scholarly journals Impact of Energy Poverty on Education Inequality and Infant Mortality in Some Selected African Countries

Energy Nexus ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 100034
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Kekere Sule ◽  
Abdulmalik M. Yusuf ◽  
Muhammad-Kabir Salihu
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Education Inequality

scholarly journals What does early initiation and duration of breastfeeding have to do with childhood mortality? Analysis of pooled population-based data in 35 sub-Saharan African countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ekholuenetale ◽  
Amadou Barrow
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Early Initiation ◽  
Childhood Mortality ◽  
Breastfeeding Initiation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Live Births ◽  
Breastfeeding Practices ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Duration Of Breastfeeding ◽  
Pooled Sample

Abstract Background Breastfeeding practices and their impact on infant health and survival are unquestionably of global interest. The aim of this study was to examine the link between breastfeeding initiation within one hour of birth, breastfeeding duration and childhood mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods This study used data from the Demographic and Health Survey, which was conducted in 35 Sub-Saharan African countries between 2008 and 2017. Early initiation and duration of breastfeeding, food consumption indices, and infant mortality were all important variables. Analysis used percentage, median/interquartile range, and regression models (logistic, linear, Cox). Results Early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour after birth was lowest in Chad (23.0%) and highest in Burundi (85.0%). The pooled median duration of breastfeeding was 12 months. Female children had 3% significant lower odds of consuming tinned, powdered or fresh milk, compared with male children (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.94, 0.99). Conversely, female children were more likely to be put to breast within one hour after birth, compared with male children (OR 1.03; 95% CI 1.01, 1.05). Results from the pooled sample showed approximately 20% (HR 0.80; 95% CI 0.67, 0.96) and 21% (HR 0.79; 95% CI 0.77, 0.80) reduction in infant mortality for children breastfed within one hour after birth and for every unit increase in the months of breastfeeding respectively. In addition, countries with the leading infant mortality rate include; Sierra Leone (92 deaths per 1000 live births), Chad (72 deaths per 1000 live births), Nigeria (69 deaths per 1000 live births), Cote d’ Ivoire (68 deaths per 1000 live births), Guinea (67 deaths per 1000 live births), Burkina-Faso (65 deaths per 1000 live births) and Mozambique (64 deaths per 1000 live births) respectively. Conclusions The findings from this study underscores the need for early breastfeeding initiation and prolong breastfeeding to be considered in programmes on improving childhood survival. Efforts should be made to improve optimal breastfeeding practices as only about half of children in the pooled sample had best practices of breastfeeding.

scholarly journals The effect of the quality of institutions on the relationship between public health expenditure and the infant mortality rate: evidence from the PVAR (X) and PSTR approaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-35
Author(s):  
Arthur Evariste KOUASSI ◽  
Ya Assanhoun Guillaume KOUASSI ◽  
Nogbou Andetchi Aubin AMANZOU
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Infant Mortality Rate ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Institutional Variables ◽  
Public Health Expenditure ◽  
Sub Saharan

Infant mortality is a major health problem in developing countries. It is an important indicator of a country's public health as it goes hand in hand with socio-economic conditions and many others. Public health spending has been committed to reducing this scourge. This has led to the completion of numerous studies which have yielded mixed results. The main objective of this study is to test the effect of public health expenditure (% GDP) on the infant mortality rate, taking into account the role that institutional quality can play. To achieve this, we use two approaches which are the autoregressive vector panel model with exogenous variables (PVAR (X)) and the smooth threshold regression model (PSTR) on annual data covering the period 2002-2016 and covering 37 African countries. Sub-Saharan. Our main results through the PVAR (X) reveal that in the absence of institutional variables, public health expenditure has a negative and significant effect on the infant mortality rate, whereas, in the presence of the various institutional variables, this effect is still negative but is no longer significant. Our results show that the presence of institutions halves the weight of public health expenditure in explaining the infant mortality rate. In addition, our results show through the PSTR that there is a certain level of institutional qualities that these countries must achieve for public health expenditure to positively affect infant mortality rates. These thresholds oscillate for all the institutional variables around 7%. Taking institutional variables into account will help reduce infant mortality in Sub-Saharan African countries.

On African Responsibility for Economic Problems

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-53
Author(s):  
Richard E. Mshomba
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
High Infant Mortality ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Poor Infrastructure

African countries, like many other developing countries, suffer the problems associated with poverty—malnutrition, poor health services, high infant mortality rates, low life expectancy, high illiteracy rates, poor infrastructure, and inadequate technology. These problems are especially severe in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Do energy and firm characteristics matter for sustainable development practices? An empirical evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Twaha Kigongo Kaawaase ◽  
Twaha Kigongo Kaawaase ◽  
Juma Bananuka ◽  
Zainabu Tumwebaze ◽  
Doreen Musimenta
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Governance Mechanisms ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Energy Governance

Purpose This study aims to examine whether energy governance mechanisms, energy consumption, energy poverty and firm characteristics do matter for sustainable development practices. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a cross-sectional survey of production managers, engineers and chief finance officers of firms under the Uganda Manufacturers Association. The data analysis was mainly done using the partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The regression analysis results indicate that ownership structure, capital structure, energy governance mechanisms, energy poverty and energy consumption do matter for improved sustainable development practices. Firm age does not significantly matter for sustainable development practices. Originality/value This study provides initial evidence on what matters for improvement in sustainable development practices using evidence from developing African countries such as Uganda whose major focus is the attraction of foreign investors. Such countries focus on improvement in economic growth at the expense of social and environmental concerns.

scholarly journals Maternal cumulative prevalence measures of child mortality show heavy burden in sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (8) ◽  
pp. 4027-4033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Smith-Greenaway ◽  
Jenny Trinitapoli
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Infant Mortality Rate ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Offspring Mortality ◽  
Cumulative Prevalence

We advance a set of population-level indicators that quantify the prevalence of mothers who have ever experienced an infant, under 5-y-old child, or any-age child die. The maternal cumulative prevalence of infant mortality (mIM), the maternal cumulative prevalence of under 5 mortality (mU5M), and the maternal cumulative prevalence of offspring mortality (mOM) bring theoretical and practical value to a variety of disciplines. Here we introduce maternal cumulative prevalence measures of mortality for multiple age groups of mothers in 20 sub-Saharan African countries with Demographic and Health Surveys data spanning more than two decades. The exercise demonstrates the persistently high prevalence of African mothers who have ever experienced a child die. In some African countries, more than one-half of 45- to 49-y-old mothers have experienced the death of a child under age 5, and nearly two-thirds have experienced the death of any child, irrespective of age. Fewer young mothers have experienced a child die, yet in many countries, up to one-third have. Our results show that the mIM and mU5M can follow distinct trajectories from the infant mortality rate (IMR) and under 5 mortality rate (U5MR), offering an experiential view of mortality decline that annualized measures conceal. These measures can be adapted to quantify the prevalence of recurrent offspring mortality (mROM) and calculated for subgroups to identify within-country inequality in the mortality burden. These indicators can be used to improve current understandings of mortality change, bereavement as a public health threat, and population dynamics.

scholarly journals Beyond poverty as a proxy: reducing inequality in infant mortality by identifying and targeting higher risk births

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Ramos ◽  
Chad Hazlett ◽  
Stephen Smith
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Machine Learning Methods ◽  
Mortality Burden ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Better Than

Infant mortality remains high and uneven in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Given finite resources, reducing premature mortality requires effective tools to identifying left- behind populations at greatest risk. While countries routinely use income- or poverty- based thresholds to target policies, we examine whether models that consider other factors can substantially improve our ability to target policies to higher-risk births. Using machine learning methods, and 25 commonly available variables that can be observed prior to birth, we construct child-level risk scores for births in 22 sub-Saharan African countries. We find that targeting based on poverty, proxied by income, is only slightly better than random targeting, with the poorest 10 percent of the population experiencing approximately 10 percent of total infant mortality burden. By contrast the 10 percent of the population at highest risk according to our model accounts for 15-30% of infants deaths, depending on country. A hypothetical intervention that can be administered to 10% of the population and prevents just 5% of the deaths that would otherwise occur, for example, would save roughly 841,000 lives if targeted to the poorest decile, but over 1.6 million if targeted using our approach.

scholarly journals The Non-Linear Effects of Energy Efficiency Gains on the Incidence of Energy Poverty

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 11055
Author(s):  
Raad Al-Tal ◽  
Muntasir Murshed ◽  
Paiman Ahmad ◽  
Abdelrahman J. K. Alfar ◽  
Mohga Bassim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Average Energy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Efficiency Gains ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Cooking Fuels ◽  
Sub Saharan

Energy poverty is defined as insufficient access to modern energy resources which are relatively cleaner than the traditionally utilized ones. In this regard, the incidence of energy poverty is particularly higher in the cases of the developing countries across the globe. Accordingly, the chronic energy poverty issues in the developing countries within Sub-Saharan Africa have become a major socioeconomic and environmental concern for the associated governments. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the effects of energy efficiency gains and shocks to other key macroeconomic factors on energy poverty in the context of selected Sub-Saharan African nations. In this study, we measure energy poverty in terms of the lack of access to clean cooking fuels and technologies for the population of the selected Sub-Saharan African countries. The overall findings from the common correlated effects panel regression analysis reveal that energy efficiency gains initially aggravate the energy poverty situation but improve it later on; consequently, a U-shaped relationship between energy efficiency and access to clean cooking fuels and technologies is evidenced. Besides, the predicted threshold levels of energy efficiency are observed to be higher than the average energy efficiency level of the Sub-Saharan African nations. Moreover, the results also portray that economic growth, carbon dioxide emissions, foreign direct investment inflows, and international trade are effective in reducing energy poverty. Conversely, financial development is witnessed to be ineffective in influencing the incidence of energy poverty in this region.

scholarly journals Does the Leader's Ethnicity Matter? Ethnic Favoritism, Education, and Health in Sub-Saharan Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAPHAËL FRANCK ◽  
ILIA RAINER
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Ethnic Segregation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Education And Health ◽  
Country Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Using Data

In this article we reassess the role of ethnic favoritism in sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from 18 African countries, we study how the primary education and infant mortality of ethnic groups were affected by changes in the ethnicity of the countries’ leaders during the last 50 years. Our results indicate that the effects of ethnic favoritism are large and widespread, thus providing support for ethnicity-based explanations of Africa's underdevelopment. We also conduct a cross-country analysis of ethnic favoritism in Africa. We find that ethnic favoritism is less prevalent in countries with one dominant religion. In addition, our evidence suggests that stronger fiscal capacity may have enabled African leaders to provide more ethnic favors in education but not in infant mortality. Finally, political factors, linguistic differences, and patterns of ethnic segregation are found to be poor predictors of ethnic favoritism.

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