This article discusses the impact of drought on poverty dynamics in the South Wollo area of northeastern Ethiopia. Using both survey and anthropological/qualitative data covering a six-year period, the paper assesses which households were able to hold on to assets and recover from the 1999-2000...

One of the most important policy tools in developing countries for affecting economic growth and poverty reduction is expenditure policy. As governments decide how to allocate public spending, they need a clear understanding of how public investments translate into development outcomes. Using...

This paper uses household survey panel data of 416 rural households to study livestock asset dynamics in the north-east of Ethiopia. The period under examination (1996-2003) was marked by severe environmental shocks, including a series of droughts. Using as point of departure the literature on...

This study presents empirical findings on drinking water supply in Ethiopia from a set of qualitative and quantitive surveys on rural public services. Access to safe drinking water is very low: 32% of the surveyed households use safe drinking water sources, and the average time to get to safe...

The level of public spending on agriculture in Nigeria remains low regardless of the indicator used. Agricultural spending as a share of total federal spending averaged 4.6 percent between 2008 and 2012 and has been trending downward precipitously. In contrast, Nigeria recorded an annual average...

We use firm-level data from the World Bank’s Regional Program on Enterprise Development, covering Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania for 1991–2003. Econometric results confirm well-known relationships, such as a positive association between export intensity and TFP, which implies...

This paper offers insights into the current status of agricultural expenditure decentralization and draws out the likely implications of this stage in the decentralization process for agricultural service delivery and national strategies.

Over the last several years, the Ethiopian government has committed substantial resources for the expansion of public services and infrastructure in rural areas. To what extent do these investments and services reach different social and economic groups in rural areas? This paper applies a...

This study investigated access to agricultural extension and rural water supply and assessed strategies to improve the provision of these services by strengthening accountability. The study paid special attention to the gender dimension of service delivery. The research was conducted in eight...

This paper undertakes a two-pronged investigation of agricultural public investments in Mozambique. Firstly, it estimates the public resources required in the agricultural sector—both in magnitude and in type or composition—in order for the country to sustainably meet its own...