Poverty and the Dynamics of Women's Participation in Household Decision-Making in Nigeria

In patriarchal societies like Nigeria, where traditional norms and practices limits women's autonomous decisions on issues that affect their lives; men exercise significant influence on household decision-making processes. However, due to the economic crisis of the early 1980s and the associated worsening poverty, men's resources are increasingly becoming inadequate to meet the various needs of their households. Consequently, women's contribution to family resources has increased remarkably. To what extent has poverty affected women's participation in household decision-making? This paper tries to answer this question. Using a non-income poverty measurement (social exclusion), the study employed descriptive and analytical methods of analysis with particular attention focused on women between the ages of 25 and 49 years got married before SAP was introduced. Evidence from the study reveals a high level of impoverishment using non-income indices. The results indicate that a fairly high proportion of women are involved in household decision-making. Women participated more on household matters in pre-SAP than post-SAP era. However, poor women participate less in household decision-making relative to non-poor during post SAP era. The predominant factors are women's education, women's employment status, religion, and husband's educational attainment. The results also portray a shift away from patriarchal tendencies to an egalitarian one where partnerships and collective interactions predominate. Some policy considerations include need to mainstream gender targeting in poverty eradication, if women's family decision authority is to be meaningfully enhanced, as well as the need to ensure gender responsive budgeting in development management, promotion of improved women's education and women's gainful employment in higher income generation sectors

Piketty comes to South Africa

One of the most valuable features of Capital and Ideology is its concern to take history seriously and consider how the eme

Climate Change and Economic Growth in Africa: An Econometric Analysis

The economic landscape of most African countries depends essentially on the dynamics of climate change. Key sectors driving their economic performance and livelihoods such as agriculture, forestry, energy, tourism, coastal and water resources are highly vulnerable to climate change. This article examines the empirical linkage between economic growth and climate change in Africa. Using annual data for 34 countries from 1961 to 2009, we find a negative impact of climate change on economic growth. Our results show that a 1°C increase in temperature reduces gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 0.67 percentage point. Evidence from sensitivity analysis shows the two largest economies in the Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria and South Africa) play a significant role in ameliorating the negative economic impact of climate change in the region. In addition to impact on Africa, this article provides estimates of the impact of climate change on GDP growth of these 34 countries, which can be valuable in appraising national adaptation plans.We do not find evidence that average long-run temperature changes affect long-run economic growth as measured by 5 year averages.University of Pretoria Research Development Programme Grant (RDP)http://jae.oxfordjournals.org2017-03-31hb201

How Group-Based Cardiovascular Health Education Affects Treatment Adherence and Blood Pressure Control among Insured Hypertensive Nigerians: A Pre-Test, Post-Test Study

In sub Saharan Africa (SSA), access to affordable hypertension care through health insurance is increasing. But due to poor adherence, hypertension treatment outcomes often remain poor. Patient-centered educational interventions may reverse this trend. Using a pre-test/post-test design, in this study we investigated the effects of a structured cardiovascular health education program (CHEP) on treatment adherence, blood pressure (BP) control and body mass index (BMI) among Nigerian hypertensive patients who received guideline-based care in a rural primary care facility, in the context of a community based health insurance program. Study participants included 149 insured patients with uncontrolled BP and/or poor self-reported medication adherence after 12 months of guideline-based care. All patients received three group-based educational sessions and usual primary care over 6 months. We evaluated changes in self-reported adherence to prescribed medications and behavioral advice (primary outcomes); systolic BP (SBP) and/or diastolic BP (DBP) and BMI (secondary outcomes); and beliefs about hypertension and medications (explora- tory outcomes). Outcomes were analyzed with descriptive statistics and regression analysis. 140 patients completed the study (94%). At 6 months, more participants reported high adherence to medications and behavioral advice than at baseline: respectively, 101 (72%) versus 70 (50%), (p < 0.001) and 126 (90%) versus 106 (76%), (p < 0.001). Participants with controlled BP doubled from 34 (24%) to 65 (46%), (p = 0.001). The median SBP and DBP decreased from 129.0 to 122.0 mmHg, (p = 0.002) and from 80.0 to 73.5 mmHg, (p < 0.001), respectively. BMI did not change (p = 0.444). Improved medication adherence was associated with a decrease in medication concerns (p = 0.045) and improved medication self-efficacy (p < 0.001). By positively influencing patient perceptions of medications, CHEP strengthened medication adherence and, consequently, BP reduction among insured hypertensive Nigerians. This educational approach can support cardiovascular disease prevention programs for Africa’s growing hypertensive population

Productivity and Unemployment in Nigeria

Productivity and employment are issues that are central to the social and economic life of every country. The extant literature refers to productivity and unemployment as constituting a vicious circle that explains the endemic nature of poverty in developing countries. And it has been argued that continuous improvement in productivity is the surest way to breaking this vicious circle. Growth in productivity provides a significant basis for adequate supply of goods and services thereby improving the welfare of the people and enhancing social progress. As pointed out by Dernburg (1985:63), "Without it there would be no growth in per capita income, and inflation control would be all the more difficult". In fact, the observation has been made that continuous enhancement of productivity has been very central to the brilliant performance of the Asian Tigers and Japan in recent years (Simbeye, 1992; World Bank 1993). Recent developments in the world economy have also shown that countries with high productivity are not only central to the determination of global balance of powers (e.g Japan and Germany), but also serve as centres of stimulus, where world resources (including labour) are redirected to, as opposed to countries with low or declining productivity. Recent studies, for example, Rensburg and Nande (1999) and Roberts and Tybout (1997) have also shown that high productivity increases competitiveness in terms of penetrating the world market. Thus, a country with high productivity is often characterized by a very high capacity utilization (optimal use of resources), high standard of living, low rate of unemployment and social progress. Unemployment, on the other hand, has been categorized as one of the serious impediments to social progress. Apart from representing a colossal waste of a country's manpower resources, it generates welfare loss in terms of lower output thereby leading to lower income and well-being (Akinboyo, 1987; and Raheem, 1993). Unemployment is a very serious issue in Africa (Vandemoortele, 1991 and Rama, 1998) and particularly in Nigeria (Oladeji, 1994 and Umo, 1996). The need to avert the negative effects of unemployment has made the tackling of unemployment problems to feature very prominently in the development objectives of many developing countries. Incidentally, most of these countries' economies are also characterized by low productivity. Thus, it seems obvious to many policy makers that there must be a straight forward connection between productivity and employment/unemployment. However, the theoretical linkage between productivity and unemployment is yet to be settled in the literature. While some researchers posit that higher productivity may increase unemployment (e.g. Diachavbre, 1991; Krugman, 1994), some others argue that it could increase employment (e.g Yesufu, 1984; Akerele, 1994; CEC, 1993). In view of the unfolding reality coupled with the protracted debates this paper attempts to examine the linkage between productivity and unemployment. Specifically, it examines the dimensions of productivity and unemployment in Nigeria as well as the direction of causality between them. To this end, the rest of the paper is organized thus. Following this introduction is part II, which examines the conceptual and theoretical is sues. Part III discusses the profile of productivity and unemployment in Nigeria while the empirical link between them is examined in part IV. The final part contains the policy implications and conclusions