Socio-Economic Inequality Among Children In Sub Saharan Africa: Trends, Drivers And Institutional Buffers

Children in sub Saharan Africa are growing up in an environment of poverty, chronic hunger, disease and inequality. Previous literature documents the nature, causes, and consequences of poverty but largely ignores inequality. Yet, ongoing economic, demographic and cultural transformations suggest possible divergence in both economic investments and social outcomes for children. This dissertation provides several substantive, theoretical, methodological, and policy contributions towards an understanding of socio-economic inequality among children within and across sub Saharan African countries. Methodologically, it draws on data from Penn World Tables, World Bank World Development Indicators, and Demographic and Health Surveys to explore three issues. First, i t applies standard inequality measures to estimate levels and trends in educational resource and mortality inequality among children. Second, it applies decomposition techniques to account for factors that drive resource inequality. Third, it evaluates the effectiveness of informal institutions that are historically relied upon to buffer inequality among children. Specifically, it applies an innovative concentration index to evaluate the macro level effectiveness of African extended family systems and how they changed over time. Additionally, it estimates multivariate regression models that explain variation in fosterage prevalence and effectiveness across countries. Substantively, this study reveals substantial levels of educational resource inequality among children that are partly driven by the size of country's economy and countries' relative allocation to children. In addition, demographic factors such as age dependency drive inequality more than the size of child population within country per se. Further, the study cautions against inferring about children's experiences from adult data as observed resource inequality among children is more than double adult rates. While child mortality inequality between countries is low, DHS data reveals steep m ortality gradients along socio-economic lines within countries. With significant variation across countries, the African extended family system continues to buffer inequality among children in terms of scope of coverage but its effectiveness waned over ti me in some countries. Overall, the study makes theoretical propositions about trends, drivers, and buffers of inequality among children. Like poverty, inequality deserves a place at the center of intellectual enquiry and policy debates on children's well being in sub Saharan Africa

What drives capacity to innovate? Insights from women and men small-scale farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

What are key characteristics of rural innovators? How are their experiences similar for women and men, and how are they different? To examine these questions, we draw on individual interviews with 336 rural women and men known in their communities for trying out new things in agriculture. The data form part of 84 GENNOVATE community case studies from 19 countries. Building on study participants’ own reflections and experiences with innovation in their agricultural livelihoods, we combine variable-oriented analysis and analysis of specific individuals’ lived experience. Results indicate that factors related to personality and agency are what most drive women’s and men’s capacity to innovate. Access to resources is not a prerequisite but rather an important enabling aspect. Different types of women have great potential for local innovation, but structural inequalities make men better positioned to access resources and leverage support. Men’s support is important when women challenge the status quo

Gendered aspirations and occupations among rural youth, in agriculture and beyond: A cross-regional perspective

Based on 25 case studies from the global comparative study ‘GENNOVATE: Enabling gender equality in agricultural and environmental innovation’, this paper explores rural young women’s and men’s occupational aspirations and trajectories in India, Mali, Malawi, Morocco, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Philippines. We draw upon qualitative data from 50 sex-segregated focus groups with the youth to show that across the study’s regional contexts, young rural women and men predominantly aspire for formal blue and white-collar jobs. Yet, they experience an aspiration achievement gap, as the promise of their education for securing the formal employment they seek is unfulfilled, and they continue to farm in their family’s production. Whereas some young men aspired to engage in knowledge-intensive or ‘modern’ agriculture, young women did not express any such interest. Framing our analysis within a relational approach, we contend that various gender norms that discriminate against women in agriculture dissuade young women from aspiring for agriculture-related occupation. We discuss the gendered opportunity spaces of the study sites, the meanings these hold for allowing young women and men to achieve their aspirations and catalyze agricultural innovation, and implications for agricultural policies and research for development. Our findings show that youth and gender issues are inextricably intertwined and cannot be understood in isolation one from the other

Beyond a unitary household measure: Does Gender matter in Legume Seed Systems among Smallholder Farmers?

We employ a non-unitary household model to analyze the main Pigeonpea seed channels in Kenya. The paper is based on a household survey conducted on 500 randomly selected households within three counties of Eastern Kenya. The study sites are based on the distance from the main trading center (county headquarters) which informs agro business infrastructure. We assess the participation in seed channels with regards to joint plots, women plots and male plots for Pigeonpeas legumes. More than half of the Pigeonpea plots (53%) in the sample are managed jointly by men and women; while around 10% are managed entirely by women. There were very few plots (0.2%) managed by men alone. The main legumes seed sources are own saved seeds and cereal stockists. There is very limited sourcing from the certified seed channel (10%), the certified seeds from agrovets were only acquired for the joint plots only. Using a multinomial logistic regression, we analyze the factors influencing the choice of Pigeonpea seed channels, encompassing characteristics of the wife of the household head. More educated wives and wives with high exposure to extension services were more likely to access seed from the agrovets; these variables were however not significant for the male head. Other significant determinants were total livestock unit, distance to the source of seed, amount of seed required, location of the household, and occupation. We conclude that targeting women farmers with knowledge and capacity building on the advantages of using certified seeds for legumes has the potential to enhance adoption of legumes in Eastern Kenya

What drives capacity to innovate? Insights from women and men small-scale farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

What are key characteristics of rural innovators? How are their experiences similar for women and men, and how are they different? To examine these questions, we draw on individual interviews with 336 rural women and men known in their communities for trying out new things in agriculture. The data form part of 84 GENNOVATE community case studies from 19 countries. Building on study participants’ own reflections and experiences with innovation in their agricultural livelihoods, we combine variable-oriented analysis and analysis of specific individuals’ lived experience. Results indicate that factors related to personality and agency are what most drive women’s and men’s capacity to innovate. Access to resources is not a prerequisite but rather an important enabling aspect. Different types of women have great potential for local innovation, but structural inequalities make men better positioned to access resources and leverage support. Men’s support is important when women challenge the status quo

Gendered aspirations and occupations among rural youth, in agriculture and beyond: A cross-regional perspective

Based on 25 case studies from the global comparative study ‘GENNOVATE: Enabling gender equality in agricultural and environmental innovation’, this paper explores rural young women’s and men’s occupational aspirations and trajectories in India, Mali, Malawi, Morocco, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Philippines. We draw upon qualitative data from 50 sex-segregated focus groups with the youth to show that across the study’s regional contexts, young rural women and men predominantly aspire for formal blue and white-collar jobs. Yet, they experience an aspirationachievement gap, as the promise of their education for securing the formal employment they seek is unfulfilled, and they continue to farm in their family’s production. Whereas some young men aspired to engage in knowledge-intensive or ‘modern’ agriculture, young women did not express any such interest. Framing our analysis within a relational approach, we contend that various gender norms that discriminate against women in agriculture dissuade young women from aspiring for agriculture-related occupation. We discuss the gendered opportunity spaces of the study sites, the meanings these hold for allowing young women and men to achieve their aspirations and catalyze agricultural innovation, and implications for agricultural policies and research for development. Our findings show that youth and gender issues are inextricably intertwined and cannot be understood in isolation one from the other