Yoko Kijima

Caste and Tribe Inequality: Evidence from India, 1983–1999

Despite policies targeting scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST), there remain large disparities of living standards between SC/ST and non‐SC/ST households in India. The SC/ST households may be poorer because they possess lower human and physical capital, but they may also earn lower returns to these assets. This study finds that 30%–50% of the welfare disparities are attributable to different returns. Such structural differences between the SC and the non‐SC/ST are partly because the SC earn lower returns to schooling. A large part of the structural disparities between the ST and the non‐SC/ST comes from the fact that the areas where the ST live are different from those where the non‐SC/ST live. In addition, the ST tend to earn lower returns even with controls for geographical conditions.

Emerging Markets in the Post-Liberalisation Period: Evidence from the Raw Milk Market in Rural Kenya

Have recent reforms improved market functioning in African economies? This article examines how the raw milk market in western and central Kenya has developed after the dairy sector liberalisation in 1992 by using panel data of 862 rural households. From the late 1990s to 2004, the proportion of rural households who sold milk increased from 37 to 51%. During the same period, the proportion of households who sold milk to traders more than doubled, while it declined from 29 to 12% for those who sold milk to dairy cooperatives. On the basis of the price differentials between the farm gate and retail prices, we find that the functioning of the market improved between the late 1990s and 2004; in turn, the development of the milk market has increased the adoption of improved cows, resulting in higher milk sales. Copyright 2010 The author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.

Has the Program 3×1 for Migrants Contributed to Community Development in Mexico? Evidence from Panel Data of 2000 and 2005

This paper examines how collective remittances contribute to regional development by using the community‐level two‐year panel data for the states of Jalisco and Zacatecas in Mexico, which have received the higher amounts of the budget of the Program 3×1 for Migrants. The results from empirical analyses show that the communities that received this program became better‐off between 2000 and 2005, according to the marginalization level. Further analyses suggest that specifically investment in roads, water supply, and non‐agricultural productive projects by the 3×1 program improved community welfare. The regression results on access to the program show, however, that neither the marginalization level nor the migration level determined the access to the program. This suggests that the 3×1 program was not necessarily targeted at the communities with higher marginalization and migration levels.

Market Access, Soil Fertility, and Income in East Africa

We identify the major factors affecting farm and nonfarm income by using panel data in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. We supplement the panel data with household-level soil fertility data and road distance data to the nearest urban center. The proportion of the loose surface roads, instead of tarmac roads, has a clear negative association with crop income, livestock income, and per capita income in both Kenya and Uganda. We also find that soil fertility has a clear positive association with crop and livestock incomes in Kenya, but not in Uganda and Ethiopia. In Kenya, farmers produce not only cereal crops but also high value crops and engage in dairy and other livestock production if the fertility of the soil is good.

On the Possibility of Rice Green Revolution in Rainfed Areas in Uganda: Impact Evaluation of a Management Training Program and Guidebook Distribution

After providing an overview of rice sector development in Uganda, this chapter examines the effects of two technology dissemination programs on the enhancement of rice production in Eastern and Northern Uganda. One program was a JICA conventional training program that provided on-the-job training at demonstration plots three to four times a year, while the other was to distribute a rice cultivation guidebook to households that were randomly selected. The training program was shown to have improved rice productivity significantly. In contrast, there were no significant effects of the distribution of the guidebook on technology adoption or rice production. Although the distribution of the guidebook was less costly and easier to implement than the training program, distribution of the guidebook alone cannot be a substitute for conventional training programs.

Does Observance of Religious Holidays Affect Agricultural Productivity and Household Welfare? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia

Abstract This study examines whether traditional customs affect households welfare by taking the case of the work prohibition related with religion in rural Ethiopia. Although the anecdotal evidence suggests that work prohibition by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, to observe the religious holidays, is one of the reasons for the high poverty incidence in Ethiopia, the estimation results do not show that there is a significant effect of the number of religious holidays observed on agricultural productivity and household welfare. Observance of religious holidays affects crop choice and income source.

On the Possibility of a Lowland Rice Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Eastern Uganda

This chapter attempts to provide better understanding of the impacts of demonstrations or training of improved lowland rice management practices on its diffusion and rice yields by using the case of the JICA program in Eastern Uganda. The most important finding of this study is that lowland rice yield can be extremely high in Uganda if basic production practices, such as bunding, leveling, and straight row planting, are adopted along with the adoption of modern rice varieties and the use of simple irrigation systems, even if chemical fertilizer is not applied. The major challenge is how to disseminate such a package of improved production practices to farmers. According to our analysis, the intensity of training participation is the key to the adoption of such practices. It was also found that training participation decreases as the distance from the demonstration plot increases.

Causes and Consequences of NERICA Adoption in Uganda

In Uganda, a new upland rice variety, namely New Rice for Africa (NERICA), was introduced in 2003 as one of its poverty eradication strategies essentially because it is high-yielding, which can results in both increased cash income and food security. In addition, NERICA is considered to be cultivable in most parts of Uganda thanks to its short maturity and drought tolerant trait. The major question is whether the “NERICA Revolution” is sustainable and extendable to wide areas. The major purposes of this study are to identify the determinants of NERICA adoption with a special focus on the high incidence of dropouts and to assess the consequences of NERICA adoption in terms of changes in crop income using the panel data collected in 2004 and 2006.

Technology, Soil Fertility, and Poverty: The Case of NERICA Rice in Uganda

This chapter examines the effect of new farm technology on the income of poor farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) using the case study of NERICA rice in Central and Western Uganda. NERICA has the potential to increase per capita income by

Recent Developments of Agricultural Markets in East Africa

20 (12% of actual per capita income) and to decrease the poverty incidence, measured by the head count ratio, by 5% points. Such a positive effect of NERICA, however, can only be realized when its adoption is combined with the use of appropriate cropping patterns to maintain soil fertility. The study also finds that accessibility to information and experience of non-NERICA rice cultivation increase the probability of adopting NERICA.