This paper describes changes over the past 15-20 years in non-income measures of wellbeing—education and health—in Africa. We expected to find, as we did in Latin America, that progress in the provision of public services and the focus of public spending in the social sector would contribute...

The African natural and policy environment can be quite risky. Particularly in rural areas, weather and pests are a constant threat to livelihood, as are the vagaries of world markets and government policy. Not surprisingly, African households have developed approaches to mitigation of, and...