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Can food-for-work encourage agricultural production?

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  • 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.

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  • 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
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    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. 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.
    3. Hagos, Hosaena Ghebru & Holden, Stein, 2013. "Links between tenure security and food security: Evidence from Ethiopia:," ESSP working papers 59, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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).
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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).
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. 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).
    17. 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).
    18. 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.
    19. repec:unu:wpaper:wp2012-34 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. 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.
    21. 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.
    22. Chen Cao & Xueyun Chen, 2021. "Can Industrial Integration Improve the Sustainability of Grain Security?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-17, December.
    23. 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.
    24. 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.
    25. 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.

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