 |
Natural Capital and Poverty Reduction
| Principal Investigators: |
Jerry Shively (Purdue University, USA)
Charles Jumbe (University of Malawi)
Dick Sserunkuuma (Makerere University, Uganda)
|
Problem & Objective
In many countries poor households turn to resource extraction to generate income, manage risk and secure livelihoods. However, this strategy that prevents them from participating fruitfully in other activities and escaping their poverty. This project will document the ways in which natural capital serves as informal insurance and a safety net against income variability and transitory shocks. It will also examine household dependence on natural resources, and how this varies with wealth, gender and market conditions. Finally, it will look at whether income from natural resources can serve as a pathway out of poverty by helping households accumulate physical, financial and human capital.
Research Context
Income from resource extraction accounts for up to 45% of total income for rural households in some countries. The importance of resource extraction is amplified in the presence of risk, which will likely increase as climate change threatens productivity, especially in marginal agricultural areas.
Policy Relevance
Improved information about how households use natural resources and their role in income generation and risk management will help governments generate natural resource management policies that will not disadvantage the poor. In addition, researchers will look at the long term sustainability of resource extraction, and will look to inform policies in directions that improve both economic and environmental outcomes. The project will work to hi light ways to ensure that a larger share of resource rents go to local people, and articulate ways to enhance poverty alleviation without increasing environmental degradation.
Publications
- How Might Shadow Price Restrictions Reduce Technical Efficiency? Evidence from a Restricted DEA Analysis of Coffee Farms in Vietnam. Andres F. Garcia and Gerald E. Shively. Journal of Agricultural Economics Volume 62, Number 1, 2011, 47-58.
-
BASIS Brief no. 2010-07
Impact of Subsidies on Fertilizer Use, Land Allocation and Forest Pressure: Evidence from Malawi, by Christopher Chibwana, Charles Jumbe, John Mazunda, Monica Fisher and Gerald Shively. September 2010. 4 pages. [Adobe Acrobat 60K].
-
BASIS Brief no. 2010-05
Income, Poverty and Charcoal Production in Western Uganda, by Fydess Khundi, Pamela Jagger, Gerald Shively shivelyg@purdue.edu, and Dick Sserunkuuma. July 2010. 4 pages. [Adobe Acrobat 66K].
-
Tadesse, Getaw and Gerald Shively. 2009. Food Aid, Food Prices and Producer Disincentives in Ethiopia. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 91(4): 942-955.
Available here if you have institutional access to WileyPublications
-
BASIS Brief no. 2008-02
Using Natural Capital to Manage Risk and Reduce Poverty, by Arild Angelsen, Monica Fisher, Charles Jumbe, Gerald Shively, and Dick Sserunkuuma. February 2008. 4 pages. [PDF 46K]
-
Angelsen, A. 2008. "Seeing Both the Forest and the Trees in REDD." Forthcoming in International Forestry Review.
-
Babigumira, R., A. Angelsen and D. Müller. 2007. "An Integrated Socio-economic Study of Deforestation in Western Uganda, 1990-2000." In Land use Change: Science, Policy and Management, edited by R. Aspinall and M. Hill. New York: CRC Press (Taylor and Francis).
-
Fisher, M. and G. Shively. 2007. "Improved Agricultural Technology and Tropical Forest Pressure: The Case of Malawi's Starter Pack Scheme." Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 32(2): 349-362.
-
Jumbe C.B.L. and A. Angelsen. 2007. "Has Forest Co-management in Malawi Benefited the Poor?" In Political Institutions and Development: Failed Expectations and Renewed Hopes, pp. 171-199. Global Development Network Series, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.
-
Jumbe, C. and A. Angelsen. 2007. "Forest Dependence and Participation in CPR Management: Empirical Evidence from Forest Co-management in Malawi." Ecological Economics 62(3-4): 661-672.
-
Kijima, Y., K. Otsuka and D. Sserunkuuma. 2008. "Assessing the Impact of NERICA on Income and Poverty in Central and Western Uganda." Agricultural Economics 38: 327-37.
-
Rios, A., W. Masters and G. Shively. 2008. "Linkages between Market Participation and Productivity: Results from a Multi-Country Farm Household Sample." American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Orlando, 27-29 July.
-
Tran, N. A., G.E. Shively and P.V. Preckel. "A New Method for Detecting Outliers in DEA." Forthcoming in Applied Economics Letters.
-
Weber, B., A. Marré, M. Fisher, R. Gibbs, and J. Cromartie. 2007. "Education's Effect on Poverty: The Role of Migration." Review of Agricultural Economics 29(3): 437-445.
- Project Proposal (PDF, 35 pages)
Trip Reports
|
|
