Johannes G. Hoogeveen

Fiscal space for health in Uganda.

This report reviews performance of Ugandas health sector and assesses options for increasing total health spending and improving efficiency of health spending to improve health, nutrition, and population outcomes. Although Ugandas health outcomes are improving, the country is unlikely to achieve its national targets for health as well as the health related Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Uganda is faced with a high disease burden from communicable diseases; in addition, the country is witnessing a growing epidemic of non communicable diseases. The main conclusion of the report is that while Uganda needs to continue exploring ways to mobilize funding for health it needs to improve the efficiency of its health spending to maximize the health benefits for its population. Uganda could reap significant savings by improving management of human resources for health; strengthening procurement and logistics management for medicines and medical supplies; and by better programming of development assistance for health. Besides, Uganda needs to take proactive steps to mitigate growing pressure to increase health spending.

Collecting high frequency panel data in Africa using mobile phone interviews

Abstract As mobile phone ownership rates have risen in Africa, there is increased interest in using mobile telephony as a data collection platform. This paper draws on two pilot projects that use mobile phone interviews for data collection in Tanzania and South Sudan. In both cases, high frequency panel data have been collected on a wide range of topics in a manner that is cost effective, flexible and rapid. Attrition has been problematic in both surveys, but can be explained by the resource and organisational constraints that both surveys faced. We analyse the drivers of attrition to generate ideas for how to improve performance in future mobile phone surveys.

Welfare and environment in rural Uganda: Results from a small-area estimation approach

This study combines census, survey and bio-physical data to generate spatially disaggregated poverty/biomass information for rural Uganda. It makes a methodological contribution to small area welfare estimation by exploring how the inclusion of bio-physical information improves small area welfare estimates. By combining the generated poverty estimates with national bio-physical data, this study explores the contemporaneous correlation between poverty (welfare) and natural resource degradation at a level of geographic detail that has not been feasible previously. The resulting estimates of poverty measures were improved by the inclusion of bio-physical information and the poverty estimates appear to be more robust, as the standard errors show a decline of up to 40 percent in some cases. The coefficients of variation (i.e., the ratio of the standard error and the point estimate) decline in general as well. Overall, we conclude that the estimates of the poverty measures are more robust when bio-physical information is taken into account. One of the outputs of this study is a series of maps showing poverty and biomass overlays for Uganda. These maps can be used as a planning tool and for targeting purposes.

Which Inequality Matters? Growth Evidence Based on Small Area Welfare Estimates in Uganda

Existing empirical studies on the relation between inequality and growth have been criticized for their focus on income inequality and their use of cross-country data sets. Schipper and Hoogeveen use two sets of small area welfare estimates-often referred to as poverty maps-to estimate a model of rural per capita expenditure growth for Uganda between 1992 and 1999. They estimate the growth effects of expenditure and education inequality while controlling for other factors, such as initial levels of expenditure and human capital, family characteristics, and unobserved spatial heterogeneity. The authors correct standard errors to reflect the uncertainty due to the fact that they use estimates rather than observations. They find that per capita expenditure growth in rural Uganda is affected positively by the level of education as well as by the degree of education inequality. Expenditure inequality does not have a significant impact on growth.

Mobile phone panel surveys in developing countries : a practical guide for microdata collection

Household survey data are very useful for monitoring the living conditions of citizens of any country.In developing countries, a lot of this data are collected through “traditional” face-to-face household surveys. Owing to the remote and dispersed nature of many populations in developing countries, but also becauseof the complex nature of many survey questionnaires, collection of timely welfare data has often provedexpensive and logistically challenging. Yet, there is a need for faster, cheaper, lighter, more nimble datacollection methods to address data gaps between large household surveys. The recent proliferation ofmobile phone networks has opened new possibilities in this regard. By combining baseline data from atraditional household survey with subsequent interviews of selected respondents using mobile phones,new collection methods facilitate welfare monitoring and opinion polling almost in real time.The purpose of this handbook is to contribute to the development of the new field of mobile phone data collection in developing countries, documenting how this innovative approach to data collection works,along with its advantages and challenges. Mobile Phone Panel Surveys in Developing Countries draws primarily from the authors’ first-hand experiences with mobile phone surveys in Africa, but it also benefitsfrom experiences elsewhere. It is intended to serve a diverse audience including those involved in collecting representative data using mobile phones, and those using data collected through this approach. For thosewho will be implementing a mobile phone panel survey, the different chapters guide them through every stage of the implementation process. For potential users of the data collected via mobile phone technology,the book presents a new approach to data collection, which they can use for monitoring programs andto facilitate almost real-time decision making. A further purpose of this book is to contribute to the debate regarding the advantages of the mobile phone panel survey method as well as the challenges associated with it.

Socioeconomic Impact of the Crisis in North Mali on Displaced People

This paper analyzes the impact of the 2012 crisis in Mali on internally displaced people, refugees and returnees. It uses information from a face-to-face household survey as well as follow-up interviews with its respondents via mobile phones. This combination was found to present a good and robust way to monitor the impact of conflict on hard-to-reach populations who at times live in areas inaccessible to enumerators. Results indicate that better educated and wealthier households as well as those exposed to less violence fled the crisis. Significant amounts of durable goods (20–60 percent) and animals (75–90 percent were lost and the welfare of the displaced declined considerably as a result of the crisis. Yet over time its impact has diminished. By February 2015, most eligible children were going to school and employment levels and number of meals consumed were at pre-crisis levels. The paper finds that different ethnic groups chose different places of refuge. Depending on location, the narrative of the crisis and the solutions that are envisaged differ diametrically.

Statistics Reform in Africa: Aligning Incentives with Results

Abstract While there is a strong association between limited capacity and unavailability or production of low quality statistics in Africa, poor incentives are argued to be behind Africa’s statistical tragedy. The paper explores whether incentives of leaders and donors are aligned with the production of quality statistics and proposes six concrete ways to improve the current situation.

Leaving, staying, or coming back ? migration decisions during the northern Mali conflict

Abstract This paper uses a unique dataset to analyse the migration dynamics of refugees, returnees and, internally displaced people from the Northern Mali conflict. Individuals were interviewed monthly using mobile phones. Our results cast light on the characteristics of these three groups before and after displacement. In addition, we test how employment and security were related to migration status, as well as the willingness to go back home. Individuals who were employed while displaced were less willing to go back to the North, while those who owned a gun were more likely to plan to go back. Additional indicators of personal safety played a lesser role.

Does the 2015 peace accord in Mali reflect the priorities of households and local leaders

Using unique household level data collected in northern Mali in August and September 2015, this paper explores whether the content of the 2015 Peace Accord reflects the concerns and priorities of the citizens, local leaders, and refugees, or whether it is an exclusive agreement between elites who fail to represent the interests of the population at large. The study finds that local leaders’ opinions are appropriate proxies for the citizens they represent, and most (but not all) of the measures stipulated in the Peace Accord align. The greatest divergence between citizen preferences and actions specified in the Peace Accord is the emphasis in the latter on road infrastructure. When different activities are costed, this disconnect becomes very apparent. The bulk of funds (45 percent) are apportioned to infrastructure construction, while the typical respondent prefers job creation; the poorest prefer investments in social services. However, most of infrastructure spending has been earmarked for the medium term. Short-term priorities reflect the preferences of the population in northern Mali much better. It is concluded that although the Peace Accord had all the elements to be an exclusive elite pact, its priorities largely reflect those of the population, granting it much higher probability of success.