Targeting of and outreach to the poor by rural development nonprofit organizations in Cameroon

The importance of nonprofit organizations such as rural development organizations, farmers associations and common initiative groups as drivers of change in rural areas has been generally recognized in the economics of nonprofit organizations. While the economic theories attempt to explain the formation and functioning of nonprofit organizations, the targeting and outreach performance of these organizations has received little attention and at best is empirically divergent. Using the example of a nonprofit rural development organization in North West Cameroon, this paper analyzes the relative poverty of beneficiaries and non beneficiaries of its small scale fish farming program as a proxy for targeting efficiency. Poverty is measured through multiple indicators as well as household incomes. The results show that the nonprofit organization did a commendable job in serving poor communities, although its self targeting approach led to a disproportionately higher share of beneficiaries from the moderately poor and better-off terciles than from the poorest. Beneficiaries also had higher asset values and incomes than nonbeneficiaries, although the contribution of the fish farming activity to these was insignificant. This means that these households were already better-off prior to the program and not necessarily as a consequence of service delivery. The paper concludes with the need for relative poverty assessments prior to service delivery for improved targeting and outreach performance, while considering the additional costs involved.nonprofit organizations, targeting, poverty, Cameroon, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, L31, I30, O18,

Agent Behavior under Risky and Uncertain Conditions. An Empirical Verification of Irving Fisher’s Notion of Time Preference

Irving Fisher's theory on time preference in the 1930s arguably influenced the analysis of agents' current behavior with respect to future outcomes. By suggesting linear discount rates implying rational and self-interested motives of agents, Fisher substantiated neoclassical economic thinking. However, Fisher's notion of time preference, the choice between present and future enjoyment that actually integrates a psychological discounting component has not received similar attention in the scholarly literature. This paper aims at closing this gap. It empirically examines agent behavior under uncertain conditions culminating from natural shocks, and differentiates the psychic from the physical component. To empirically test Fisher's notion of time preference, we analyze disaster households from the 1986 Lake Nyos natural shock in rural Cameroon. We look at differences in incomes for impatient households, who illegally moved back to the disaster area and more patient and stationary households in official resettlement camps. Results show that, contrary to Fisher's contention, wealth is positively correlated with impatience. Households in the disaster zone display higher incomes than stationary ones. This finding assumes that differences in incomes existed before the movement. The results lead us to conclude that Irving Fisher's theory is only partially relevant in explaining agent behavior under conditions of risk and uncertainty. Partiality is attributed by the finding that impatience was rather positively correlated with income, with the exception of social capital. The results lead us to conclude that Irving Fisher's theory is only partially relevant in explaining agent behavior under conditions of risk and uncertainty.Risks, uncertainty, agent behavior, Fisher, time preference, Cameroon, Risk and Uncertainty,

Targeting of and outreach to the poor by rural development nonprofit organizations in Cameroon

The importance of nonprofit organizations such as rural development organizations, farmers associations and common initiative groups as drivers of change in rural areas has been generally recognized in the economics of nonprofit organizations. While the economic theories attempt to explain the formation and functioning of nonprofit organizations, the targeting and outreach performance of these organizations has received little attention and at best is empirically divergent. Using the example of a nonprofit rural development organization in North West Cameroon, this paper analyzes the relative poverty of beneficiaries and non beneficiaries of its small scale fish farming program as a proxy for targeting efficiency. Poverty is measured through multiple indicators as well as household incomes. The results show that the nonprofit organization did a commendable job in serving poor communities, although its self targeting approach led to a disproportionately higher share of beneficiaries from the moderately poor and better-off terciles than from the poorest. Beneficiaries also had higher asset values and incomes than nonbeneficiaries, although the contribution of the fish farming activity to these was insignificant. This means that these households were already better-off prior to the program and not necessarily as a consequence of service delivery. The paper concludes with the need for relative poverty assessments prior to service delivery for improved targeting and outreach performance, while considering the additional costs involved

Applying Relativity in Understanding Poverty and Promoting Economic Development in Rural Africa

Combating poverty remains a major hindrance to economic development across Africa, even though it is well known that the poor are generally concentrated in rural areas. Paradoxically, identifying and targeting development efforts to the (very) poor remains a major challenge, mainly due to data deficiency and the wide application of popular but poorly adapted absolute poverty assessment approaches. This paper succinctly revisits the comparative advantages of relative over absolute poverty measures, and their prospects for application in rural Africa. Claims in favour of the relative approach are then substantiated by its application to empirically elicit poverty distribution among households in rural Cameroon. Analytical results fundamentally based on principle component analysis strengthen our advocacy for a dominant application and better prospects for relative poverty assessments over absolute ones, especially in rural areas of developing countries such as Cameroon, where data unavailability persists. In addition, the holistic and multi-dimensional attributes embedded in the relative approach oblige an atonement of its overarching prospects for identifying and targeting the poor in order to fight poverty and enhance economic development, especially in rural areas in Africa, as demonstrated in the   Cameroonian case study.  Key words: Poverty, relative assessment, economic development, rural areas, Africa, Cameroo

Determinants of Coping Strategies to Floods and Droughts in Multiple Geo-Ecological Zones

Floods and droughts—the most frequent water-related hazards are negatively impacting livelihoods across the world, particularly in Sub-Saharan African countries, where poverty remains endemic. Naturally, victims adopt different coping strategies against burgeoning hydro-meteorological hazards. Contemporary research on determinants for coping decisions in SSA has been largely driven by isolated case studies, of little relevance for broad-based policy making. We analyze the determinants for coping with floods and droughts across multiple geo-ecological zones in Cameroon. Quantitative data primarily obtained from 2024 flood and drought household victims in the Western Highlands and Sudano-Sahelian Upland geo-ecological zones are analyzed alongside qualitative data obtained through 31 FGDs and 99 IDIs using descriptive statistics and regression analysis in MS Excel 2013 and SPSS 20 for the questionnaires and content analysis in Nvivo 11 for the unstructured interviews. Results reveal government policy, socio-cultural, economic and educational factors, and hazard experience as major shapers of coping decisions, irrespective of hazard type, timing and geo-ecology (P = 0.05). In contrast to the state-of-the-art, we observed livelihoods improvement after some hazardous events. The policy implications for long-term coping and resilience building are then discussed

Impact of effective management of natural disaster for Africa’s development

Abstract: The escalation of natural disasters in the last two decades or so and their devastating effects on developing countries in general and Africa in particular, has been frequently mentioned in the topical literature. Devastating impacts in African and other developing countries have often been attributed to failure of formal (state and market) institutions for risk management, frequent in these countries. While the predominance of informal response mechanisms has been acknowledged in these countries, they are presumed to disintegrate in the face of covariate shocks. This paper argues that an overly ambitious emphasis on states and markets and a negligence of the role of informal, socially embedded institutions in the effective management of natural disasters is grossly responsible for the negative effects of natural disasters and their perverse implications on Africa’s development. A multi-sector framework that can be used for modeling natural disaster management in Africa which has the potential of reducing the negative consequences of disasters is suggested. This is based on the premise that natural shocks must be perceived as social phenomena that are best managed with the participation of those involved. Empirical evidence is included, and the implications of a multi-stakeholder approach to managing disasters to enhance development in Africa are discussed

Assessing Environmental Impacts of newly created Earth Roads in Developing Countries: The case of Cameroon

Newly created earth roads are fundamental facilitators for development in many developing countries. However, positive or negative environmental and human impacts accompany its construction. This study investigated the assessment of the possible environmental and human impacts of the 70 km Benakuma-Bawuro-Akwaya earth road construction project in Cameroon. The study employed qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were collected using interviews, road observation and questionnaire. Result of the study reveals that inhabitants were not motivated from the destruction of their properties. Water pollution, the destruction of water sources, Soil and farms pollution/destruction and fauna and flora destruction were identified as major negative environmental impacts, while human damages were recorded mainly in the domains of housing and changing Socio-cultural and demographic features. The total cost of destruction accessed using the EIA was far more than the government estimation called “compensation cost”. In conclusion, the implementation of Impacts Assessment prior to, during and after the construction of newly earth roads would encouraged a stronger participation of beneficiary communities to optimize positive pre and post construction benefits and minimize negative ones; while reducing possible pressure on evaluators and minimizing corruption avenues which can be very common in developing countries. Key-words: Earth road construction, pollution, impact assessmen

The impact of effective management of natural disasters For Africa’s development

The escalation of natural disasters in the last two decades or so and their devastating effects on developing countries in general and Africa in particular, has been frequently mentioned in the topical literature. Devastating impacts in African and other developing countries have often been attributed to the failure of formal (state and market) institutions for risk management, frequent in these countries. While the predominance of informal response mechanisms has been acknowledged in these countries, they are presumed to disintegrate in the face of covariate shocks. This article argues that an overly ambitious emphasis on states and markets and a negligence of the role of informal, socially embedded institutions in the effective management of natural disasters is grossly responsible for the negative effects of natural disasters and their perverse implications on Africa’s development. A multi-sector framework that can be used for modelling natural disaster management in Africa which has the potential of reducing the negative consequences of disasters is suggested. This is based on the premise that natural shocks must be perceived as social phenomena that are best managed with the participation of those involved. Empirical evidence is included, and the implications of a multi-stakeholder approach to managing disasters to enhance development in Africa are discussed

Farmers' Knowledge and Perceptions to Climate Variability in North West Cameroon

Global climate variability exerts negative impacts especially on agriculture-dependent economies. Contemporary climate modelling suggests that farming households in developing countries will bear the greatest brunt from climate variability. However, information on farmers’ knowledge and perceptions to climate variability and possible influence on household adaptation strategies especially in developing countries is scarce. This paper assesses farmers’ knowledge and perceptions to climate variability, based on a case study from the North Western region of Cameroon.A structured questionnaire was used in a cross sectional survey to collect data on knowledge and perceptions to climate variability, from 272 farmers in six randomly selected villages in the North West Region of Cameroon. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 17.0) and Excel. Over 97% of respondents demonstrated contextual knowledge of climate variability. Perceptions to the causes of climate variability were quite diverse. While 20% of respondents had no idea, around 40% attributed climate variability to human activities, 20% to industrial activities and 20% to the anger of the gods. We conclude with the need for climate variability research to increasingly pay attention to farmers’ indigenous knowledge and perceptions as prerequisites to building resilience amongst farmers in Cameroon

Factors Influencing Coffee Farmers’ Decisions to Join Cooperatives

The role of cooperatives in buffering the effects of imperfect markets on smallholder agriculture especially in developing countries has been widely atoned. However, and in spite of eminent advantages, not all smallholder farmers join cooperatives. We use empirical data from coffee farmers in Northwestern Cameroon to identify key factors driving coffee farmers’ decisions to join or not to join a cooperative. Using a standardized questionnaire, data was collected from 140 randomly selected farmers (members and non-members) in contact with North West Cooperative Association Limited (NWCA). Data collection took place in January 2018, with 2017 as the reference period. We use the data to characterize the coffee sector in the region, and to identify key drivers for cooperative membership. 41.4% and 58.6% were NWCA members and nonmembers respectively. The area of land under coffee cultivation, dominant income source, household size, experience in coffee farming, and timely payment of farmers’ dues by the cooperative were the key factors influencing coffee farmers’ decision to join the cooperative or not (P=0.05). Identifying such drivers from farmers’ perspectives and informing policy decisions can increase competitive advantage of smallholder farmers and reduce the effects of market imperfection, as embedded in cooperative concept. This should render the concept once more attractive and portray it as a rational option to many smallholder farmers