Resources,household decision making and organisation of labour in food production among small-scale farmers in southern Zambia

This article examines the production context of small-scale farm households in the Choma District in southern Zambia. Factors associated with differential access to production assets among the households are analysed. In addition to this, patterns of household decision making and the social organisation of labour in agricultural production are documented. The study findings show that farm size, a proxy for wealth or social status, accounted for significant differences in the level of ownership and access to production assets. The study also highlights the importance of labour and livestock in the production strategies of small-scale farmers. The data from this study on decision making and the social organisation of labour confirm the importance of gender roles in agricultural production.     

Access to savings and household welfare evidence from a household survey in The Gambia

In this study, we provide evidence on the impact of access to formal savings on household well‐being in The Gambia. Specifically, we study how access to formal savings can impact household outcomes such as total spending, ownership of durable assets, health spending, and education spending. Using a representative household survey and kernel ridge regression method, we find that household access to formal savings has a positive and statistically significant impact on all outcomes except health spending. Furthermore, we find that the largest effect size of access to savings is on education spending. However, the impact estimates on education and food expenditure are not very robust to a mild presence of hidden bias. Overall, we find a robust impact for total spending and asset ownership. Hence, increasing household access to formal savings can improve household well‐being in The Gambia.     

Remittances and child labour in Ghana: Does the gender of the household head matter?

This study investigates the effect of remittance income on child labour and the role of gender in Ghana. Data were sourced from the Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 6. In order to solve the issue of endogeneity, we adopt the instrumental variable approach. The study finds evidence that, irrespective of whoever is the head of the household, the total effect of remittances on child labour is negative. However, the negative effect is much higher for female-headed households. It is recommended that more mobile money transfer outlets be established and the cost of transferring money be reduced to the barest minimum so as to enable households to maximise the benefits of the remittances they receive. Furthermore, financial transfers should be given to female household heads upon the condition of school attendance by their children so as to reduce child labour.     

An analysis of factors affecting access to credit in Lesotho's smallholder agricultural sector

The agricultural sector in Lesotho is underperforming mainly due to the inability of smallholders to move from traditional agriculture to a more scientific and technology-based one. Among the challenges inhibiting the ability of smallholders to make the step up is access to financial services, especially credit. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that may influence the ability of smallholders to access finance by making use of a logistic regression model within the principle component regression framework. The results revealed that the ability of smallholders to access finance, and the potential to make the transition towards a more scientific and technology-based agriculture sector, is influenced by the level of farm and non-farm income, remittances and pension, farm size, availability of family labour, land ownership, savings and repayment ability. The results present important information in terms of guiding institutional arrangements needed to improve credit availability in Lesotho.     

Farm households' participation in rural non-farm employment in post-war Rwanda: Drivers and policy implications

Despite the post-war government's unprecedented efforts to stimulate growth of the rural non-farm (RNF) sector in Rwanda, evidence suggests that participation in this sector remains low compared with other developing and transition economies. This study investigates the micro and meso-level factors defining farm household's capacity and incentives to participate in RNF employment in the post-war Rwanda. Based on the household's time allocation theory, this study employs household survey data collected in Gisagara District in a double-hurdle regression. The results reveal that female-headedness, labour availability, education, social networks, access to finance and rural towns increase the probability of participating in RNF activities, whereas for participating households, the time allocated to RNF activities tends to decrease with age, land productivity, distance to market and dispersed settlements. The article concludes with key implications for rural development policies such as basic education and umudugudu settlements.     

Use of wealth ranking to analyse factors influencing smallholder farmers' market participation in northern Mozambique

This study analysed factors influencing smallholders' market participation, using wealth-ranking factors. Two hypotheses were tested: that (1) wealth status and (2) wealth-ranking factors are positively related to market participation. Significant and positive relationships were found between wealth-ranking factors (labour, number of livestock, implements, bicycles, food availability, area of land cultivated and crops sold) and wealth status. Wealth status and wealth-ranking factors were positively and significantly correlated with the number of different kinds of cash crops sold. However, household characteristics not indicated as wealth-ranking factors, such as age, gender and literacy level, related insignificantly to market participation. Labour was the most important wealth-ranking factor explaining market participation. This analytical tool can be used to assess the wealth-ranking factors that influence market participation. It can help identify strategies for improving this participation and may also be used to assess the way a cash crop development project affects a household's wealth status.     

Credit Card Averters and Amassers: Evidence from Malaysia*

Various socio‐demographic characteristics determine credit card ownership. Based on a hurdle‐count data model, the decision on card ownership is separated into two parts: whether to own one, and if so, how many cards to hold. Results indicate that age, race, education, income, number of loan commitments, household size and current account ownership have clear influences on the probability of ownership and quantity of card holdings. Common perception that easy access to credit via credit cards makes multiple card holdings enticing is not validated as results show that easy access to credit was not a significant driver of the number of cards owned. Card ownership and quantity of card holdings have implications for market competition among credit card issuers.     

Will remittances suppress or increase household income in the migrant-sending areas? Modeling the effects of remittances in rural China

There are ongoing debates about whether remittances suppress or increase household income in the migrant-sending areas. The literature has not explained the heterogeneous results in a unified framework. This paper proposes a new concept, remittance capitalization potential (RCP), to conceptualise the possible switch between suppression effect and incentivization effect of remittances in the migrant-sending areas. The theoretical model reveals that remittances suppress household income in the migrant-sending areas when the RCP level is below a certain threshold, while remittances help increase household income in the migrant-sending areas when the RCP level is above a certain threshold. Moreover, the factors that affect the RCP level, such as the level of household human capital, ultimately determine whether remittances exert suppression or incentivization effect in the migrant-sending areas. Using China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, this paper adopts the method of instrumental variables to estimate how the level of household human capital alters the effect of remittances on household income from agricultural production in rural China. The models show that in the households with the head agricultural producers who are illiterate or semi-literate, the remittances suppress the agricultural income significantly. In the households with the head agricultural producers who are literate, however, the impact of remittances on the agricultural income switch to be positive significantly. The robustness tests not only support the results from the base models, but also confirm that the level of household human capital works as an influencing factor of RCP and determines whether remittances suppress or increase household income in the migrant-sending areas.     

Effects of remittances on food security in sub-Saharan Africa

The objective of this research was to analyze the effects of remittances on food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), while assessing the role of governance. The analyses covered a panel of 26 SSA countries over the period from 2002 to 2017. Based on the double least squares method, two main results were obtained. On the one hand, remittances have a positive effect on overall food security and on each of its dimensions in SSA. On the other hand, this positive effect of remittances on food security and its dimensions is increasingly important when the quality of governance improves.     

基于Logit模型的城市非户籍人口购房行为影响因素分析——以厦门市为例

购房和租房是城市居民实现住房消费的两种主要手段。结合厦门市房地产租购市场,通过实地问卷调查,提出非厦门户籍人口购买住房行为的影响因素;同时,应用Logit模型对影响因素进行回归分析和假设检验,得到预期房价、住房归属感、迁移可能性、工作稳定性、在厦门居住时间、购房首付的承受能力等是显著的正面影响因素。     

International migrant remittances and labour force participation in Nigeria

This study examines the effect of remittances inflow to Nigeria on labour force participation in the country using the propensity score matching and Heckman two‐step benchmark model. With data sourced from Nigeria's 2015/16 General Household Survey, results reveal that receipt of remittances increased both labour force participation for non‐farm economic activities and labour force participation in urban areas, perhaps as a result of investing received remittances in new business ventures. In addition, remittance inflows raised economic activeness of the younger members of the labour force who constituted a greater percentage. The study recommends the proper functioning of institutions aimed at facilitating remittance inflows as well as enhancing the utilization of such remittances in industry‐based business start‐ups.     

Transition and Enterprise Restructuring: The Development of Individual Farming in Romania

Economic reforms have induced enterprise restructuring in transition countries. In agriculture, the most dramatic form of restructuring is the break-up of state and collective farms into individual farms. The development of individual farming varies strongly between countries, regions and households. This paper uses household-level data from a 1996 survey in Romania to analyze which household and regional characteristics determine the shift to individual farming. Individual farming is influenced by several household characteristics, such as the human capital (education, age, farming experience), physical capital endowments (ownership of land, buildings, machinery, livestock) and access to other finance sources (off-farm wages, pensions). Furthermore, environmental factors, such as infrastructure, local access to inputs, and the pre-reform importance of individual farming in the region, all affect the development of individual farming.     

Unemployment and Food Insecurity in Urban Ethiopia

Although unemployment is often associated with food insecurity, the paths through which it leads to food insecurity is less explored. This study investigates the effects of unemployment on food insecurity based on data collected from 410 randomly selected households in Addis Ababa and the Munessa district of Arsi Zone. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The results show that 55.9 percent of the respondents were unemployed and only 12.4 percent of the households were food secure. The prevalence of food insecurity was higher among households headed by unemployed persons. Education and economic factors are the mechanisms through which unemployment leads to food insecurity. Lack of education reduces the chance of employment and the quality of jobs engaged in whilst the economic path to food insecurity is partly related to the inability of poor households to cope with soaring food prices and seasonal unemployment. Thus, increasing employment opportunities through pro‐poor measures is a means to enhance human capital development that helps the people take advantage of the labour market and improve the economic status of households, ultimately leading to ensuring food security.     

The impact of circular migration on a village economy

The author examines the economy of a rural village in Indonesia in which a high proportion of households rely on remittances from urban informal sector earnings. Household income and per capita income are analyzed according to whether or not households have at least one temporary migrant, and by the sex and age of the household head. Findings indicate that "remittances from short-term circular migration push many households into the middle and upper income ranges. However, the wealthiest households continue to rely on traditional high earning activities and do not depend on remittances. The poorest households are scattered among those who rely on remittances and those still totally dependent upon traditional low earning village activities, regardless of the sex and age of the household head."     

基于分位数回归法的安徽省粮食产量影响因素分析

首先利用滤波分析对改革开放以来安徽省粮食安全的相关数据进行处理,根据粮食产量的变化特征将其划分为两个阶段,接着利用分位回归模型对各阶段影响粮食总产量的各分位数进行因素分析,更为细致和深入地研究了粮食总产量及其影响因素之间的回归关系,最后依据模型分析的结果,对安徽省增加粮食产量提出了相应的政策建议。     

Sources of capital and income for communal area farmers in Kavango: Implications for agriculture and rural development

A survey based on a structured questionnaire was conducted at the beginning of 1995 to identify sources of capital and income for rural households in Kavango. The survey, which covered 80 households, revealed that there was a high dependence on external income sources. Pensions were the major source of income for the highest proportion of all households (33 per cent), followed by wages (23 per cent) and brewing (10 per cent). Other sources of income of similar importance to brewing were crop sales, non‐formal work and cash remittances.

Livestock were a minor source of income but a major source of capital and food security. Households with smaller cattle herds depended more on cattle for income and food security than those with larger herds. Cattle were a highly valued production resource that was only consumed during times of crisis and only in the absence of less valuable assets that could be easily liquidated. Grain storage was more popular among groups with the lowest income. By various criteria, female‐headed households always tended to be in the group of households categorised as the poorest of the poor. However, given sufficient income, over one third of them would purchase cattle to diversify their investment portfolio.

This article presents a number of potential strategies for improving the incomes of rural households in Kavango. These include the promotion of equitable livestock ownership and better use of the grazing resource through community management, intensification of cropping and the implementation of labour‐intensive programmes to develop rural infrastructure.     

Determinants of Well‐being and Poverty Changes in Cameroon: 2001–2007

Abstract: This paper identifies and decomposes sources that explain household economic well‐being in Cameroon. It uses the 2001 and 2007 Cameroon Household Consumption Surveys, synthetic variables constructed by the multiple correspondence analysis and econometric approaches that correct for potential endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity in a step‐wise manner and simultaneously. Sources of well‐being that explain poverty are then decomposed into growth and redistribution components. Variables that significantly explain household economic well‐being are education, health, household size, fraction of active household members, working in the formal sector and area of residence. Decomposition analysis shows that the growth components largely account for changes in deprivation in terms of each regressed‐income source. With the exception of the income source education, redistribution components slowed down progress in alleviating shortfall in other regressed‐income sources. These results have implications for public interventions that affect education and health for all, labour market participation and infrastructure development.     

Food consumption patterns,seasonality and market access in Mozambique

Seasonal fluctuations in food consumption are a serious problem in rural Mozambique, where community isolation is high, and market integration, use of improved inputs, and access to off-farm income are low. This article uses household survey data to trace seasonal fluctuations in food consumption patterns and to analyse the ways households maintain access to calories. Significant substitution is observed between maize and cassava, and beans and green vegetables, over the production cycle. An analysis of the total expenditure elasticity of food groups reveals how precarious food security is in rural households in the poorest quintile. These households show near unitary expenditure elasticity for even the most basic staples of maize and cassava. The potential role of public policy in diminishing seasonal fluctuation in food consumption is explored using distance to road as an indicator of market access. The results show that distance to the nearest road has a significant effect on household food consumption patterns.     

推动经济发展关注民生改善——浅谈重庆市户籍制度改革

重庆市户籍制度改革政策,是现代政府新公共行政管理下的创新尝试,是有效建立服务型、信息化政府的有效途径.此次户籍制度改革从根本上缩小了城乡二元结构经济下城乡发展差异化的鸿沟,借助各类综合配套措施,合理建立土地、住房、社保、就业、教育、卫生五项保障机制,逐步消除城乡户籍待遇差距,加快了城乡一体化、城市现代化的步伐.     

Accessibility to microcredit by Chinese rural households

This paper examines the factors influencing the accessibility of microcredit by rural households in China. The empirical analysis utilises logistic regression, with data collected through a household survey carried out in one province in China. A total of twelve household-level factors are identified as determinants in households’ access to microcredit, including educational level, household size, income, among others. In addition to these, results indicate that rural households’ accessibility to microcredit can also be impaired by the supply-side factors (e.g., interest rates, loan processing time). The empirical analysis establishes a positive relationship between households’ credit demand and access to credit. The paper thus concludes that households should be encouraged to raise capital requirements (for example, create investment opportunities in on/off farm activities) to increase their demand for credit, which can enhance their access to microcredit. In addition, microcredit institutions (such as the Rural Credit Cooperatives) should improve their lending schemes and micro loan products to better suit the diversified needs of the rural population.