Replaced with revised version of paper 07/02/10.

This paper assesses the cost efficiency of indicator-based targeting. Using household survey data from Malawi, we examine whether an indicator-based targeting of the poor is more target- and cost-efficient than the currently used mechanisms for targeting agricultural subsidy programs in the...

In Afghanistan, where 80% of the population is rural, irrigated agriculture is important for satisfying subsistence needs. While most of the irrigated agriculture is fed by diversion canal systems which tap surface flows, legal and physical water infrastructure in the region is generally poor. A...

In recent decades there has been a substantial increase in the scale of production and the use of production contracts in the hog sector. This paper explores empirically whether these two phenomena are related by examining whether the use of production contracts has allowed finish hog operations...

Replaced with revised version of paper 10/20/10.

This paper examines the relationship between gender inequality and nutrition using direct indicators of empowerment such as mobility, decision-making power, and attitudes towards verbal and physical abuse. Our approach draws on the theory of the household as a utility maximizing unit that uses...

This paper evaluates one indirect impact of fertilizer policy, the nutritional gains due to increased food production. We look specifically at the case of Malawi’s Targeted Input Program and show that benefitting from the program during its entire duration could have led to gains substantial...