Social Capital in Situations of Conflict: A Case Study from Côte d’Ivoire

Over the last few years, many studies have emphasized the importance ofsocial capital in economic progress and development of societies. Inparticular, sustainable development requires more cohesive and peacefulsocieties. This study attempts to assess how the armed conflict in Côted’Ivoire has weakened the country’s social fabric and how to restore it.Cross-sectional data obtained from a survey are used to address this issue. We use measures of trust and associational participation as proxies for social capital. The empirical findings reveal a renewed interest forassociations. They also give support to the eroding trust between people. The loss of trust poses a true challenge in terms of reconciliation and ofrebuilding social cohesion. Key words: Social Capital, Conflict, Trust, Associations

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

Quality of institution and the FEG (forest, energy intensity, and globalization) -environment relationships in sub-Saharan Africa

The current share of sub-Saharan Africa in global carbon dioxide emissions is negligible compared to major contributors like Asia, Americas, and Europe. This trend is, however, likely to change given that both economic growth and rate of urbanization in the region are projected to be robust in the future. The current study contributes to the literature by examining both the direct and the indirect impacts of quality of institution on the environment. Specifically, we investigate whether the institutional setting in the region provides some sort of a complementary role in the environment-FEG relationships. We use the panel two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to deal with the simultaneity problem. Data consists of 43 sub-Saharan African countries. The result shows that energy inefficiency compromises environmental standards. However, the quality of the institutional setting helps moderate this negative consequences; countries with good institutions show greater prospects than countries with poor institutions. On the other hand, globalization of the region and increased forest size generate positive environmental outcomes in the region. Their impacts are, however, independent of the quality of institution. Afforestation programs, promotion of other clean energy types, and investment in energy efficiency, basic city infrastructure, and regulatory and institutional structures, are desirable policies to pursue to safeguard the environment