Education Sector Foreign Aid and Economic Growth in Africa

This paper explores whether education sector foreign aid influences economic growth in Africa based on a panel of 32 countries over the period 2005 – 2017. The major novelty of the study is that on the supply side the major dependent variable, education aid flows, are disaggregated by education level. On the demand side, the recipient economies are accorded their income groups to account for capacities that complement the effects of human capital development on economic growth as well as the benevolent complementary or destabilizing effects of different political systems of government. The key findings are that: (i) education aid in aggregate form and primary education aid both enhance economic growth in low income countries; (ii) in middle income countries higher education aid is more important for economic growth than primary and secondary education foreign aid; (iii) democracies have a stronger tendency to allocate more education sector foreign aid to primary education, while in autocracies the orientation is towards higher education. The findings imply that low-income autocracies that allocate more education sector foreign aid to higher education than to primary education do so at the expense of economic growth. The same applies to middle-income democracies whose allocation orientation is more towards primary education compared to higher education

The impact of market reforms on household food security in rural Malawi

A research paper on the impact of market reforms on food security in rural Malawi.Malawi is a landlocked country with a land area of 94,276 sq. km and a population of 8 million in 1987. Among Sub-Saharan African countries, its population density of 59 persons/km2 which is only surpassed by Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria, and Uganda. Nearly 90% of the population is rural based, relying heavily on agriculture. This sector dominates the economy, producing 37% of the GDP and accounting for 90% of the export earnings. In addition to a lack of significant mineral deposits, these factors make Malawi a poor country in which access to arable land, its utilization, and convinient seaports are critical issues for smallholder production, income, and international trade. Moreover, the small tax base which has resulted in low government revenues has seriously constrained efforts to improve either the economic or social indicators of development such as life expectancy (45 years), infant mortality (153 per 1,000 population), nutritional status, primary school enrollment rate (62%), and per capita energy consumption 43 kg of oil equivalent (World Bank, 1988).The Food Security Research Project is financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau of Science and Technology; Bureau for Africa; and the Southern Africa Regional Programme; under a Food Security in Africa cooperative agreement (DAN-1190-A-00-4092-00) with the Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University and Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Zimbabwe. We are particularly appreciative of the support we have received from USAID officials, including Allison Herrick, Eric Witt, Joshua Mushuari, Doug Pickett, and Brad Wallach of USAID/Zimbabwe; and our Washington-based project managers, Michael Yates (Science and Technology) and Patricia O’brien (Africa Bureau)