scholarly journals Climate variability, absorptive capacity and economic performance in Sub-Sahara Africa

Author(s):  
Jubril Olayinka Animashaun ◽  
Toyin Benedict Ajibade

The high reliance of Africa’s GDP on agriculture makes its economic growth susceptible to climate change. The vulnerability of Africa is further worsened by the strong inter-linkage that the agricultural sector has with other productive sectors. To drive policy implications that transform economic performance in Africa, it becomes important to understand the linkages between climate and economy of the region. This paper examines the effects that climate change has on economic performance in sub-Saharan African nations. Based on cross-country panel climatic data that takes account of the absorptive mechanism, it estimates the contribution of climate change to economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The estimator is developed based on the OLS, Fixed Effect, and the Arellano-Bond (1991) Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator. The findings show that high temperature is a significant contributor to worsening economic performance in the SSA region. However, after accounting for the absorptive mechanisms, the relationship is no longer that strong. Specifically, after accounting for initial economic performance, social and political stability in the 2-stage GMM estimation, the estimate for temperature drops by 59%. This result confirms the hypothesis that the negative impact of climate change in the region is not absolute, and that building an overall stable socioeconomic environment in the region could assist in buffering the impact of climate change.

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 988
Author(s):  
Richard A. Giliba ◽  
Genesis Tambang Yengoh

Prunus africana is a fast-growing, evergreen canopy tree with several medicinal, household, and agroforestry uses, as well as ecological value for over 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This species is under immense pressure from human activity, compounding its vulnerability to the effects of climate change. Predicting suitable habitats for P. africana under changing climate is essential for conservation monitoring and planning. This study intends to predict the impact of climate change on the suitable habitats for the vulnerable P. africana in Tanzania. We used maximum entropy modeling to predict future habitat distribution based on the representative concentration pathways scenario 4.5 and 8.5 for the mid-century 2050 and late-century 2070. Species occurrence records and environmental variables were used as a dependent variable and predictor variables respectively. The model performance was excellent with the area under curve (AUC) and true skill statistics (TSS) values of 0.96 and 0.85 respectively. The mean annual temperature (51.7%) and terrain ruggedness. index (31.6%) are the most important variables in predicting the current and future habitat distribution for P. africana. Our results show a decrease in suitable habitats for P. africana under all future representative concentration pathways scenario when compared with current distributions. These results have policy implications for over 22 countries of sub-Saharan Africa that are facing problems associated with the sustainability of this species. Institutional, policy, and conservation management approaches are proposed to support sustainable practices in favor of P. africana.


Author(s):  
Richard Adjei Dwumfour

Abstract I examine the impact of diversity (ethnic and religious fractionalization and polarization) on banking stability in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using data from 1996 to 2014, I employ the system Generalized Method of Moments (sys-GMM) approach to examine this relationship. I find that countries in SSA are more polarized religiously than they are ethnically. The region is, however, more ethnically fractionalized than they are religiously. Further, I conjecture that banks in more heterogeneous societies will experience poor asset quality and lower stability. I however postulate that banks offset the risks from diversity at certain levels of net interest margin (NIM). I provide empirical evidence to support these conjectures. I find varying threshold NIM values for each diversity indicator depending on the stability measure used. Opening up the banking system to foreign entry can help offset the negative impact of diversity on banking stability. Policy implications are discussed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 014459871990065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice A Asongu ◽  
Nicholas M Odhiambo

This study assesses whether improving governance standards affects environmental quality in 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2000–2012. The empirical evidence is based on generalized method of moments. Bundled and unbundled governance dynamics are used, notably: (i) political governance (consisting of political stability and “voice and accountability”); (ii) economic governance (entailing government effectiveness and regulation quality), (iii) institutional governance (represented by the rule of law and corruption-control); and (iv) general governance (encompassing political, economic, and institutional governance dynamics). The following hypotheses are tested: (i) Hypothesis 1 ( improving political governance is negatively related to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions); (ii) Hypothesis 2 ( increasing economic governance is negatively related to CO2 emissions); and (iii) Hypothesis 3 ( enhancing institutional governance is negatively related to CO2 emissions). Results of the tested hypotheses show that the validity of Hypothesis 3 cannot be determined based on the results; Hypothesis 2 is not valid, while Hypothesis 1 is partially not valid. The main policy implication is that governance standards need to be further improved in order for government quality to generate the expected unfavorable effects on CO2 emissions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 094086
Author(s):  
Sarah Chapman ◽  
Cathryn E Birch ◽  
Edward Pope ◽  
Susannah Sallu ◽  
Catherine Bradshaw ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
pp. 002190962094034
Author(s):  
Hong Hiep Hoang ◽  
Cong Minh Huynh

Using the Feasible Generalized Least Squares econometric method, the paper analyzes the impact of climate change on economic growth in Vietnam’s coastal South Central region over the period of 2006–2015. The results indicate that, after controlling for the main determinants in the growth model, the climate change with various proxies has a significantly negative impact on provinces’ economic growth in the region. In particular, local institutions not only increase economic growth, but also reduce the negative impact of climate change on economic growth as well. These results suggest some policy implications aimed at boosting the process of transforming the economic growth model for the coastal region adapting to climate change. JEL codes: F21, F23, E22


Author(s):  
Baljeet Kaur ◽  
Som Pal Singh ◽  
P.K. Kingra

Background: Climate change is a nonpareil threat to the food security of hundred millions of people who depends on agriculture for their livelihood. A change in climate affects agricultural production as climate and agriculture are intensely interrelated global processes. Global warming is one of such changes which is projected to have significant impacts on environment affecting agriculture. Agriculture is the mainstay economy in trans-gangetic plains of India and maize is the third most important crop after wheat and rice. Heat stress in maize cause several changes viz. morphological, anatomical and physiological and biochemical changes. Methods: In this study during 2014-2018, impact of climate change on maize yield in future scenarios was simulated using the InfoCrop model. Average maize yield from 2001-15 was collected for Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to calibrate and validate the model. Future climatic data set from 2020 to 2050 was used in the study to analyse the trends in climatic parameters.Result: Analysis of future data revealed increasing trends in maximum temperature and minimum temperature. Rainfall would likely follow the erratic behaviour in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. Increase in temperature was predicted to have negative impact on maize yield under future climatic scenario.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingze Wu ◽  
Yueji Zhu ◽  
Qi Yang

Purpose Farmers' adaptation strategies in agricultural production are required to minimise the negative impact of climate change on a nation's food production in developing countries. Based on the panel data of the provincial level in China from 2000 to 2017, this study aims to analyse the changing climate over recent years and farmers' adaptation strategy in terms of cropping in agricultural production. Design/methodology/approach This study uses Simpson's diversity index (SDI) to measure the degree of crop diversity planted by farmers and evaluate the influence of climate change on farmers' cropping strategy using the fixed-effect model. Further, the authors estimate the impact of farmers' cropping strategy on their economic performances in two aspects including yields and technical efficiency of crops. Findings The empirical results show that the overall climate appears a warming trend. Different from farmers in some other countries, Chinese farmers tend to adopt a more specialised cropping strategy which can significantly improve the technical efficiency and yields of crops in agriculture. In addition, as a moderating role, the specialised cropping can help farmers to alleviate the negative impact of climate change on technical efficiency of their crops. Originality/value First, previous studies showed that the changing climate influenced farmers' adaptation strategies, while most studies focussed on multiple adaptation strategies from the farm-level perspective rather than cropping strategy from the nation-level perspective. Second, the present study investigates how the cropping strategy affects the economic performance (in terms of the technical efficiency and crop yields) of agricultural production. Third, the stochastic frontier analysis method is used to estimate the technical efficiency. Fourth, this study explores the moderating effect between farmers' cropping strategy and technical efficiency by introducing an interaction item of SDI and accumulated temperature.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
AISHA AHMAD SAJOH

Purpose: This research looked into debate on the possible impact of human capital on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and considers two alternative measures of human capital: health and education. Methodology: The research used a dynamic model based on the system generalized method of moments (SGMM) and analysed a balanced panel data covering 35 countries from 1986–2018. The research used Microsoft excel to record all the data gotten from the world indicator data base from world bank, penn world table data base and CANA database. The analysis was presented in a tabular form. Findings: This study found that human capital has an overall positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth in the SSA region, although, democracy has a negative and statistically significant impact on economic growth in the region. This finding shows the importance of both measures of human capital and aligns with the argument in the literature that neither education nor health is a perfect substitute for the other as a measure of human capital. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy:Generally, the finding emphasised that both education and health measures of human capital are important, and that policymakers must consider the level of economic development while formulating policies that can enhance the impact of human capital on economic growth in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097215092110476
Author(s):  
Rexford Abaidoo ◽  
Elvis Agyapong

This study examines the impact of macroeconomic risk on political stability, using data compiled from 38 countries in the sub-region of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), from 1996 to 2018. Macroeconomic risk index employed in this study is constructed using principal component analysis (PCA) from key economic variables. Empirical estimates verifying the relationship in question are conducted using the two-step system generalized method of moments (TS-SGMM) estimation technique. Presented empirical estimates suggest that macroeconomic risk has an adverse impact on political stability, all things being equal. Reported coefficient estimates further suggest that improvement in rule of law among economies in the sub-region significantly moderates the negative impact exerted on the political environment by macroeconomic risk. Coefficient estimates additionally suggest that improvement in governance and institutional variables (corruption control, government effectiveness, regulatory quality and rule of law) augment efforts at promoting political stability even in an environment characterized by volatile output growth.


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