IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/afrdev/v32y2020i3p392-403.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Electoral participation and household food insecurity in sub‐Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Olayemi M. Olabiyi

Abstract

This paper analyses the impact of household food insecurity on electoral participation in 30 sub‐Sahara African countries with the aid of micro‐level data drawn from the sixth round of the Afrobarometer survey. Estimates from logistic regression indicate that being food insecure reduces the likelihood of electoral participation by 7%. Notably, results from the endogenous binary‐variable regression, which controlled for potential reverse causality, confirm that household food insecurity is a crucial driver of voter turnout in sub‐Saharan Africa. Further analysis reveals that voting behaviour was much higher and statistically significant amongst voters who were intermittently food insecure than those that were always food insecure. Finally, it appears that turnout at national elections depends mostly on the severity of food insecurity. Therefore, it can be argued that the implementation of policies aimed at stemming household food insecurity could play an essential role in increasing voter turnout.

Suggested Citation

  • Olayemi M. Olabiyi, 2020. "Electoral participation and household food insecurity in sub‐Saharan Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 392-403, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:afrdev:v:32:y:2020:i:3:p:392-403
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8268.12447
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.12447
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8268.12447?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kjell Hausken & Mthuli Ncube, 2014. "Determinants of Election Outcomes: New Evidence from Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(4), pages 610-630, December.
    2. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Tenn, Steven, 2007. "The Effect of Education on Voter Turnout," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(4), pages 446-464.
    4. Ann-Sofie Isaksson & Andreas Kotsadam & M�ns Nerman, 2014. "The Gender Gap in African Political Participation: Testing Theories of Individual and Contextual Determinants," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 302-318, February.
    5. Dula Etana & Degefa Tolossa, 2017. "Unemployment and Food Insecurity in Urban Ethiopia," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(1), pages 56-68, March.
    6. Uche M. Ozughalu & Fidelis O. Ogwumike, 2013. "Vulnerability to Food Poverty in Nigeria," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(3), pages 243-255, September.
    7. Fischer, Justina AV, 2010. "Accounting for Unobserved Country Heterogeneity in Happiness Research: Country Fixed Effects versus Region Fixed Effects," MPRA Paper 22272, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Heckman, James J, 1978. "Dummy Endogenous Variables in a Simultaneous Equation System," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(4), pages 931-959, July.
    9. Daniel Stockemer, 2011. "Women's Parliamentary Representation in Africa: The Impact of Democracy and Corruption on the Number of Female Deputies in National Parliaments," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 59(3), pages 693-712, October.
    10. James J. Heckman, 1976. "Introduction to "Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4"," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Isaac Bonuedi & Kofi Kamasa & Elliot Boateng, 2019. "The Growth Effects of the Bulging Economically Active Population in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Do Institutions Matter?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 31(1), pages 71-86, March.
    12. Uche M. Ozughalu & Fidelis Ogwumike, 2013. "Vulnerability to Food Poverty in Nigeria," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(3), pages 243-255.
    13. Jessica Duncan & Priscilla Claeys, 2018. "Politicizing food security governance through participation: opportunities and opposition," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(6), pages 1411-1424, December.
    14. Tugba Zeydanli, 2017. "Elections and Subjective Living Conditions in Sub†Saharan Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(4), pages 545-561, December.
    15. Primrose Zama Ngema & Melusi Sibanda & Lovemore Musemwa, 2018. "Household Food Security Status and Its Determinants in Maphumulo Local Municipality, South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yevessé Dandonougbo & Yaovi Tossou & Esso‐Hanam Atake & Didier Koumavi Ekouevi, 2021. "Effets de la COVID‐19 sur la variation du revenu et la sécurité alimentaire des ménages au Togo," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(S1), pages 194-206, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Banal-Estañol, Albert & Duso, Tomaso & Seldeslachts, Jo & Szücs, Florian, 2022. "R&D spillovers through RJV cooperation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(4).
    2. Sarel, Roee & Demirtas, Melanie, 2021. "Delegation in a multi-tier court system: Are remands in the U.S. federal courts driven by moral hazard?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Wisuwat Chujan & Weerachart T. Kilenthong, 2019. "Short-term Impact of an Early Childhood Curriculum Intervention in Rural Thailand," Working Papers 2019-077, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    4. Bago, Jean-Louis & Ouédraogo, Moussa & Akakpo, Koffi & Lompo, Miaba Louise & Souratié, Wamadini M. & Ouédraogo, Ernest, 2019. "Early Childhood Education and Children Development : Evidence from Ghana," MPRA Paper 95868, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Kinda, Somlanare Romuald & Kere, Nazindigouba Eric & Yogo, Thierry Urbain & Simpasa, Musonda Anthony, 2022. "Do land rushes really improve food security in Sub-Saharan Africa?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    6. Santiago Carbo-Valverde & Edward J. Kane & Francisco Rodriguez-Fernandez, 2012. "Regulatory Arbitrage in Cross-Border Banking Mergers within the EU," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(8), pages 1609-1629, December.
    7. Godstime Osekhebhen Eigbiremolen & Jonathan Emenike Ogbuabor, 2018. "Measurement and Determinants of Food Poverty: A Dynamic Analysis of Nigeria's First Panel Survey Data," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 30(4), pages 423-433, December.
    8. Mekonnen, Tigist, 2017. "Productivity and household welfare impact of technology adoption: Micro-level evidence from rural Ethiopia," MERIT Working Papers 2017-007, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    9. Wisuwat Chujan & Weerachart Kilenthong, 2019. "An Early Evaluation of a HighScope-Based Curriculum Intervention in Rural Thailand," PIER Discussion Papers 103, Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research.
    10. Banal-Estañol, Albert & Duso, Tomaso & Seldeslachts, Jo & Szücs, Florian, 2022. "R&D spillovers through RJV cooperation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(4).
    11. Bernadette Power & Gavin C Reid, 2003. "Turbulence, Flexibility and Performance of the Long-lived Small Firm," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 03-039/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    12. Renuka Sane & Susan Thomas, 2020. "From Participation To Repurchase: Low Income Households And Micro‐insurance," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(3), pages 783-814, September.
    13. Yuen Leng Chow & Isa E. Hafalir & Abdullah Yavas, 2015. "Auction versus Negotiated Sale: Evidence from Real Estate Sales," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 43(2), pages 432-470, June.
    14. Dragan Tevdovski & Katerina Tosevska-Trpcevska & Elena Makrevska Disoska, 2017. "What is the role of innovation in productivity growth in Central and Eastern European countries?," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 25(3), pages 527-551, July.
    15. James J. Heckman, 2008. "Econometric Causality," International Statistical Review, International Statistical Institute, vol. 76(1), pages 1-27, April.
    16. Rama Lionel Ngenzebuke, 2016. "Female say on income and child outcomes: Evidence from Nigeria," WIDER Working Paper Series 134, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Dominika Langenmayr & Franz Reiter, 2022. "Trading offshore: evidence on banks’ tax avoidance," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(3), pages 797-837, July.
    18. Marco Grazzi & Chiara Piccardo & Cecilia Vergari, 2020. "Concordance and complementarity in IP instruments," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(7), pages 756-788, August.
    19. Anna Piil Damm, 2009. "Ethnic Enclaves and Immigrant Labor Market Outcomes: Quasi-Experimental Evidence," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(2), pages 281-314, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:afrdev:v:32:y:2020:i:3:p:392-403. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/afdbgci.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.