Food Demand Analysis of Indonesian Households with Particular Attention to the Poorest

The purpose of this study is to analyze the demand responses of Indonesian households to food prices, income changes and other socioeconomic factors. The underlying assumption here is that inadequate information on household food expenditure patterns which vary across income groups and regions may have its contribution to the persistence of food insecurity. We use the Indonesian Family Life Survey data and methodologically we employ an extended form of the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System model which includes demographic and regional factors. Results reveal the well known pattern that food demand behavior varies significantly between urban and rural households as well as income groups. The poorest households consume relatively more staple food as well as alcohol and tobacco goods while the richest households consume relatively more meat, snack and dried food. It is shown that the poorest households’ expenditure elasticity on alcohol and tobacco is high implying that the poorest households transfer their extra resources on alcohol and tobacco goods instead of more nutritious food items. Results also show that price and expenditure elasticities have changed across time (1997-2007). Own price elasticities have increased for most food items implying that people have become more responsive to changes in prices. In contrast, the expenditure elasticity has declined for most food items (except for ‘alcohol and tobacco goods’) which would imply welfare improvement since the 1997 crisis.food demand, QUAIDS, Indonesia, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D11, D12,

District-level Spatial Analysis of Migration Flows in Ghana: Determinants and Implications for Policy

The present study investigates the determinants of inter-district migration flows over the 1995-2000 period in Ghana. A combination of socio-economic, natural and spatial ‘district-level’ attributes are considered as potential variables explaining the direction of migration flows. In addition to the ‘net’ migration model, ‘in’ and ‘out’ migration models are also employed within the context of the gravity model. Results in the three models consistently show that people move out of districts with less employment and choose districts with high employment rate as destinations. While shorter distance to roads encourages out-migration, districts with better water access seem to attract migrants. Generally, people move out of predominantly agrarian districts to relatively more urbanized districts.Gross migration, Net migration, Inter-district migration flows, spatial analysis, Ghana, Africa, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital,

Improving water use efficiency under worsening scarcity: Evidence from the Middle Olifants sub-basin in South Africa

With the political changes in South Africa in the early 1990s, the South African government introduced a reform process in the entire water sector with the goal of a more enhanced and equitable water management system. This paper analyzes existing water allocation situations and applies a nonlinear optimization model to investigate the optimal intra- and inter-regional allocations in the Middle Olifants sub-basin of South Africa. Results show higher benefit from inter-regional water allocation. Reducing water supply levels to conform to the sustainable water supply policy, it can be shown that although water supply is reduced by approximately 50%, total benefits from water are only reduced by 5% and 11% for inter- and intra-regional allocation regimes respectively. These results indicate that alternative water allocation mechanisms can serve as instruments to offset for the effects of water scarcity.Water allocation, IWRM, Olifants basin, South Africa, Africa, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Determinants of participation in child’s education and alternative activities in Pakistan

Using data from Pakistan, this study analyzed the effect of various individual, household, and community level characteristics on the probability that children engage in different activities. According to the existing trend of their prevalence, we considered five child’s activities, namely: secular schooling; religious education; child labor; a combination of child labor and secular schooling; and inactivity (including leisure). Data was collected through field surveys conducted in over 40 villages in four Pakistani provinces: Balochistan, Khyber Paktunkhwa, Punjab, and Sind. A total of 963 households were interviewed on the activities of 2,496 children. Multinomial Probit model was used for the analyses. Results indicated that parental perception had significant relationship to the probability of engagement in secular school attendance, religious education, and child labor. In addition, we investigated the relationships between participation in the different child activities with location (rural/urban) and children’s gender. We detected a lower probability of attending secular school and a higher probability of engaging in child labor among female children in rural areas. We also found that even parents who openly expressed appreciation of the importance of secular schooling were more likely to send male children to school than female children.Child productivity, Child’s activities, Parental perception, Gender, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Parents’ Perception of Education and Choice of Childhood Activities: Evidence from Pakistan

We investigate parents’ perceptions of various educational systems and their impact on the decision to either send their children to school, or engage them in other childhood activities. Childhood activities are categorised as follows: secular schooling, religious (non- secular schooling), child labour, child labour combined with secular schooling, and leisure (inactivity). The paper uses the household survey data of 2,496 children, 963 households, and 40 villages in Pakistan. A Multinomial Probit Model analysed the impact of various socio- economic variables on the likelihood of choosing an activity for children. Results indicate that the following factors influence the parents’ decisions in selection of activities for their children: the parents’ level of education, mother’s relative authority in household decisions, degree of religiosity of the head of household, beliefs in tribal norms, household income, and proximity to the school. The findings provide insignificant evidence to support the “luxury axiom” hypothesis that children only work when their families are unable to meet their basic needs

Special issue : Drought and Dryland Management - a commentary

Peer reviewe

Less to lose? Drought impact and vulnerability assessment in disadvantaged regions

Droughts hit the most vulnerable people the hardest. When this happens, everybody in the economy loses over the medium- to long-term. Proactive policies and planning based on vulnerability and risk assessments can reduce drought risk before the worst impacts occur. The aim of this article is to inform a global initiative, led by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), to mitigate the effects of drought on vulnerable ecosystems and communities. This is approached through a rapid review of experiences from selected nations and of the available literature documenting methodological approaches to assess drought impacts and vulnerability at the local level. The review finds that members of the most vulnerable communities can integrate available methods to assess drought risks to their land and ecosystem productivity, their livelihoods and their life-supporting hydrological systems. This integration of approaches helps to ensure inclusive assessments across communities and ecosystems. However, global economic assessments often still fail to connect to holistic consideration of vulnerability at a local scale. As a result, they routinely fall short of capturing the systemic effects of land and water management decisions that deepen vulnerability to droughts over time. To ensure proactive and inclusive drought risk mitigation, multiscale, systemic approaches to drought vulnerability and risk assessment can be further reinforced at a global level