Takashi Yamano

Child Growth, Shocks, and Food Aid in Rural Ethiopia

Over the past decades child stunting in Ethiopia has persisted at alarming rates. While the country experienced several droughts during this period, it also received enormous amounts of food aid, leading some to question the effectiveness of food aid in reducing child malnutrition. Using nationally representative household surveys from 1995-96 and controlling for program placement, we find that children between 6 and 24 months experienced about 0.9 cm less growth over a six-month period in communities where half the crop area was damaged compared to those without crop damage. Food aid was also found to have a substantial effect on growth of children in this age group. Moreover, on average the total amount of food aid appeared to be sufficient to protect children against plot damage, an encouraging sign that food aid can act as an effective insurance mechanism, though its cost effectiveness needs further investigation.

Working-age adult mortality and primary school attendance in rural Kenya.

The rapid increase in adult mortality due to the AIDS epidemic in sub‐Saharan Africa raises great concern about potential intergenerational effects on children. This article estimates the impact of AIDS‐related adult mortality on primary school attendance in rural Kenya using a panel of 1,266 households surveyed in 1997, 2000, and 2002. The article distinguishes between effects on boys’ and girls’ education to understand potential gender differences resulting from adult mortality. We also estimate how adult mortality affects child schooling before as well as after the death occurs. The article also estimates the importance of households’ initial asset levels in influencing the relationship between adult mortality and child school attendance. We find that all of these distinctions are important when estimating the magnitude of the effects of adult mortality on child school attendance. The probability that girls in initially poor households will remain in school prior to the death of a working‐age adult in the household drops from roughly 88% to 55%. Boys in relatively poor households are less likely than girls to be in school after an adult death. By contrast, we find no clear effects on girls’ or boys’ education among relatively nonpoor households, either before or after the timing of adult mortality in the household. We find a strong correlation between working‐age adult mortality in our data and lagged HIV prevalence rates at nearby sentinel survey sites. The evidence indicates that rising AIDS‐related adult mortality in rural Kenya is adversely affecting primary school attendance among the poor. However, these results measure only short‐term impacts. Over the longer run, whether school attendance in afflicted household rebounds or deteriorates further is unknown.

Legal Knowledge and Economic Development: The Case of Land Rights in Uganda

Although many African countries have recently embarked on revisions of their land legislations to give recognition to customary arrangements and strengthen womens rights, few studies assess the actual or potential economic impact of such steps. We use data from Uganda to assess the impact of tenure regime, perceived transfer rights, and legal knowledge on investment, productivity, and land values. While results support strong and positive investment-impacts of tenure and transferability, knowledge of the new laws provisions adds considerably to these, pointing towards substantial potential from disseminating the law that has not yet been fully realized.

Living Arrangements and Schooling of Orphaned Children and Adolescents in Uganda

This article estimates the determinants of the living arrangements and school enrollment of orphans in Uganda. The results indicate that orphans, those who have lost at least one biological parent, are more likely to be found in female‐headed households than male‐headed households. As the education of the female members, the number of female elders, and the value of assets increase, the probability of living with orphans who are not the biological children of any of the household members also increases. In addition, we find that female adolescents aged 15–18 are significantly less likely to be enrolled in secondary school and exhibit slow progress in grade school advancement if they are either double orphans or single orphans who are not living with their remaining parent. Among children aged 7–14, however, we do not find any differences in school enrollment between orphans and nonorphans.