Understanding the impact of idiosyncratic shocks on farm productivity and household asset building and protection in Ethiopia, Ghana and Bangladesh

Problem & Objective
New evidence that idiosyncratic risk dominates covariate risk in rural Africa and Asia indicates the potential contribution of improved local risk management to household asset accumulation, productivity growth and poverty reduction in developing countries. This research aims to clarify what existing mechanism help households through episodes of negative shocks, what gaps in coverage exist, and how different interventions affect productivity in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Ghana.

Research Context
Risk and poverty are key, inextricable concerns in Bangladesh, Ghana and Ethiopia. The research will focus on the impact of idiosyncratic risk on asset poverty and the mechanism available to redress it. Each county has an existing data set that has paid significant attention to risk issues, social networks and gender and will allow researchers to look at the impact of idiosyncratic risk on asset accumulation and welfare dynamics.

Policy Relevance
Better understanding of idiosyncratic risk and how it affects the long-term well being of households will inform policies that help individuals, households and communities manage risk without being overly interventionist. The research will also help inform public health debates about helping households and small producers manage illness and disease, a key are of interest in Africa and beyond.

Publications

• For a complete list of publications on the project website click here

• BASIS Brief no. 2007-03. Local Risk Management: Protecting Household Asset Building and Farm Productivity from Idiosyncratic Shocks, by Christopher B. Barrett, Ernest Aryeetey, Agnes Quisumbing, Akhter Ahmed, John Hoddinott, Felix Naschold, Jacqueline Vanderpuye-Orgle and Tassew Woldehanna. July 2007. 4 pages. [PDF 72K]

• Naschold, Felix and Christopher B. Barrett. "Do Short-Term Observed Income Changes Overstate Structural Economic Mobility?"

• Quisumbing, Agnes R. "Poverty transitions, shocks, and consumption in rural Bangladesh: Preliminary results from a longitudinal household survey."

• Community-based risk management arrangements: An overview and implications for social fund design, by Ruchira Bhattamishra and Christopher B. Barrett. 61 pages [PDF 142K]

• Risk Management and Social Visibility in Ghana, by Jacqueline Vanderpuye-Orgle and Christopher B. Barrett. February 2008. 36 pages. [PDF 228K]

• Project Proposal (March 2007)

Trip Reports

• Ghana January 2008, 24 pages [PDF, 81K]
   

For more information visit the project website: http://amacrsp.aem.cornell.edu