Personal networks can help rural workers find urban jobs. Moreover, when the information flow increases due to the mobile phone coverage expansion, the new information flow may strengthen the existing personal networks or bypass them, helping those who were previously outside the networks in the...

This study evaluates the impacts of a community-driven development (CDD) project on household income and acquisition of productive assets in Nigeria. Using panel data and difference-in-differences and propensity score matching approaches, the study finds that the project succeeded in targeting...

Replaced with revised version of paper 08/04/09.

Marketing boards and strategic reserves have re-emerged over the last decade as significant actors in grain markets in eastern and southern Africa, yet there is little empirical research regarding how their activities affect smallholder behavior. This paper uses panel survey data from 1997-2007...

Regionalism and food security is a relatively neglected topic with very limited literature. We use a Ricardian trade model with multiple goods and countries which embeds a structure of gravity equation and yield variability. Our study shows that integration with African markets of staple foods...

Rising agricultural productivity in developing countries is crucial to ease the tension of increased population and haunting concern on food security. Nevertheless the soaring price of fertilizer and sluggish dissemination of improved seed varieties prohibit the poor to tap benefits from...

This paper assesses the implications of large-scale investments in biofuels for growth and income distribution. We find that biofuels investment enhances growth and poverty reduction despite some displacement of food crops by biofuels. Overall, the biofuel investment trajectory analyzed...

Agricultural growth in Africa has accelerated, yet most of this growth has been driven by land expansion. Land expansion potential is reaching its limits, urging governments to shift towards a green revolution type of productivity-led growth. Given the huge public investments required, this...

The study evaluates the gendered impacts of Agricultural Innovation Systems driven research on livelihood improvements in Africa. Using a case study from Malawi, the study employs a quasi-experimental research design with propensity score matching to establish a counterfactual and single...

Low teacher motivation and its detrimental effect on student achievement are central problems of many education systems in Africa. Using standardized data for student achievement in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Madagascar and Senegal, this paper analyzes the empirical links between...