The Impact of Cash Transfers on Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence, Design and Implementation

This study investigates the relationship between climate variables such as rainfall amount, temperature, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and the triple dimension of food security (availability, accessibility, and utilization) in a panel of 25 sub-Saharan African countries from 1985 to 2018. After testing for cross-sectional dependence, unit root and cointegration, the study estimated the pool mean group (PMG) panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL). The empirical outcome revealed that rainfall had a significantly positive effect on food availability, accessibility, and utilization in the long run. In contrast, temperature was harmful to food availability and accessibility and had no impact on food utilization. Lastly, CO2 emission positively impacted food availability and accessibility but did not affect food utilization. The study took a step further by integrating some additional variables and performed the panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) regression to ensure the robustness of the preceding PMG results. The control variables yielded meaningful results in most cases, so did the FMOLS and DOLS regression. The Granger causality test was conducted to determine the causal link, if any, among the variables. There was evidence of a short-run causal relationship between food availability and CO2 emission. Food accessibility exhibited a causal association with temperature, whereas food utilization was strongly connected with temperature. CO2 emission was linked to rainfall. Lastly, a bidirectional causal link was found between rainfall and temperature. Recommendations to the national, sub-regional, and regional policymakers are addressed and discussed.

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Prioritizing Achievable Goals for Food Security in the Developing World

Global Journal of Medical Research ◽

10.34257/gjmrlvol21is1pg11 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 11-25

Author(s):

Sanjaya Rajaram ◽

Maarten van Ginkel

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Systems Approach ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Rapid Responses ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

New Research ◽

The Impact

Many solutions have been proposed to address food security. We present here a prioritized set of actions achievable within the next 2–10 years. By taking a systems approach we follow the impact pathway backwards starting from the needs and desires of the end-users to eventually define the research agenda that will exactly address those targeted solutions with positive impacts. The following actions emerge as high-priority and achievable in the near future: new research tools to study food systems; dis-aggregated intra-household surveys to reveal within-family inequalities in food access; increased scientific consensus on climate change impacts in sub-Saharan Africa; rapid response measures to address sudden emergencies, such as capturing excess rainfall water; financial tools to enable rapid responses with recovery measures afterwards; consideration of restrictions that excess heat and humidity impose on human productivity; secure land ownership and tenure rights to encourage long-term agricultural investment; mechanization at all stages along the food system.

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Domestic and International Remittances and Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

REMITTANCES REVIEW ◽

10.33182/rr.v5i1.842 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 37-54

Author(s):

Narges Ebadi ◽

Davod Ahmadi ◽

Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez

Keyword(s):

Logistic Regression ◽

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽

Binary Logistic Regression ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

International Remittances ◽

Food Security Status ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

The Impact

The amount of remittances to developing counties, defined as the flow of monetary and non-monetary goods, has increased globally and has surpassed the amount of money spent on foreign aid in these developing countries. The impact of remittances on households’ purchasing power has been studied; however, its link to food security status is yet to be explored. This paper quantitatively analyses the relationship between food security status (measured using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale) and the receipt of domestic/ international or both remittances on households in sub- Saharan Africa. Data are derived from the Gallup World Poll from the years 2014-2017. Multinomial logistic regression models and binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data. Results showed that remittance recipients had significantly higher household incomes (especially if the remittance was coming internationally and domestically), lived with significantly more household members (7 or more members), and were more likely to be separated (including divorced or widowed). Households that received domestic remittances had significantly higher odds of being food insecure than households receiving no remittances. Conversely, households receiving remittances internationally or a combination of domestic and international remittances had significantly lower odds of food insecurity compared to non-receivers. This study found that receiving remittances affect the food security status of people living in SSA countries.

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Identifying the Drivers of Food Security Based on Perception among Households in South Western Nigeria

European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies ◽

10.26417/ejis.v9i1.p49-55 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 49 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wasiu Olayinka FAWOLE ◽

Burhan ÖZKAN

Keyword(s):

Logistic Regression ◽

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Logistic Regression Model ◽

Developing Nations ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Access To Credit ◽

Explanatory Variables ◽

Design And Implementation ◽

Sub Saharan

Food insecurity has been considered lately as one of the developmental challenges facing developing nations particularly the sub-Saharan Africa that if not curtailed may have embarrassing consequences not only to the affected area but to humanity in general due to instability that may occur. This study aimed to identify those factors that influence food security and how they did to guide the relevant stakeholders in the design and implementation of food programmes. The study assessed food security of the households based on perception of heads/appointed representatives and logistic regression model to identify its drivers in respective households. The findings of the study revealed that majority of households investigated (60.2 percent) showed varying degrees of food insecurity and hunger while those living with moderate hunger were leading by 31.6 percent. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis results showed that eight of the ten explanatory variables such as income, access to credit and public health facilities among others as specified in the model significantly influenced the food security of the sampled households.

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Climate change and human heat stress exposure in sub-Saharan Africa.

CAB Reviews Perspectives in Agriculture Veterinary Science Nutrition and Natural Resources ◽

10.1079/pavsnnr202116049 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (049) ◽

Author(s):

Desalegn Yayeh Ayal

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Heat Stress ◽

Food Security ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Political Crises ◽

Climate Change Risks ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Sahel Region ◽

The Impact ◽

Agricultural Food

Abstract The sub-Saharan Africa region has been affected by multifaceted interrelated challenges including climate change risks, environmental degradation, political crises, demographic, and food security. The region is geographically exposed to and heavily depends on heat stress-sensitive livelihood and economy. Unlike drought, flood, and erratic rainfall, the situation and impact of heat stress are not well documented. This paper summarized the impact of heat stress on various sectors of the Sahel region. The result revealed that exposure to heat stress contributed to water, agricultural, food security, health, and economic adverse impacts in sub-Saharan Africa. The study also shows in sub- Saharan Africa especially in semiarid and arid areas the future impact of heat stress in various sectors is expected to be more severe. The changes and impacts of heat stress are not uniform across the region. For instance, East Africa is at higher risk of acquiring concurrent health impacts. West Africa is projected to experience severe impacts on food production. South Africa observes the strongest decrease in precipitation with concurrent risks of drought. Thus, understanding the effect of heat stress on humans and various heat-sensitive sectors should be the focus of researchers. However, given the degree of uncertainty of the models' results and effect of heat stress in the region, it is important to develop adaptive capacities at different ecological settings that enable the region population to adapt to risk factors related to climate change and heat stress.

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Cash Transfers and Food Security in Sub‐Saharan Africa

South African Journal of Economics ◽

10.1111/saje.12204 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 86 (4) ◽

pp. 383-400

Author(s):

Francesco Burchi ◽

Giorgio d’Agostino ◽

Luca Pieroni ◽

Margherita Scarlato

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Cash Transfers ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Sub Saharan

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The impact of COVID-19 control measures on social contacts and transmission in Kenyan informal settlements

10.1101/2020.06.06.20122689 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matthew Quaife ◽

Kevin van Zandvoort ◽

Amy Gimma ◽

Kashvi Shah ◽

Nicky McCreesh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Food Security ◽

Informal Settlements ◽

Control Measures ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Social Contacts ◽

Contact Patterns ◽

Contact Data ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

The Impact

AbstractBackgroundMany low- and middle-income countries have implemented control measures against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, it is not clear to what extent these measures explain the low numbers of recorded COVID-19 cases and deaths in Africa. One of the main aims of control measures is to reduce respiratory pathogen transmission through direct contact with others. In this study we collect contact data from residents of informal settlements around Nairobi, Kenya to assess if control measures have changed contact patterns, and estimate the impact of changes on the basic reproduction number (R0).MethodsWe conducted a social contact survey with 213 residents of five informal settlements around Nairobi in early May 2020, four weeks after the Kenyan government introduced enhanced physical distancing measures and a curfew between 7pm and 5am. Respondents were asked to report all direct physical and non-physical contacts made the previous day, alongside a questionnaire asking about the social and economic impact of COVID-19 and control measures. We examined contact patterns by demographic factors, including socioeconomic status. We described the impact of COVID-19 and control measures on income and food security. We compared contact patterns during control measures to patterns from non-pandemic periods to estimate the change in R0.FindingsWe estimate that control measures reduced physical and non-physical contacts, reducing the R0 from around 2.6 to between 0.5 and 0.7, depending on the pre-COVID-19 comparison matrix used. Masks were worn by at least one person in 92% of contacts. Respondents in the poorest socioeconomic quintile reported 1.5 times more contacts than those in the richest. 86% of respondents reported a total or partial loss of income due to COVID-19, and 74% reported eating less or skipping meals due to having too little money for food.InterpretationCOVID-19 control measures have had a large impact on direct contacts and therefore transmission, but have also caused considerable economic and food insecurity. Reductions in R0 are consistent with the linear epidemic growth in Kenya and other sub-Saharan African countries that implemented similar, early control measures. However, negative and inequitable impacts on economic and food security may mean control measures are not sustainable in the longer term.Research in contextEvidence before this studyWe conducted a PubMed search on 6 June 2020 with no language restrictions for studies published since inception, using the search terms (“social mix*” OR “social cont*” OR “contact pattern*) AND (“covid*”). The search yielded 53 articles, two of which reported changes in social contacts after COVID-19 control measures. The first study reported changes in contact patterns in Wuhan and Shanghai, and the second changes in contact patterns in the UK. We found no studies examining changes in contact patterns due to control measures in sub-Saharan Africa, and no studies disaggregating contacts by socioeconomic status.Added value of this studyThis is the first study to estimate the reproduction number of COVID-19 under control measures in sub-Saharan Africa using primary contact data. This study also moves beyond existing work to i) measure contacts in densely populated informal settlements, ii) explore how social contacts vary across socioeconomic status, and iii) assess the impact of control measures on economic and food security in these areas.Implications of all the evidenceCOVID-19 control measures have substantially reduced social contacts and disease transmission. People of lower socioeconomic status face greater transmission risk as they report more contacts. Control measures have led to considerable economic and food insecurity, and may not be sustainable in the long term without efforts to reduce the burden of control measures on households.

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