Social Cash Transfers in Zambia: What Is Their Impact?

Social cash transfers (SCTs) have become increasingly popular in Sub-Saharan Africa, because growth-centred development policies have failed to reduce poverty. SCTs support the consumption of the poorest, and allow them to invest in human and other forms of capital that reduce the intergenerational transmission of poverty. (...)Social Cash Transfers in Zambia: What Is Their Impact?

Household welfare and natural resource management around national parks in Zambia

Game management areas in Zambia aim to combine nature conservation with economic empowerment of rural households. By looking at households inside and outside game management areas, this study advances the knowledge of the impact of community based natural resource management on household welfare. The paper focuses on the economic welfare of households living inside game management areas. It tries to answer the question: Do the households in game management areas enjoy higher levels of welfare relative to the conditions they would have been in had the area not been designated as a game management area? Within the game management area, the paper tries to determine the factors that influence household participation in natural resource management, and whether the participating households get any extra benefits. Also of interest is whether such benefits of living in a game management area, and, once in such an area, those of participating accrue more to the poorer segments of the communities. The study finds that the gains from living in a game management area and from active participation in natural resource management are large but unevenly distributed. Only game management areas near Kasanka, Lavushi, Isangano, and South Luangwa national parks in the sample show significant benefits to general and participating households. And in those areas, the poor do not seem to gain even when they participate actively. More even distribution of gains from game management areas across households near different park systems and across the poor and the non-poor should be a continuing goal of national policy makers.Housing&Human Habitats,Access to Finance,Small Area Estimation Poverty Mapping,Poverty Lines,Community Development and Empowerment

Conservation farming in Zambia:

Since 1996, a growing coalition of stakeholders from the private sector, government and donor communities has promoted a new package of agronomic practices for smallholders in Zambia. The conservation farming (CF) system they advocate involves: dry-season land preparation using minimum tillage methods (either ox-drawn rip lines or hand-hoe basins laid out in a precise grid of 15,850 basins per hectare); no burning but rather retention of crop residue from the prior harvest; planting and input application in fixed planting stations; and nitrogen-fixing crop rotations. The CF system enables farmers to plant with the first rains when seeds will benefit from the initial nitrogen flush in the soil. By breaking pre-existing plow-pan barriers, the CF basins and rip lines improve water infiltration, water retention and plant root development. The precise layout of grids and planting lines enables farmers to locate fertilizer and organic material in close proximity to the plants, where they will provide greatest benefits. Evidence from similar technologies in other parts of Africa suggests that the effectiveness of conservation farming will vary not only across regions but also across crops and over time, due to variations in weather and rainfall. In addition, many of the benefits of CF including improved soil structure, gains from nitrogen-fixing crop rotations and reduced field preparation labor occur gradually and over time. Therefore, it will be important to establish long-term monitoring efforts for conservation farming and control plots across a broad range of geographic settings, crops and seasons. Results and their interpretation are from a survey of 125 farms in Central and Southern provinces during the 2001/2 cropping season.Southern Africa, africa south of sahara,

Transferências Monetárias Sociais em Zâmbia: Qual é o seu impacto?

Transferências Monetárias Sociais em Zâmbia: Qual é o seu impacto?

Household Level Financial Incentives to Adoption of Conservation Agricultural Technologies in Africa

Although several studies have been conducted to determine the viability of conservation agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, almost all such studies are fragmented – often country specific – and with undue emphasis on output effects. However, assessment of the attractiveness of these technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa requires a detailed case-by-case comparison of changes in output and input costs and benefits. This paper reviews a set of responses known collectively as “conservation” or “sustainable” agriculture. Though definitions vary, these technologies typically involve agricultural management practices that prevent degradation of soil and water resources and thereby permit sustainable farm productivity without environmental degradation.food security, food policy, conservation, sustainable agriculture, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q18,

Cost-Effectiveness of Food and Cash Transfers to Patients under Anti-Retroviral Treatment in Zambia

This study determines the relative cost-effectiveness of food and cash transfers when administered to Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) in Zambia. The results show that cash transfers are not only cheaper but also unambiguously more cost-effective with respect to nutrition and health outcomes such as body-mass index (BMI) and Cluster of Differentiation 4 (CD4) count. This seems to suggest that, whenever market conditions and institutional capacities (banks, personnel, etc.) permit, cash should be given a higher rating by governments and other programming stakeholders than physical food aid as an instrument for influencing health and nutrition outcomes among HIV patients that are on ART

Programmes Sociaux de Transferts D?espèces en Zambie : Quel en est L?impact ?

Programmes Sociaux de Transferts D?espèces en Zambie : Quel en est L?impact ?

Impact of Natural Resource Conservation Policies on Household Consumption Around Zambian National Parks

Key Policy Points - Game Management Areas (GMAs) in Zambia aim to combine nature conservation with economic empowerment of rural households and communities. - We find evidence of consumption gains from living in GMAs and from participating in natural resource management through Community-Resource Boards (CRBs) and Village Action Groups (VAGs). - However, these benefits are unevenly distributed. Only GMAs with limited alternative livelihoods (Bangweulu and South Luangwa) exhibit significant consumption benefits. Also, the benefits accrue mainly to the relatively well off while the poor do not gain even if they participate. - Resources from ZAWA to CRBs seldom reach the VAGs. Richer, more educated community members participate at CRB or higher level while poorer households participate at VAG level. There is need to address impediments to effective participation by the majority of the community members. - Infrastructure development, which is more evident in Kafue and Lower Zambezi park systems, does not necessarily translate into household level consumption gains in the short run. Moreover, the observed infrastructure development in these areas cannot be attributed to the GMA institution.zambia, food security, policy, natural resources, conservation, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, q18, q56,

Cost-Effectiveness of Food and Cash Transfers to Patients under Anti-Retroviral Treatment in Zambia

This study determines the relative cost-effectiveness of food and cash transfers when administered to Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) in Zambia. The results show that cash transfers are not only cheaper but also unambiguously more cost-effective with respect to nutrition and health outcomes such as body-mass index (BMI) and Cluster of Differentiation 4 (CD4) count. This seems to suggest that, whenever market conditions and institutional capacities (banks, personnel, etc.) permit, cash should be given a higher rating by governments and other programming stakeholders than physical food aid as an instrument for influencing health and nutrition outcomes among HIV patients that are on ART

Transferencias Monetarias Sociales en Zambia: ¿Cuál es su Impacto?

Transferencias Monetarias Sociales en Zambia: ¿Cuál es su Impacto?