Measuring the Impact of Public and Private Assets on Household Crop Income in Rural Mozambique, 2002-2005

This brief summarizes detailed analysis of the determinants of household crop income in rural Mozambique from 2002 to 2005. Increased crop income is associated with increases in household land area, use of animal traction, crop diversification into tobacco or cotton, access to market price information, and access to extension agents (for tobacco/cotton growers). Decreases in crop income are associated with drought. Results demonstrate that there are both public and private investments that can enhance farmers’ ability to increase crop income and avoid losses. Priority investments include: development and dissemination of drought-resistant varieties for maize and cassava, conservation farming, animal traction, market information, access to high-value crops and small-scale irrigation.agriculture, africa, mozambique, food security, assets, household, rural, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q12,

The Many Paths of Cotton Sector Reform in Eastern and Southern Africa: Lessons from a Decade of Experience

Crop Production/Industries,

Interlinked Transactions in Cash Cropping Economies: The Determinants of Farmer Participation and Performance in the Zambezi River Valley of Mozambique

This paper investigates the determinants of participation and performance of tobacco contract farmers, and the effects of participation on overall crop and household incomes in the Zambezi Valley of Mozambique. We test the existence of threshold effects in land holdings and educational attainment to identify the types of farmers that benefit. Several results stand out. First, participation in the schemes is driven by factor endowments, asset ownership and alternative income opportunities, and very little by demographic factors. Second, we find no returns to education in tobacco; this result is consistent with previous research in Mozambique but surprising in an agronomically demanding crop like tobacco. Third, there appear to be economies of scale in tobacco production, perhaps through more efficient use of hired labor. If true, tobacco could drive greater economic differentiation through the growth of "emergent" or commercial smallholder households - something that has been conspicuously lacking in Mozambique to date. Fourth, farmers without wage income are more likely to grow tobacco; since other research shows that wage labor has driven most income growth in Mozambique over the past six years, tobacco could be inequality reducing. Tobacco growers also hire much more labor than non-growers, contributing to second-round inequality reducing effects. Further analysis, preferably in a general equilibrium framework, is needed to understand how the simultaneous forces of economic differentiation and spreading of economic benefits will affect income distribution. Potential adverse environmental impacts also deserve far more attention than they have received to date.Contract farming, selection bias, treatment effects, threshold effects, household income., Crop Production/Industries, C21, D1, L1, J43, Q12,

Using Rural Household Income Survey Data to Inform Poverty Analysis: An Example from Mozambique

This paper demonstrates that income survey data can be very informative in explaining the variation across households in the incidence and severity of absolute poverty using a rural household income data set for Mozambique. Results from regression analysis of the sources of variation are used to simulate the impact of alternative agricultural interventions or strategies on rural poverty. Complementarities in the insights gained from consumption expenditure and income surveys may justify the collection and analysis of both types of information, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, the one region of the world where the incidence of poverty is increasing.Poverty analysis, household income surveys, agricultural development, Millenium Development Goals, Mozambique, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, C21, I3, O13, O2, Q18,

Medição do Impacto dos Bens Públicos e Privados sobre os Rendimentos Familiares Provenientes de Culturas em Moçambique Rural, 2002-2005

This brief summarizes detailed analysis of the determinants of household crop income in rural Mozambique from 2002 to 2005. Increased crop income is associated with increases in household land area, use of animal traction, crop diversification into tobacco or cotton, access to market price information, and access to extension agents (for tobacco/cotton growers). Decreases in crop income are associated with drought. Results demonstrate that there are both public and private investments that can enhance farmers’ ability to increase crop income and avoid losses. Priority investments include: development and dissemination of drought-resistant varieties for maize and cassava, conservation farming, animal traction, market information, access to high-value crops and small-scale irrigation.agriculture, africa, mozambique, food security, assets, household, rural, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q12,

Cotton Sector Policies and Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons Behind the Numbers in Mozambique and Zambia

Research results from SIMA-Department of Statistics and Department of Policy Analysis MADER-Directorate of Economicsfood security, food policy, cotton, Mozambique, Zambia, Crop Production/Industries, Q18,

Minimising damage to houses by designing for high internal pressures

Internal pressurisation of buildings during a severe wind event, such as a tropical cyclone or thunderstorm, can often cause severe structural failures, as observed during damage investigations. Wind loading standards worldwide provide design data for internal pressure design. However, the implementation of these data often depends on the location of the building in relation to the levels of wind hazard in the relevant country. Recent observations during Tropical Cyclone (TC) Seroja in an intermediate wind region (wind region B) in Western Australia indicated the need for the design for full internal pressures of buildings in this wind region. This paper presents an overview of the damage investigation conducted after TC Seroja that highlights significant damage to buildings due to the lack of design for internal pressures. Additionally, a case study of a house modelled using the vulnerability analysis software VAWS is presented showing the improvements in the performance of buildings designed for internal pressures. TheVAWS models showed that both the design for full internal pressure and the use of debris rated shutters were both effective at reducing the level of serious structural damage and making houses more resilient. The robustness and resilience of buildings increase significantly if they are designed for high internal pressure because the failure of a window or door (a local failure) will not lead to a major structural failure

COTTON SECTOR POLICIES AND PERFORMANCE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA:LESSONS BEHIND THE NUMBERS IN MOZAMBIQUE AND ZAMBIA

Cotton is one of the most important smallholder cash crops in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). How to ensure input supply, credit recovery and competition is a subject of intense policy debate. This paper examines the performance of cotton sector development policies in Mozambique and Zambia. Both countries face the challenge of organizing input supply to farmers in the absence of rural credit markets, and competing in international markets distorted by production subsidies in developed countries. Both countries privatized cotton ginning in the 1990s. Emerging from civil war, Mozambique established geographical monopolies to interlink input and output markets and facilitate credit recovery. In Zambia, the government completely liberalized the cotton sector, forcing the private sector to deal with the problem of input distribution and credit recovery by itself. Despite being landlocked, Zambia's cotton sector has achieved better performance in terms of both value of cotton output per hectare and smallholder share of world market prices. An analysis of the institutional and technical factors behind the two countries' performance provides insights to guide the design of public/private partnerships relevant to many SSA countries.Cotton, Mozambique, Zambia, liberalization, agricultural policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

Observations and Emerging Lessons from the 1998/99 High-Input Maize Program in Nampula Province, Mozambique

Research Results from the Department of Policy Analysis MARD-Directorate of Economicsfood security, food policy, Mozambique, maize, farmer associations, Crop Production/Industries, Q18,

Desempenho do Sector Algodoeiro ao Nível da Machamba em Nampula: Situação Actual e Perspectivas para o seu Melhoramento

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Directorate of Economics, Republic of Mozambiquefood security, food policy, Mozambique, Food Security and Poverty, Q18,