Jane Kabubo-Mariara

Herders response to acute land pressure under changing property rights: some insights from Kajiado District, Kenya

This paper examines the response of herders to increased shortage and degradation of land in an arid and semi-arid land setting in Kenya, under changing property right regimes using both survey and secondary data. We argue that the responses adopted are livelihood strategies to improve herders welfare. We explore the determinants of three different strategies: crop cultivation, investment in land improvements, and migration with livestock. We employ the probit regression framework to explain each strategy. The main findings of the study are that private property rights, educational attainment, and availability of water are major determinants of the three strategies. We recommend policies that favour privatization of existing common property resources, improve education levels, and increase supply of water in the district.

The effect of protest zeros on estimates of willingness to pay in healthcare contingent valuation analysis

Abstract’Protest zeros’ occur when respondents reject some aspect of the contingent valuation (CV) market scenario by reporting a zero value even though they place a positive value on the amenity being valued. This is inevitable even in the best-designed CV study, and, when excluded on an ad hoc basis, may cause a selection bias problem. This could affect the reliability of the willingness to pay (WTP) estimates obtained for preference assessment. Treatment of ‘protest zeros’ in general, and particularly in the context of developing countries, has been rather unsatisfactory. Most case studies employ the Heckman 2-step approach, which is much less robust to co-linearity problems than the Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) estimator.The main objective of this article is to illustrate a sequential procedure to simultaneously deal with co-linearity and selectivity bias resulting from excluding ‘protest zeros’ in CV analysis. The sequential procedure involves different levels of estimation and diagnostics with the 2-step and FIML estimators; the duration of the procedure depends on the diagnostic test results at each stage of the estimations.The data used for the analysis were elicited using the conventional dichotomous choice buttressed with an open-ended follow-up question. The survey was designed to elicit households’ WTP for a proposed community-based malaria control scheme in rural Cameroon. In the application context, we found that the different levels of estimation and diagnostics resulted in reliable WTP estimates from the FIML approach, which would obviously have been overlooked in the absence of such diagnostics.

The linkages between property rights, migration, and productivity: the case of Kajiado District, Kenya

This study investigates the relationship between property rights, resource degradation, and productivity among herders in semi-arid regions of Kenya using survey data. Binary and conditional logit models are used to explain migration, while ordinary least squares and fixed effects models are used to explain productivity. The main findings of the study are that private property right regimes discourage migration with livestock, while private property right regimes and migration increase productivity. The study recommends that if privatization is not feasible, then the existing common rights system should be strengthened through promotion of collective action and limiting of group sizes.

Household Welfare, Investment in Soil and Water Conservation and Tenure Security: Evidence from Kenya

In Kenya, conservation and sustainable utilization of the environment and natural resources form an integral part of national planning and poverty reduction efforts. However, weak environmental management practices are a major impediment to agricultural productivity growth. This study was motivated by the paucity of literature on the poverty-environment nexus in Kenya, since poverty, agricultural stagnation and environmental degradation are issues of policy interest in the country’s development strategy. The paper builds on the few existing studies from Kenya and explores the impact of household, farm and village characteristics as well as the development domain dimensions on household welfare and investment in soil and water conservation. The results show that strengthening the tenure security improves household welfare. Further, soil quality, topography and investments in soil and water conservation affect household welfare. Agroecological potential, which is related to environmental conservation, is also a key correlate of poverty. Results for investment in water and soil conservation confirm the importance of tenure security in determining adoption and also the intensity of SWC investments. We also find that household assets, farm characteristics, presence of village institutions and development domain dimensions are important determinants of adoption and intensity of soil and water conservation investments. The results for both poverty and investment in soil and water conservation suggest the existence of a strong poverty-environment link in our sample. The results also suggest that rural poverty can be alleviated by policies that improve environmental conservation and strengthen land tenure security. The study also underscores the importance of village institutions in both investment adoption of soil and water conservation and in improving household welfare.

Forest‐poverty nexus: Exploring the contribution of forests to rural livelihoods in Kenya

This paper explores the contribution of forests to the livelihoods of local communities in Kenya. The paper uses survey data to explore resource extraction and the economic reliance of households on forests. The results suggest that both rich and poor households depend on forests, and that membership in forest user groups, and therefore participation in forest activities, may be based on a households monetary rather than asset income. The results imply that forests support the living standards of the poor through the diversification of household income sources. The econometric results point to the role of household heterogeneity in private resource endowments in influencing dependence on forests. Participation in collective action and farm size are also significant determinants of forest dependence. The results call for a balanced policy approach to forest management that facilitates both access to forests by poor households and forest conservation.

Child Survival, Poverty and Policy Options from DHS Surveys in Kenya: 1993-2003

This paper analyses multidimensional aspects of child poverty in Kenya. We carry out poverty and inequality comparisons for child survival and also use the parametric survival model to explain childhood mortality using DHS data. The results of poverty comparisons show that: children with the lowest probability of survival are from households with the lowest level of assets; and poverty orderings for child survival by assets are robust to the choice of the poverty line and to the measure of wellbeing. Inequality analysis suggests that there is less mortality inequality among children facing mortality than children who are better off. The survival model results show that child and maternal characteristics, and household assets are important correlates of childhood mortality. The results further show that health care services are crucial for child survival. Policy simulations suggest that there is potential for making some progress in reducing mortality, but the ERS and MDG targets cannot be achieved.

Child welfare in developing countries

Child Welfare in Developing Countries: An Introduction.- Child Welfare in Developing Countries: An Introduction.- Multidimensional Child Poverty Analysis.- Multidimensional Poverty, Survival and Inequality Among Kenyan Children.- Profiling Child Poverty in Four WAEMU Countries: A Comparative Analysis Based on the Multidimensional Poverty Approach.- Multidimensional Poverty AmongWest African Children: Testing for Robust Poverty Comparisons.- Impact Evaluation.- Free Primary Education in Kenya: An Impact Evaluation Using Propensity Score Methods.- Productive Safety Net Program and Childrens Time Use Between Work and Schooling in Ethiopia.- Family Allowances and Child School Attendance: An Ex-ante Evaluation of Alternative Schemes in Uruguay.- The Impact of the Increase in Food Prices on Child Poverty and the Policy Response in Mali.

Child Survival and Policy Options in Kenya: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys

This paper investigates child survival in Kenya. We use survival analysis to explain childhood mortality and further simulate the impact of key policy variables on millennium development goals targets for mortality. The results show that favorable child and maternal characteristics, and household assets are associated with higher probability of survival at time t. The results further show that health care services are crucial for child survival. Policy simulations suggest that maternal education and use of modern contraception methods are key policy issues for child survival. The simulations further suggest that it is unlikely that the millennium development goals targets will be achieved

Gender differences in young adults’ inclination to sacrifice career opportunities in the future for family reasons: comparative study with university students from Nairobi, Madrid, and Reykjavik

ABSTRACT This article addresses the question of to what extent young people show an inclination to accept some sacrifice in their career progression in the future in order to reach a better work–family balance. Data come from a survey conducted among a sample of 2383 university students who attended three universities: University of Nairobi, University of Iceland, and Complutense University of Madrid. After building a set of indicators about career and family involvement aspirations of respondents, and after conducting a statistical and regression analysis, this research shows that young women (on average) still have a greater predisposition than young men to make sacrifices in the future in their working careers in order to achieve a better work–family balance. Moreover, having a high degree of leadership aspirations and belonging to an egalitarian household tend to reduce the inclination to sacrifice career opportunities, whereas having a high inclination to be involved in childcare in the future and having the perception of a future work–family conflict tend to increase it. Gender attitudes have a differential effect on female and male students: having traditional gender attitudes tends to increase the inclination to sacrifice career opportunities in the case of female students and reduce it in the case of male students.

Recreational value and optimal pricing of national parks: lessons from Maasai Mara in Kenya

ABSTRACT This paper estimates the recreational value and optimal pricing for recreation services in the Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya. To achieve this objective, data from 323 Park visitors were collected. Single-site individual travel cost method (ITCM) using count data models [zero truncated Poisson (ZTP), zero truncated negative binomial (ZTNB), negative binomial with endogenous stratification (NBSTRAT), and Poisson with endogenous stratification (PSTRAT)] was applied. Results show a consumer surplus of US