Food and forests: understanding agriculture and conservation trade-offs in Ethiopia

Submitted by Yitatek Yitbarek on

Agricultural expansion is the number one driver of the loss of nature and its biodiversity and ecosystem services.1 But efforts to rapidly reduce these losses must recognize the political and economic realities of developing countries striving for economic growth and poverty eradication in the face of climate change. How to balance the competing objectives of agricultural production (SDG 2) and nature conservation (SDG 15) is a critical challenge for sustainable development, and there is growing recognition that success will require transformative change

Agriculture

Does a portfolio of consumption adjustment coping strategies erode resilience? Panel data evidence from Ethiopia

Submitted by Yitatek Yitbarek on

For smallholder subsistence farmers, it is difficult to undertake adequate ex-ante strategies to prepare for shocks. These households are forced to attempt multiple ex-post coping strategies such as consuming less preferred food, limiting food diversity and reducing the size of meals. The literature on consumption has generally overlooked the potential impact of post-shock consumption adjustment on nutritional deprivation.

Agriculture

Demographic considerations and food security in Nigeria

Submitted by Vicentia Quartey on
EfD Authors:

AbstractClose to 14 million people in Nigeria, including children, are malnourished. I hypothesize that demographic considerations play an important role in food insecurity within Nigerian households. Using data from three waves of the World Bank’s Living Standard Measurement Survey for Nigeria, I illustrate spatial patterns of food security in the country. Using fixed effects regressions, I also show that, at the household level, larger households have worse food security outcomes and are more likely to report being food insecure.

Can climate information salvage livelihoods in arid and semiarid lands? An evaluation of access, use and impact in Namibia

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:

Climate forecasting is a crucial tool for managing risks in climate-sensitive economic sectors like agriculture. Although rainfed subsistence farming dominates livelihoods in Africa, information on access, integration in farm decisions and impact of improved seasonal climate forecasting remains scanty. This paper addresses this gap using representative data of 653 households across three regions in North-Central Namibia.

Agriculture, Climate Change