Insights from poverty maps for development and food relief program targeting: an application to Malawi

"This study aims to assess the value of poverty mapping to public-works projects undertaken by the World Food Programme (WFP) with the government of Malawi in its Food for Assets and Development (FFASD) program....Poverty mapping is a useful decisionmaking tool in targeting relief and development programs, and it provides objective and nonpolitical information that is also helpful in prioritizing areas for poverty alleviation projects and emergency food aid relief." Authors' AbstractPoverty mapping, food security, Malawi, Food relief, Targeting,

Assessing Africa's food and nutrition security situation

"...in more than a dozen African countries the rate of undernourishment is more than 40 percent, exceeding 50 percent in those countries experiencing or emerging from armed conflict. As a result, more than a third of African children suffer stunted growth and face a range of physical and cognitive challenges not faced by their better fed peers. Ultimately, undernutrition underlies around 2.9 million deaths in Africa annually — more than a quarter of all the deaths occurring on the continent each year. The economic costs of such widespread undernutrition are enormous. This is because the economic growth of each nation — which requires enhanced economic productivity — depends upon broad improvements being made in the intellectual and technical capacity of its population. But, this in turn depends upon people receiving adequate nutrition, particularly women in their childbearing years and young children. So, only once African countries have secured the basic food and nutritional needs of their populations will they be able to achieve the broad-based economic growth necessary to reduce." from TextNutrition ,

Insights from poverty maps for development and food relief program targeting: an application to Malawi

"Poverty mapping applies models of household welfare developed from detailed household consumption and expenditure surveys to the extensive but less detailed data from national censuses. A poverty map for Malawi, developed by drawing upon information from the 1997–98 Malawi Integrated Household Survey with the 1998 Malawi Population and Housing Census, provides aggregate estimates of household welfare and poverty at a highly disaggregated level—down to the level of local government wards. Given the close association between welfare and food security in most Malawi households, such a detailed poverty map can be of considerable value to development and relief organizations, as they plan and target activities to improve the ability of poor households to cope with food scarcity. This paper assesses the value of the Malawi poverty map with reference to two activities of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Malawi: the Food for Assets and Development (FFASD) public works program and the Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) food insecurity information generation system. First, the poverty targeting efficiency of the FFASD program is evaluated using the poverty map to determine whether the FFASD projects are preferentially located in areas where disproportionate numbers of the poor are found. This is done in part by comparing the poverty targeting efficiency of the WFP program to that of the Malawi Social Action Fund Public Works Programme projects. Second, WFP employs the VAM methodology to determine how and where to employ its resources from year to year. The potential value of the poverty map as a component of the VAM process in Malawi is then considered. The results indicate that the poverty map is an effective and objective way to geographically target projects and programs on a poverty basis in Malawi. In assessing household vulnerability to food insecurity, the poverty map serves as a useful proxy indicator of spatial variability in the ability of the population to cope with food scarcity. Poverty maps, in those countries were they are available, should be a privileged data source for undertaking any national vulnerability analyses. However, the poverty map needs to be used with complementary data to better understand the risks households face that might result in food scarcity and the actual mechanisms households use to cope with such stresses." Authors' AbstractPoverty mapping, food security, Malawi, Food relief, Targeting,

Fertilizer subsidies in Africa: Are vouchers the answer?

"In the 1970s and 1980s, most African countries sold fertilizer at subsidized prices through state-owned enterprises. In response to the fiscal cost and ineffective implementation of these subsidies, as well as pressure from international financial institutions, almost all of these countries liberalized their fertilizer markets to some degree as part of structural adjustment programs carried out in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Under these reforms, governments eliminated state monopolies on fertilizer distribution and phased out universal subsidies." from textFertilizers, subsidies,

Estimating yield of food crops grown by smallholder farmers: A review in the Uganda context

Precise agricultural statistics are essential for planning and evaluation of agricultural investments to improve the productivity and profitability of smallholder farming systems. However, accurately estimating crop yields is never easy and is even more of a challenge in the context of African farming systems that are characterized by smallholder farms that produce a wide range of diverse crops. With specific reference to yield estimation for food crops under smallholder farming conditions in Uganda, this paper evaluates the various methods that are available to estimate crop production and cropped area in such farming systems. A description and summary tables from a database of estimated crop yields in Uganda that was collated from a large set of field studies over past decades are also provided.agricultural statistics, crop yield, Data Collection, smallholder farming,

Livestock development planning in Uganda

Livestock are an important element of the livelihoods of many Ugandan households, and considerable efforts at economic development by the government of Uganda have focused on the livestock sector. However, these development efforts have suffered due to a lack of detailed data on the distribution of livestock in Uganda to guide the targeting of such programs. In this paper we use data from the 2008 National Livestock Census to develop a better understanding of where in Uganda there might be potential for significant investment to intensify the production of livestock and, conversely, where there are important challenges, such as conflicts between human populations and livestock that need to be addressed. This analysis is done by developing a quantitative model to predict mean livestock stocking rates at sub-county level (n = 929) that uses population density, agroecological factors, and market access as explanatory variables. A mapping of the model residuals approach is then used to identify areas in Uganda that are relatively understocked and those that are potentially overstocked. This information is then used to suggest approaches to livestock development in both types of areas.Development planning, livestock, Spatial analysis,

Poverty in Malawi, 1998

"This paper presents the poverty analysis of the 1997 98 Malawi Integrated Household Survey. The analysis developed basic needs poverty lines, using consumption-based measures of welfare to classify households and individuals as poor and nonpoor. Because consumption data were not of uniform quality across sample households, the analysis made adjustments to derive a more accurate assessment of the incidence of poverty across the country. The analysis provides poverty and inequality estimates for Malawi's population. About 65 percent were unable to meet their basic needs, and poverty was deep and pervasive. The distribution of household welfare was loosely examined within the context of the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy to guide government action in helping poor households improve their own well-being." Authors' AbstractPoverty ,poverty analysis ,

Why the poor in rural Malawi are where they are: An Analysis of the Spatial Determinants of the Local Prevalence of Poverty

"We examine the spatial determinants of the prevalence of poverty for small spatially defined populations in rural Malawi. Poverty prevalence was estimated using a small-area poverty estimation technique. A theoretical approach based on the risk chain conceptualization of household economic vulnerability guided our selection of a set of potential risk and coping strategies — the determinants of our model — that could be represented spatially. These were used in two analyses to develop global and local models, respectively. In our global model—a spatial error model — only eight of the more than two dozen determinants selected for analysis proved significant. In contrast, all of the determinants considered were significant in at least some of the local models of poverty prevalence. The local models were developed using geographically weighted regression. Moreover, these models provided strong evidence of the spatial nonstationarity of the relationship between poverty and its determinants. That is, in determining the level of poverty in rural communities, where one is located in Malawi matters. This result for poverty reduction efforts in rural Malawi implies that such efforts should be designed for and targeted at the district and subdistrict levels. A national, relatively inflexible approach to poverty reduction is unlikely to enjoy broad success." Authors' AbstractSpatial analysis (Statistics) ,Poverty mapping ,Spatial regression ,Poverty determinants ,

Mapping where the poor live:

Poverty reduction, Hunger, Poverty maps, Program design, Understanding where the poor live, Spatial distribution of poverty,