Micro-, Small-, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are often important sources of employment in the food retail environment of Low- and Middle-Income Countries. As a result, policy makers might consider promoting job creation through MSMEs operating in the food environment. In this paper, we study a unique data set collected in two sites in Ethiopia to draw potential policy lessons for job creation based on the characteristics of MSMEs operating in the food environment. The data were collected from among 1,686 food vendors in a neighborhood of Addis Ababa and Butajira, Ethiopia, as part of an effort to better understand the relationship between consumers and the food environment in Ethiopia. Our descriptive analysis suggests that a large share of the enterprises in our sample do not employ anyone beyond the owner, and female-owned enterprises are less likely to hire workers than male-owned enterprises. Moreover, the profits per worker are lower than the cost of a healthy diet, suggesting that without an improvement in profitability it is unlikely that hiring labor would help improve nutritional status. So while the sampled MSMEs may have the potential to deliver food at lower cost, they have limited ability to generate additional employment.

To design more efficient and equitable agricultural technologies and policies, we need to understand why individuals do not act in line with the expectations of researchers and policy makers, and we need to understand how and why interventions exacerbate existing inequalities. Both can be understood by exploring how aspirations influence households’ future-oriented behaviour. This paper does so by introducing the 3spire model, which integrates three aspirational dimensions: income, food self-sufficiency, and leisure, and by examining how aspirations adapt, shift and influence households’ behaviour over time. The 3spire model incorporates aspiration adaptation theory to simulate agents’ farm management decisions and performance over time. Agents, representing farming households, interact within a social network and consider alternative plans iteratively, choosing the first satisficing plan. Preliminary findings indicated that initial wealth influenced aspiration dynamics. There was, however, great heterogeneity in these aspiration dynamics, also among households with similar levels of initial wealth, suggesting additional factors at play. Further research should investigate other types of non-monetary wealth and incorporate context-specific data to inform targeted policies and interventions, fostering equitable rural development, and reducing poverty and inequality.

Nutritious foods are unaffordable to the majority of households in lower-income countries. Hence, starchy staples tend to be the main source of diets for men, women, and children, implying poor diet quality and deficiency in key nutrients that are crucial for child’s physical growth and cognitive development. Much of existing studies on child linear growth or stunting examined the impact of current dietary consumption on physical growth even though the effect of diets and nutrition would only be observed with time lag. This study examined the associations between sustained consumption of animal sourced foods (ASFs) and adequate nutrient intakes (measured by the mean nutrient adequacy (MPA)) and linear growth differences among children in rural and small towns in Ethiopia. Using nationally representative longitudinal data, results of fixed effects estimations suggested that a standard deviation increase in the household MPA was associated with a 10–11% increase in the height-for-age z-score; and a 10% increase in the household MPA was associated with a 3.2 – 5.6% reduction in stunting rate in children 6–59 months of age. Results also indicated some associations between past ASFs consumption and current linear growth outcomes in younger children. The gap in the household MPA was over 41%, indicating the need for nutrient-dense ASFs in the household diets despite the sustainability concerns around ASFs. Key implication is that policies and interventions aimed at improving linear growth outcomes of children in rural and small towns in Ethiopia should improve household’s access to ASFs and nutrient acquisition capacity.

This paper estimates the effect of short-term changes in real consumer food prices on short-term fluctuations in neonatal, infant, and child mortality rates using a panel dataset covering 59 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for the period 2000-2015. Quarterly mortality rates were constructed from over 145 rounds of the standard Demographic and Health Surveys allowing to identify short-term (<1 year) effects of food price shocks. The results indicate that rising real food prices had a large and significant effect on neonatal, infant, and child mortalities, regardless of the type of country-specific time trends chosen.

Food has been used to define social classes and as a means of embodying the ‘good life’. Depending on the food culture and food environment, certain foods may be consumed more by the relatively higher income groups and therefore are perceived as ‘positional’. This study examines whether social status—proxied by the relative consumption expenditures (the rank in the consumption expenditure distribution) and the relative deprivation in consumption expenditures—can explain household food choices. Based on the nationally representative Nigeria General Household Panel Surveys and using fixed effects estimations, we find that consumption of highly processed foods is strongly associated with the social status of the household. We observe differences among highly processed foods consumed at home and away from home, across geographic locations and consumption expenditure terciles. The results of this study provide suggestive evidence that reducing income inequality is required to support healthier household food preferences beyond social status.

This study examines the relationships between healthy diets' affordability and food systems performance across Nigerian states. On a composite index (FSI) constructed from key food system components, states in the southern zones perform relatively better than those in the north, whereas a higher share of households who cannot afford a healthy diet was from northern states. Findings suggest the need for more focused attention on resilience building for improved food systems especially in northern Nigeria. Results also indicate cases where unaffordability of a healthy diet remains high in the face of comparatively lower cost and vice versa, highlighting the need for more efficient and equitable food supply systems. Findings of this study further suggest that achieving affordable healthy diets would require stepping up actions to improve, among others, access to basic services (such as good roads and electricity), increased presence of financial services (such as rural banks), greater access to information and communications services (mobile phone subscription rates and increased radio/television station coverage), facilitating more favorable and predictable business environment, and promoting women's empowerment.

This paper examines gender differences in aspirations formation (with respect to income, wealth, and children’s education) using survey data collected from sample households in rural Ethiopia. Results show evidence of upward looking income aspirations for both men and women, and upward looking wealth aspirations only for women, while the social effect of aspirations to children’s education appears to be weak for both sexes. Even though men (in general) appear to have higher aspirations than women, the differences in parameter estimates across gender are not statistically significant, suggesting that the gender-differentiated effect of social drivers on aspirations is limited. The results imply that policies and interventions that raise incomes in the village may increase income aspirations of both men and women, while efforts to enhance women’s wealth aspirations may be more effective if they improve wealth of women in the village. Since our sample is relatively small with limited geographic coverage, findings of this study could be context specific. Hence, further study using more recent and more representative data is necessary to draw fairly generalizable conclusions.

In this study we explore what roles informal midstream businesses have in food systems, and the outcomes they influence – such as food safety, food availability affordability and accessibility, various dimensions of livelihoods (including employment and labour conditions), and the environment. Informal businesses operate outside of the formal economy. They are often not officially registered, do not maintain bookkeeping, pay income taxes, or own a bank account, and do not hold official employment relations with their workers. There are multiple perceptions and theories on informality, but recent insights inform us that the informal economy can play a constructive and rational role in complementing the formal economy. Informality is not a stage in development, which will disappear with modernisation of the economy. informality is an intrinsic part of the whole economy and therefore set to stay. Most efforts by governments to formalise the informal economic sectors have failed. Governmental efforts to regulate the informal economy come with significant risks and may have an adverse effect on economic growth and its inclusivity. We conclude from this study that informal midstream businesses contribute in many ways to food system outcomes, such as access by poor consumers to affordable food. But they sometimes also constrain such outcomes by, for example, maintaining poor workers' conditions. As they operate outside regulation policies for food safety and may lack knowledge on hygiene standards, informal food provisioning may also come with higher health risks compared to formal food suppliers, such as supermarkets. Social capital and trust have significant effects on the performance of informal businesses. This is related to the observation that informal entrepreneurs are often not only driven by economic rationale but also by social goals. Governments can support informal midstream businesses by improving infrastructure, but also including them in policy dialogue. However, the repertoire by governments of incentives that trigger informal midstream businesses to contribute to public goals is limited. Other actors in the food system, such as retailers, consumer (movements) and investors are better positioned to reach out to the informal midstream businesses. Informal midstream businesses can have both positive and negative impacts on food system outcomes. We conclude that private sector-led innovation, in which informal businesses define their priorities, co-operate in networks, take the lead, and contribute to enhanced food system outcomes, is an important yet highly unknown area. If informal businesses are to contribute to enhanced food system outcomes, we must unpack that black box allowing better understanding of their roles, processes to involve them, and what can be done to stimulate them to contribute to enhanced food system outcomes.

ABSTRACT This study examines the drivers for and consequences of internal migration to household food security in Uganda. Based on the Ugandan National Panel Surveys conducted between 2010/11 and 2015/16, we estimate differences in food energy adequacy of households receiving internal migrants from elsewhere. Besides food energy consumption, this study applies household food consumption score (FCS) and looks at vulnerability in terms of household’s expenditures on food. This enables to explore (a) the extent to which food insecurity is driving internal migration, and (b) whether remittances can reduce food security of the remitter. We find that households are usually worse-off when migrants join the receiving family. This seems a departure from previous studies that tend to find welfare gains to internal migration, mostly due to changes in expenditures or dietary consumption without considering any thresholds for achieving food security. Based on these findings and responding to rising youth employment challenges associated with rapidly growing urban slums in Uganda, policies that simultaneously support employment creation in both urban and rural areas are urgently needed to enable better steering of the flow of voluntary migration and to help ensuring food security.

This study examines the cost and affordability of healthy diets in Nigeria. Using the 2015/16 and 2018/19 waves of Nigeria General Household Surveys, we find that, generally, the least-cost options to meet dietary recommendations for vegetables, dairy, and protein-rich foods are more expensive to meet than that of other food groups. Despite improvements during the survey years, the challenges of affordability of healthy diets appear more pronounced in rural than urban, among poorest household groups, and in northern than southern Nigeria. Results suggest that it will be more expensive to meet the dietary recommendation for dairy foods if priority will be given for food systems sustainability over concerns for food preferences of the households. It will however be cheaper to achieve dietary recommendations for vegetables, fruits and starchy staples even when households give more consideration to food systems sustainability than tastes and preferences in their choice of healthy foods. Relative affordability of protein-rich foods are less affected by whether (or not) tastes/preferences or food systems sustainability drives healthy food choices. Key implication is that interventions targeting on affordability of healthy diets should give greater attention to the poorest of the poor, to rural than urban, and to northern than southern Nigeria. Implications relevant for research, policy, and other actors that focus on transformation of the food systems toward achieving healthier diets in a sustainable food systems are discussed.

Previous studies in Nigeria examined food and nutrition security mainly using anthropometric indicators, total calorie intake, or the household dietary diversity score (HDDS). However, recent evidence on nutrient and dietary gaps, especially from nationally representative surveys, is weak. This study contributes by examining factors influencing household mean nutrient adequacy and HDDS with focus on components of food systems in Nigeria. Based on the 2015/16 Nigeria General Household Survey, we found that fruits and animal source foods were the least consumed food groups. Yet, these food groups seem to be the main sources of difference in HDDS and were strongly associated with the mean probability of nutrient adequacy, given covariates. Among 11 nutrients under study, large shortfalls were observed in consumption of iron, vitamin B 12 , and riboflavin with probability of adequacy being 0.2 or below, followed by niacin, vitamin C, and zinc with corresponding probability of adequacy ranged between 0.48 and 0.58. Further, results suggested that mobile phone ownership by the household head, household’s access to electricity, improved sources of water for household consumption, and percent of the community with improved sanitation were strongly associated with HDDS. Heterogeneities in food groups and nutrient consumption and food system drivers are discussed.

This study examined the use of the household dietary diversity score (HDDS) to assess household nutrient adequacy in Ethiopia. It also examined the correlates of HDDS following the food systems framework. Results show that the average nutrient consumption in Ethiopia varies by place of residence and by income profile, where households in urban areas and those in the higher income quintiles rank favorably. Among 13 nutrients under study, we found nutrient inadequacy for fat, calcium, zinc, riboflavin, niacin, folate, vitamin C and vitamin A ranging between 46% and 89%, and the prevalence of inadequacy for vitamin B12 to be up to 100%. Econometric results showed that HDDS is a strong predictor of a household’s mean probability of nutrient adequacy (MPA), and that an HDDS of 10 is the minimum threshold at which HDDS can improve household MPA. We found suggestive evidence within the food systems that improving household-incomes, access to health and transport services are beneficial to improve HDDS and nutrient consumption in Ethiopia.

This paper examines the existence of social learning in agriculture in Ethiopia. We use a ‘random matching within sample’ technique to collect data on social networks and elicit details of the relationships and information exchange between network members, complementing the analysis with information on self-reported networks. We find that, while kinship or membership in certain groups, informal forms of insurance, or having frequent meetings with network members are all associated with a higher probability of forming an information link, none of these are correlated with observed innovative behavior such as the adoption of row-planting. This may suggest that behavior is more likely to be affected by the nature of information that passes through the network, rather than the number of information links. In support of this, we find that information links that exclusively involve discussions on farming or business matters are indeed associated with a higher likelihood of adopting row-planting. We use econometric strategies to isolate social learning from that of correlated and contextual effects. After controlling for factors that might otherwise generate spurious correlation, we find a strong evidence of network externalities in the adoption of row-planting techniques and also in farm productivity. Our results imply that extension services and other programs that promote agricultural innovations and seek yield improvement may benefit from social networks but they may be more effective if they identify the ‘right’ networks, that is, the ones that exclusively involve information exchange regarding agriculture. This further implies that investment in group formation, rather than simply using existing networks, may be a beneficial strategy.

Despite some improvements in recent years, poverty and food insecurity remain widespread and the main challenges in Ethiopia. Much of the empirical literature focuses on identifying the resource-related constraints for farmers to achieve food security and move out of poverty, with little attention paid to ‘internal’ or psychological factors such as aspirations. Using individual and household data collected in rural Ethiopia, we examined if aspirations were strongly associated with well-being outcomes, in our case food security, as posited in the theoretical framework of aspirations failure. We found that aspirations of the household head were positively and strongly associated with various triangulating measures of household food security including per-capita calorie consumption, the food consumption score (FCS), the household dietary diversity score (HDDS), and negatively associated with the household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS). In contrast, results suggest that the aspirations of the spouse of the household head are negatively associated with per-capita calorie consumption and FCS. We discuss the channels through which aspirations may affect food security and the avenues for future research.

This paper identifies the effect of aspirations on the adoption of agricultural innovations in the context of rural Ethiopia. While most studies on agricultural innovations have focused on identifying observable and resource-related deprivations or ‘external’ constraints, a related stream of literature suggests that ‘internal’ constraints, such as the lack of aspirations, could reinforce external constraints and lead to self-sustaining poverty traps. Since both aspirations and the adoption of innovations are forward-looking, they are likely to be intimately linked. Aspirations are motivators that can enhance innovations or their adoption not only in their own right but also through their determinants, including self-efficacy, locus of control and other internal traits that may be unobserved. This implies that aspirations may affect innovations through multiple channels and hence may be endogenous. On the other hand, aspirations are also affected by a person’s level of achievement, implying that aspirations and innovations are simultaneously determined. To identify the effect of aspirations on the adoption of agricultural innovations, we conducted both plot-level and household-level analysis using purposely collected data from households in rural Ethiopia. Using econometric strategies that account for the endogenous nature of aspirations, we found that a narrow or a very wide gap between aspirations and achievement in a farming household is strongly associated with low levels of innovativeness and low adoption rate of innovation products such as chemical fertilizers.

Despite some improvements in recent years, poverty and food insecurity remain widespread and the main challenges in Ethiopia. Using individual and household level data collected in rural Ethiopia, we examine if aspirations are strongly associated with well-being outcomes, as posited in the aspirations failure framework articulated by Ray (2006) and others. We employ both bivariate and multivariate analyses. We find that aspirations (particularly that of the household head) are indeed strongly associated with the household per-capita income and expenditure and with various triangulating measures of household food (in)security including per-capita calorie consumption, the food consumption score (FCS), the household dietary diversity score (HDDS), and the household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS). Contrary to a few other studies, we also find strong evidence that, in rural Ethiopia, aspirations are positively associated with satisfaction in life and/or happiness. Findings in this study provide suggestive evidence that policies aimed at improving well-being outcomes might benefit from multiple effects (both direct and indirect) if they incorporate aspirations raising strategies.

This paper examines the existence of social learning in agriculture in Ethiopia. We use a ‘random matching within sample’ technique to collect data on social networks and elicit details of the relationships and information exchange between network members, complementing the analysis with information on self-reported networks. We find that, while kinship or membership in certain groups, informal forms of insurance, or having frequent meetings with network members are all associated with a higher probability of forming an information link, none of these are correlated with observed innovative behavior such as the adoption of row-planting. This may suggest that behavior is more likely to be affected by the nature of information that passes through the network, rather than the number of information links. In support of this, we find that information links that exclusively involve discussions on farming or business matters are indeed associated with a higher likelihood of adopting row-planting. We use econometric strategies to isolate social learning from that of correlated and contextual effects. After controlling for factors that might otherwise generate spurious correlation, we find a strong evidence of network externalities in the adoption of row-planting techniques and also in farm productivity. Our results imply that extension services and other programs that promote agricultural innovations and seek yield improvement may benefit from social networks but they may be more effective if they identify the ‘right’ networks, that is, the ones that exclusively involve information exchange regarding agriculture. This further implies that investment in group formation, rather than simply using existing networks, may be a beneficial strategy.

The recent literature postulates that aspirations are one of the key determinants of economic decision making, and that aspirations are formed socially through observations and by learning from ‘relevant others’ (or the ‘reference group’). This study empirically examines the latter using survey data collected from sample households in rural Ethiopia. Specifically, the study examines the effect of social interactions on aspirations. Based on several definitions of a ‘reference group’, we find that aspirations are indeed socially determined through observations as well as social interactions. Results also indicate that the social network size is an important determinant of aspirations, attesting to the importance of widening the aspirations window – a person’s cognitive world that shapes their aspirations. Across gender, results indicate that the effect of social interactions on aspirations is larger for females.

The authors used a longitudinal impact evaluation with quasi-experimental methods to provide evidence on economic and production impact of a farmer field school (FFS) project in East Africa. FFSs were shown to have positive impact on production and income among women, low-literacy, and medium land size farmers. Participation in FFS increased income by 61%. Participation in FFS improved agricultural income and crop productivity overall. This implies that farmer field schools are a useful approach to increase production and income of small-scale farmers in East Africa, and that the approach can be used to target women and producers with limited literacy.