The outbreak and spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is probably the most serious global challenge since World War II. While research has paid considerable attention to the technical, epidemiological and public health aspects of the pandemic in Africa, it neglects the social, economic and political dimensions.
Abstract
Over a billion people lack access to electricity, instead relying on kerosene and other dirty lighting sources, while grid expansion is not expected to keep pace with population growth. Moreover, pneumonia is the leading cause of death for under-fives in the world and kerosene smoke is a significant risk factor.
Rational antibiotic prescribing is crucial to combat antibiotic resistance. Optimal strategies to improve antibiotic use are not known. Strama, the Swedish strategic program against antibiotic resistance, has been successful in reducing antibiotic prescription rates. This study investigates whether two specific interventions directed toward healthcare centers, an informational visit and a self-evaluation meeting, played a role in observed reduction in rates of antibiotic prescriptions in primary healthcare.
Reduction of post-harvest loss (PHL) can play an important role in complementing efforts to address food security challenges. This paper used data from 390 small-scale maize farmers in Kilosa, Tanzania to analyse the impact of post-harvest management training and the supply of hermetic bags on food insecurity status in a framed field experiment setting with two treatments.
COVID-19 is currently having major short run effects with possible serious long run implications for the environment and the management of natural resources in Latin America. We discuss the possible effects of the pandemic on air pollution, deforestation and other relevant environmental dimensions across the region. With contributions from environmental economists from eight countries, we give an overview of the initial and expected environmental effects of this health crisis.
Smallholder farmers often face prohibitive transaction costs in agricultural commodity markets in developing countries. Consequently, they are only partly integrated into these markets.
Because the main modes of transmission of the COVID-19 virus are respiration and contact, WHO recommends frequent washing of hands with soap under running water for at least 20 seconds. This article investigates how the level of concern about COVID-19 affects the likelihood of washing hands frequently in sub-Saharan Africa. The study makes use of a unique survey dataset from 12 sub-Saharan African countries collected in April 2020 (first round) and May 2020 (second round) and employs an extended ordered probit model with an endogenous covariate.
This paper is an analysis of the subjective well-being of women relative to men in low-income urban households in India. Education and employment are pathways to greater financial well-being which is presumably of great salience to poor populations. However, either or both of these may increase aspirations. The social norms that restrict the autonomy of women may mute the impact of education and employment in a way that does not happen to men. To address this hypothesis, the paper uses primary data from a survey of over 1000 respondents across slums in Delhi.
