29 research outputs found
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
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Introduction to Special Issue on: ‘Inequalities in the Least Developed Countries – Some Lessons from Africa’
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
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