Emanuele Zucchini

Bio: Emanuele Zucchini is an academic researcher from International Fund for Agricultural Development. The author has contributed to research in topics: Inclusion (mineral) & Narrative inquiry. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 3 citations.

The effect of agricultural programs on dietary diversity and food security: Insights from the smallholder productivity promotion program in Zambia

Abstract: Hunger and malnutrition remain enormous challenges in low-income countries. Many of the malnourished live in smallholder farm households in sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural intervention programs increasingly aspire to help alleviate hunger and malnutrition in smallholder farm households by improving on-farm productivity and market participation at the same time. However, the impact of those programs on diets and food security is not yet well understood. To examine whether such smallholder productivity and market participation promoting programs lead to better household dietary diversity and food security, we analyze the impact of IFAD’s Smallholder Productivity Promotion Programme (S3P) implemented in Zambia from 2013 to 2019 using Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment (IPWRA). We measure dietary diversity by Food Consumption Score (FCS) and Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and food security by the Months of Adequate Household Food Provisions (MAHFP). Descriptive results illustrate that beneficiary households scored higher in FCS, HDDS, and MAHFP than non-beneficiary households. Regression results demonstrate positive impacts of the program on all three indicators by 3% or more. We show that the S3P increased households’ farm productivity and income from agricultural sales, leading to the observed higher dietary diversity and food security in beneficiary households. The overall impact of the S3P on food and nutrition security is robust and promising. We highlight the importance of including nutrition education and women’s empowerment components in such interventions for improved impact.

Does connectivity reduce gender gaps in off-farm employment? Evidence from 12 low- and middle-income countries

Abstract: Gender gaps in labour force participation in developing countries persist despite income growth or structural change. We assess this persistence across economic geographies within countries, focusing on youth employment in off-farm wage jobs. We combine household survey data from 12 low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa with geospatial data on population density, and estimate simultaneous probit models of different activity choices across the rural-urban gradient.

Evaluation through narratives: A practical case of Participatory Narrative Inquiry in women empowerment evaluation in Niger

Abstract: This study explores the use of Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI) in evaluating development interventions by contributing to the debate of using participatory narrative methods. Stories on personal experience are used to evaluate the project’s effects as with similar methods such as Most Significant Change and Sensemaking. To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the early applications of PNI to the evaluation of international development programmes. The study discusses advantages and limitations, and provides a scholarly reflection based on an application of PNI in the evaluation of gender and women’s empowerment in Niger. The study concludes that PNI is a powerful alternative to existing qualitative and participatory narrative evaluation methods. Within mixed-method approaches, PNI allows for greater inclusion of project beneficiaries in the evaluation process, while helping to elaborate a thorough theory of change, understand the complexity of the context, identify and assess outcome pathways, and provide an evidence-based evaluation.

Urbanization and Poverty Reduction – The Role of Rural Diversification and Secondary Towns

Abstract: A rather unique panel tracking more than 3300 individuals from households in rural Kagera, Tanzania during 1991/4-2010 shows that about 1 out of 2 individuals/households who exited poverty did so by transitioning out of agriculture into the rural nonfarm economy or secondary towns Only 1 out of 7 exited poverty by migrating to the big cities, even though those moving to the city experienced on average faster consumption growth Further analysis of a much larger cross-country panel of 51 developing countries cannot reject that rural diversification and secondary town development lead to more inclusive growth patterns than metropolitization Indications are that this follows because more of the poor find their way to the rural nonfarm economy and secondary towns, than to distant cities The development discourse would benefit from shifting beyond the rural-urban dichotomy and focusing more instead on how best to urbanize and develop its rural nonfarm economy and secondary towns

Friendship at Work: Can Peer Effects Catalyze Female Entrepreneurship?

Abstract: Does the lack of peers contribute to the observed gender gap in entrepreneurial success, and is the constraint stronger for women facing more restrictive social norms? We offered two days of business counseling to a random sample of customers of India's largest women's bank. A random sub-sample was invited to attend with a friend. The intervention had a significant immediate impact on participants' business activity, but only if they were trained in the presence of a friend. Four months later, those trained with a friend were more likely to have taken out business loans, were less likely to be housewives, and reported increased business activity and higher household income. The positive impacts of training with a friend were stronger among women from religious or caste groups with social norms that restrict female mobility.

Guest Editors’ Introduction: The role of policy in reducing malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract: Sub-Saharan African countries experience various market failures and other constraints in food production, marketing, and food consumption. Consequently, sub-Saharan Africa governments have put in place a myriad of policies to counter these failures. Agricultural, food and nutrition policies address nutrition outcomes, such as hunger, undernourishment, wasting, stunting, child mortality, inadequate food consumption, food insecurity, and volatile food prices, thus improve nutrition outcomes among the population. However, malnutrition persists among the population in the region. To mitigate this challenge, informed, evidence-based policy development and implementation by policy practitioners is of essence. The solutions to the double burden of undernutrition and obesity cut across the agriculture, rural development, and public health sectors. This essay introduces twenty papers of this Special Issue of the Food Policy journal which analyzes 8 policy domains, contributes to the debate on the linkages and pathways through which policies influence food security, nutrition outcomes, and related indicators and points to policy directions in these domains.