Kara L. Ross

Risks Perceived by Organic Grain Farmers in the Central USA

ABSTRACT To understand risk issues of U.S. organic grain farmers, six listening sessions were conducted in parts of the major grain producing regions in spring 2004. The views expressed at these sessions suggested the importance and uniqueness of risks in organic grain farming. Regional differences were observed, but many problems were common, including the limited availability of market information, shortfall of crop insurance policies, and revenue losses from on-farm storage, emergent marketing channels, and potential contamination. Our findings clearly imply a role for public and private institutions to collect and offer information on the organic markets and to educate the sectors supporting organic producers.

Does Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Matter for Children’s Health Status? Insights from Northern Ghana

Given that women in rural communities in developing countries are responsible for the nutrition and health-related decisions affecting children in their care, their empowerment may influence the health status of their children. The association between women’s empowerment, measured by using a recently developed Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index, and children’s health status is examined for a sample of households in Northern Ghana applying a Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model. The MIMIC approach is used to link multiple indicator variables with multiple independent variables through a “single underlying” latent variable. Height-for-age and weight-for-height z-scores are used as indicators of the underlying children’s health status and women’s empowerment in agriculture and control variables are used as the multiple independent variables. Our results show that neither the composite empowerment score used to capture women’s empowerment in agriculture nor its decomposed components are statistically significant in their association with the latent children’s health status. However, the associations between children’s health status and control variables such as mother’s education, child’s age, household’s hunger scale and residence locale are statistically significant. Results also confirm the existence of the ‘single underlying’ common latent variable. Of the two health status indicators, height-for-age scores and weight-for- height scores, the former exhibited a relatively stronger association with the latent health status. While promoting women’s empowerment to enhance their ability to make strategic life choices, it is important to carefully consider how the achievement of these objectives will impact the women’s well-being and the well-being of the children in their care.

The determinants of household-level well-being in Northern Ghana

ABSTRACT Empirical analysis of the physical well-being at the household level was conducted for a sample of households in Northern Ghana using a Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes model. Physical well-being was indicated by the number of stunted children, number of wasted children, and number of underweight women. Results suggest that well-being at the household level is indeed represented by the latent variable and can be conceptualized in much the same way as the well-being of the individuals who constitute the household. Results show that the literacy of father and the number of dependents are associated with the largest shift in the underlying household’s physical well-being. Locale and the household assets were also significantly associated with the collective underlying latent variable. The variability in household physical well-being is explained more by the number of stunted children in the household than any of the other indicators of household well-being.