; Ozler, Berk
An extensive multi-disciplinary literature examines the effects of learning one's HIV status on subsequent risky sexual behaviors. However, many of these studies rely on non-experimental designs; use self-reported outcome measures, or both.
... Vea más + This study investigates the effects of a randomly assigned home based HIV testing and counseling (HTC) intervention on risky sexual behaviors and schooling investments among school-age females in Malawi. The study finds no overall effects on HIV, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-2), or achievement test scores at follow-up. However, among the small group of individuals who tested positive for HIV, a large increase in the probability of contracting HSV-2 is found, with this effect stronger among those surprised by their test results. Similarly, those surprised by HIV-negative test results see a significant improvement in achievement test scores, consistent with increased returns to investments in human capital. The finding of increased HSV-2 prevalence among HIV-positive individuals suggests that the conventional wisdom that those who learn they are HIV-positive will adopt safer sexual practices should be treated with caution.
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Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS6823 MAR 01, 2014
Baird, Sarah; Gong, Erick; McIntosh, Craig; Ozler, Berk
For young adults living in countries with AIDS epidemics, getting an HIV test may influence near-term decisions, such as when to leave school, when to marry, and when to have a first child.
... Vea más + These behaviors, which define the transition from adolescence to adulthood, have long-term implications on well-being and directly affect a person's risk of contracting HIV. Using an experimental design embedded in a panel survey from Malawi, this study assesses the impact of voluntary counseling and testing of young adults for HIV on these decisions. The results show negligible intent-to-treat effect of HIV testing on behaviors. There is some suggestive evidence on differential response by wealth and by prior beliefs about one's status.
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Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS6825 MAR 01, 2014