Health expenditure and household budgets in rural Liberia

Fieldwork conducted in a Kpelle village in north-central Liberia revealed that health-care expenses constitute a major part of domestic spending. The actual transactions for major healthcare expenditures are handled by men, typically using income that jointly belongs to the couple in addition to the husband’s personal income. Women are likely to spend their personal incomes on minor health expenses for themselves and their children. Women’s health expenditure, as well as their income handling arrangements, seem to differ according to the type of conjugal union they are in. Although Kpelle wives have input in most financial decisions, they tend to defer to men on issues which are associated with the Western world, namely Western health care, educational and tax expenditures

Investing in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire: hypotheses, evidence and policy implications

This paper presents empirical evidence to show how socioeconomic factors affect the adoption of and investment in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire. The analysis uses primary farm-level data collected in 2002 from a nationally representative sample of more than one thousand cocoa farmers. The study describes the status of the adoption of various chemical inputs and uses a multiplicative heteroscedastic Tobit model to identify and quantify the impact of the socioeconomic environment on the incentive to invest. The results generally show that farmer, household and village characteristics are all important in explaining the farmers’ decisions. The paper concludes by outlining a number of implications for strategic targeting of farmers and locations. These should serve as entry points for a successful diffusion of efficient pest, disease and soil management programs.Chemical input ; Tobit model ; Cocoa sector ; Socioeconomic factors ; Côte d’Ivoire

Investing in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire: Hypotheses, evidence and policy implications

This paper presents empirical evidence to show how socioeconomic factors affect the adoption of and investment in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire. The analysis uses primary farm-level data collected in 2002 from a nationally representative sample of more than one thousand cocoa farmers. The study describes the status of the adoption of various chemical inputs and uses a multiplicative heteroscedastic Tobit model to identify and quantify the impact of the socioeconomic environment on the incentive to invest. The results generally show that farmer, household and village characteristics are all important in explaining the farmers’ decisions. The paper concludes by outlining a number of implications for strategic targeting of farmers and locations. These should serve as entry points for a successful diffusion of efficient pest, disease and soil management programs.Chemical input, Tobit model, Cocoa sector, Socioeconomic factors, Côte d’Ivoire, Crop Production/Industries,

Investing in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire: hypotheses, evidence and policy implications

This paper presents empirical evidence to show how socioeconomic factors affect the adoption of and investment in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire. The analysis uses primary farm-level data collected in 2002 from a nationally representative sample of more than one thousand cocoa farmers. The study describes the status of the adoption of various chemical inputs and uses a multiplicative heteroscedastic Tobit model to identify and quantify the impact of the socioeconomic environment on the incentive to invest. The results generally show that farmer, household and village characteristics are all important in explaining the farmers’ decisions. The paper concludes by outlining a number of implications for strategic targeting of farmers and locations. These should serve as entry points for a successful diffusion of efficient pest, disease and soil management programs

Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change - Work Package 5 Activity Guidance, CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology

This document provides guidance on two activities conducted under Work Package 5 if the CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology in 2022: 1) a theories of change review and 2) a participatory timeline of agency and behaviour change in agroecological transformation. The guidance includes research methods for Activities 1 and 2 as well as data analysis and writeup for Activity 1

Getting a Piece of the Pie: An Analysis of Factors Influencing Women’s Production of Sweetpotato in Northern Nigeria

This paper examines the conditions and factors that create opportunities for women to engage in market-oriented crop production. It uses as a case study of Nasarawa and Kwara states in northern Nigeria, where women have started to cultivate sweetpotato, a crop traditionally grown by men. Men’s responsibility for providing staple food crops for household consumption (based on religious and cultural norms) and the practice of spouses cultivating separate plots controlled by the individual presented opportunities for women to produce sweetpotato for the market, challenging the commonly-held assumption that commercialization often disadvantages women. The sweetpotato case shows how the dynamic nature of production organization, intra-household roles and responsibilities, and gender ideologies in Sub-Saharan Africa make it difficult to predict how men and women farmers respond to market signals. The study finds that sweetpotato is generally a more important source of income for women than for men due to the crop’s relatively low labor requirements and short maturity time. Yet despite strong female economic autonomy, women in the study locations face major genderrelated structural constraints in crop production that are likely to restrict them from engaging in medium- or large-scale production

Supporting agricultural extension towards Climate-Smart Agriculture An overview of existing tools

Ensuring that agriculture becomes climate smart is a priority for addressing the need for adequate, nutritionally balanced food for a growing and more demanding population in a situation of resource limitations, and climate change and variability. Despite the recognized importance of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) by the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (GASCA) and a range of international and national initiatives, the dissemination and uptake of climate smart technologies, tools and practices is still largely an ongoing, challenging process. Barriers at different levels must be overcome in all countries and solutions to these challenges must respond to specific local needs