IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v33y2008i6p541-549.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this article

Can food-for-work encourage agricultural production?

Author

Listed:
  • Bezu, Sosina
  • Holden, Stein

Abstract

Food-for-work (FFW) is the most widely used type of public works program in Ethiopia through which a high share of the food aid is distributed. This paper assesses the impacts of FFW in Tigray, a chronically food insecure region in Ethiopia, in terms of relieving liquidity constraints and thereby improving input use in agriculture. A Heckman selection model on the adoption and intensity of fertilizer use demonstrated that FFW positively influenced the decision to adopt fertilizer and there was no evidence of disincentive effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein, 2008. "Can food-for-work encourage agricultural production?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 541-549, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:33:y:2008:i:6:p:541-549
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306-9192(08)00050-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Quisumbing, Agnes R., 2003. "Food Aid and Child Nutrition in Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1309-1324, July.
    2. Barrett, Christopher B., 2002. "Food security and food assistance programs," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 40, pages 2103-2190, Elsevier.
    3. Woldenhanna, T. & Oskam, A., 2001. "Income diversification and entry barriers: evidence from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 351-365, August.
    4. Holden, Stein & Barrett, Christopher B. & Hagos, Fitsum, 2006. "Food-for-work for poverty reduction and the promotion of sustainable land use: can it work?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 15-38, February.
    5. von Braun, Joachim & Teklu, Tesfaye & Webb, Patrick, 1991. "Labor-intensive public works for food security: Experience in Africa," IFPRI working papers 6, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Jayne, Thomas S. & Strauss, John & Yamano, Takashi & Molla, Daniel, 2002. "Targeting of food aid in rural Ethiopia: chronic need or inertia?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 247-288, August.
    7. Mesfin Bezuneh & Brady J. Deaton & George W. Norton, 1988. "Food Aid Impacts in Rural Kenya," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 70(1), pages 181-191.
    8. Abdulai, Awudu & Barrett, Christopher B. & Hazell, Peter, 2004. "Food aid for market development in Sub-Saharan Africa," DSGD discussion papers 5, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Webb, Patrick & von Braun, Joachim & Yohannes, Yisehac, 1992. "Famine in Ethiopia: policy implications of coping failure at national and household levels," Research reports 92, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Takashi Yamano & Harold Alderman & Luc Christiaensen, 2005. "Child Growth, Shocks, and Food Aid in Rural Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(2), pages 273-288.
    11. Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Swinton, Scott M., 2001. "Reconciling food-for-work project feasibility with food aid targeting in Tigray, Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 85-95, February.
    12. Clay, Daniel C. & Molla, Daniel & Habtewold, Debebe, 1999. "Food aid targeting in Ethiopia: A study of who needs it and who gets it," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 391-409, August.
    13. Holden, Stein & Shiferaw, Bekele, 2004. "Land degradation, drought and food security in a less-favoured area in the Ethiopian highlands: a bio-economic model with market imperfections," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 31-49, January.
    14. Holt, J. F. J., 1983. "Ethiopia : Food for work or food for relief," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 187-201, August.
    15. Simon Maxwell & Deryke Belshaw & Alemayehu Lirenso, 1994. "The Disincentive Effect Of Food‐For‐Work On Labour Supply And Agricultural Intensification And Diversification In Ethiopia," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 351-359, September.
    16. Abdulai, Awudu & Barrett, Christopher B. & Hoddinott, John, 2005. "Does food aid Really have disincentive effects? New evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1689-1704, October.
    17. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    18. Mesfin Bezuneh & Brady Deaton & Segu Zuhair, 2003. "Food Aid Disincentives: the Tunisian Experience," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(4), pages 609-621, November.
    19. Lavy, Victor, 1990. "Does food aid depress food production? The disincentive dilemma in the African context," Policy Research Working Paper Series 460, The World Bank.
    20. Maxwell, S. J. & Singer, H. W., 1979. "Food aid to developing countries: A survey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 225-246, March.
    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. Kahsay, Goytom Abraha & Kassie, Workineh Asmare & Beyene, Abebe Damte & Hansen, Lars Gårn, 2022. "Pro-environmental behavior under bundled environmental and poverty reduction goals: Empirical evidence from Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    2. Tamiru Bezabih Sisay, 2020. "Debre Tabor University Faculty of social Sciences. Debre Tabor, Ethiopia," Agricultural Research & Technology: Open Access Journal, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 25(1), pages 5-13, August.
    3. Kasirye, Ibrahim, 2013. "Constraints to Agricultural Technology Adoption in Uganda: Evidence from the 2005/06-2009/10 Uganda National Panel Survey," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 8(2), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Ferrière, Nathalie & Suwa-Eisenmann, Akiko, 2015. "Does Food Aid Disrupt Local Food Market? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 114-131.
    5. Tilman Brück & Oscar Mauricio Díaz Botía & Neil T. N. Ferguson & Jérôme Ouédraogo & Zacharias Ziegelhöfer, 2019. "Assets for Alimentation? The Nutritional Impact of Assets-based Programming in Niger," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(S1), pages 55-74, December.
    6. Ghebru, Hosaena & Holden, Stein, 2013. "Links between Tenure Security and Food Security: Evidence from Ethiopia," CLTS Working Papers 2/13, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    7. Bethelhem Legesse Debela & Gerald E. Shively & Stein T. Holden, 2021. "Implications of food-for-work programs for consumption and production diversity: Evidence from the Tigray Region of Ethiopia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-24, December.
    8. Kim, Youngwan & Sohn, Hyuk-Sang & Park, Bokyeong, 2019. "Make the village better: An evaluation of the Saemaul Zero Hunger Communities Project in Tanzania and Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Kumasi, Tyhra Carolyn & Asenso-Okyere, Kwadwo, 2011. "Responding to land degradation in the highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia:," IFPRI discussion papers 1142, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Hoddinott, John & Margolies, Amy, 2012. "Mapping the Impacts of Food Aid: Current Knowledge and Future Directions," WIDER Working Paper Series 034, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Villegas, Laura & Smith, Vincent H. & Atwood, Joe & Belasco, Eric, 2016. "Does Participation In Public Works Programs Encourage Fertilizer Use In Rural Ethiopia?," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(2), pages 1-24, April.
    12. repec:unu:wpaper:wp2012-34 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Jaime Hurtubia Torres & Jutta Neitzel, 2017. "Dependency traps in self-targeting food aid programs," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 147-174, November.
    14. Yonas Alem & Nzinga H. Broussard, 2018. "The impact of safety nets on technology adoption: a difference†in†differences analysis," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 13-24, January.
    15. Yu Chen & Sylvie Démurger, 2014. "Pro-rural Policies, Income, and Inequality: Evaluating a Cash-for-Work Program in Rural China," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 13(3), pages 87-114, Fall.
    16. Holden , Stein T., 2018. "Fertilizer and Sustainable Intensification in Africa," CLTS Working Papers 1/18, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    17. Goytom Abraha Kahsay & Workineh Asmare Kassie & Abebe Damte Beyene & Lars Gårn Hansen, 2017. "Do public works programs crowd-out pro-environmental behavior? Empirical evidence from food-for-work programs in Ethiopia," IFRO Working Paper 2017/13, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    18. Chen Cao & Xueyun Chen, 2021. "Can Industrial Integration Improve the Sustainability of Grain Security?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-17, December.
    19. Debela, Bethelhem Legesse & Shively, Gerald E. & Holden, Stein T., 2017. "Food for Work and Diet Diversity in Ethiopia," CLTS Working Papers 14/17, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 21 Oct 2019.
    20. Debela, Bethelhem Legesse & Holden , Stein, 2014. "How Does Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program Affect Livestock Accumulation and Children’s Education?," CLTS Working Papers 8/14, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    21. Bethelhem Debela & Gerald Shively & Stein Holden, 2015. "Does Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program improve child nutrition?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 7(6), pages 1273-1289, December.
    22. Amy Margolies & John Hoddinott, 2012. "Mapping the Impacts of Food Aid: Current Knowledge and Future Directions," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-034, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    23. Bezu, Sosina & Barrett, Christopher B. & Holden, Stein T., 2012. "Does the Nonfarm Economy Offer Pathways for Upward Mobility? Evidence from a Panel Data Study in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1634-1646.
    24. Chamberlin, Jordan & Jayne, T.S., 2013. "Unpacking the Meaning of ‘Market Access’: Evidence from Rural Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 245-264.
    25. Paul Nkegbe & Abdelkrim Araar & Benjamin Abu & Yazidu Ustarz & Hamdiyah Alhassan & Edinam Dope Setsoafia & Shamsia Abdul-Wahab, 2018. "Rural Non-Farm Engagement and Agriculture Commercialization in Ghana: Complements or Competitors?," Working Papers PMMA 2018-07, PEP-PMMA.

    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. Ferrière, Nathalie & Suwa-Eisenmann, Akiko, 2015. "Does Food Aid Disrupt Local Food Market? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 114-131.
    2. Abdulai, Awudu & Barrett, Christopher B. & Hoddinott, John, 2005. "Does food aid Really have disincentive effects? New evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1689-1704, October.
    3. Zant, Wouter, 2012. "The economics of food aid under subsistence farming with an application to Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 124-141.
    4. Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Yohannes, Yisehac, 2005. "How fair is workfare? gender, public works, and employment in rural Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3492, The World Bank.
    5. Barrett, Christopher B., 2006. "Food aid's intended and unintended consequences," ESA Working Papers 289062, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    6. Abdulai, Awudu & Barrett, Christopher B. & Hazell, Peter, 2004. "Food aid for market development in Sub-Saharan Africa," DSGD discussion papers 5, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Quisumbing, Agnes R., 2003. "Food Aid and Child Nutrition in Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1309-1324, July.
    8. Lentz, Erin C. & Barrett, Christopher B., 2013. "The economics and nutritional impacts of food assistance policies and programs," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 151-163.
    9. Christopher B. Barrett & Stein T. Holden & Daniel C. Clay, 2002. "Can Food-for-Work Programmes Reduce Vulnerability?," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-24, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Lentz, Erin C. & Barrett, Christopher B., 2004. "Food Aid Targeting, Shocks And Private Transfers Among East African Pastoralists," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20247, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    11. del Ninno, Carlo & Dorosh, Paul A. & Subbarao, Kalanidhi, 2007. "Food aid, domestic policy and food security: Contrasting experiences from South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 413-435, August.
    12. Holden, Stein & Barrett, Christopher B. & Hagos, Fitsum, 2006. "Food-for-work for poverty reduction and the promotion of sustainable land use: can it work?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 15-38, February.
    13. Barrett, Christopher B., 2002. "Food Aid And Commercial International Food Trade," Working Papers 14742, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    14. Villegas, Laura & Smith, Vincent H. & Atwood, Joe & Belasco, Eric, 2016. "Does Participation In Public Works Programs Encourage Fertilizer Use In Rural Ethiopia?," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 4(2), pages 1-24, April.
    15. Donovan, Cynthia & McGlinchy, Megan & Staatz, John M. & Tschirley, David L., 2006. "Emergency Needs Assessments and the Impact of Food Aid on Local Markets," Food Security International Development Working Papers 54566, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    16. Lara Cockx & Nathalie Francken, 2016. "Evolution and impact of EU aid for food and nutrition security: a review," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 572519, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    17. Yu Chen & Sylvie Démurger, 2014. "Pro-rural Policies, Income, and Inequality: Evaluating a Cash-for-Work Program in Rural China," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 13(3), pages 87-114, Fall.
    18. Koppenberg, Maximilian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Hirsch, Stefan, 2023. "Food Aid and Violent Conflict: A Review of Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 16574, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Guy Jackson, 2020. "The influence of emergency food aid on the causal disaster vulnerability of Indigenous food systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 761-777, September.
    20. Titus O. Awokuse, 2006. "Assessing the Impact of Food Aid on Recipient Countries: A Survey," Working Papers 06-11, Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA).

    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:eee:jfpoli:v:33:y:2008:i:6:p:541-549. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    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.