International Food Policy Research Institute

About: International Food Policy Research Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Food security & Agriculture. The organization has 1217 authors who have published 4952 publications receiving 218436 citations.

Dietary diversity in relation to other household food security indicators.

Abstract: This article describes dietary diversity in relation to other food security indicators used in a cross-sectional livelihood survey that included 499 randomly selected households within five municipalities in Greater Sekhukhune, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Indicators calculated using data collected by questionnaire included household dietary diversity score (DDS), living standards measure, months of food shortages and household food insecurity and access scale (HFIAS). Households with DDS ≤ 4 (n = 267) and DDS > 4 (n = 232) were compared using analysis of variance and χ²-test. Spearman correlation analysis was done for HFIAS and DDS. Compared to households with a DDS > 4, households with a DDS ≤ 4 had fewer assets, experienced more food shortages and had a higher HFIAS (16.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 15.0-17.0 vs. 9.8, 95% CI 8.8-10.9). An inverse correlation between HFIAS and dietary diversity (r = −0.450; p < 0.01) was observed. Therefore, dietary diversity is a promising indicator for food security.

Do Labor Statistics Depend on How and to Whom the Questions are Asked? Results from a Survey Experiment in Tanzania

Abstract: Labor market statistics are critical for assessing and understanding economic development. In practice, widespread variation exists in how labor statistics are measured in household surveys in low-income countries. Little is known whether these differences have an effect on the labor statistics they produce. This paper analyzes these effects by implementing a survey experiment in Tanzania that varied two key dimensions: the level of detail of the questions and the type of respondent. Significant differences are observed across survey designs with respect to different labor statistics. Labor force participation rates, for example, vary by as much as 10 percentage points across the four survey assignments. Using a short labor module without screening questions on employment generates lower female labor force participation and lower rates of wage employment for both men and women. Response by proxy rather than self-report yields lower male labor force participation, lower female working hours, and lower employment in agriculture for men. The differences between proxy and self reporting seem to come from information imperfections within the household, especially with the distance in age between respondent and subject playing an important role, while gender and educational differences seem less important.

Seasonal Migration and Agricultural Production in Vietnam

Abstract: When markets are incomplete migration can have multiple effects on agricultural production. I use instrumental variables techniques to explore the effects of seasonal migration on agricultural production in rural Vietnam during the 1990s. Using network variables specific to Vietnam as instruments, I find that migrant households in north Vietnam appear to move out of rice production and into the production of other crops. Inputs used by migrant households decrease relative to similar non-migrant households. The evidence is consistent with a shift from labor intensive into land-intensive crops, rather than productivity changes or the use of additional capital in production.

A Variance Components Approach to Food Grain Market Integration in Northern Nigeria

Abstract: A variance components methodology is developed for joint tests on a sample of time series of prices for seasonal differences in the price integration of markets. The approach requires a statistically adequate number of observations for each market within seasons characterized by constancy of transactions costs among markets. The model is applied to eighteen months of weekly grain prices for twenty-two villages in northern Nigeria. Results suggest that markets are not well integrated in the six months covering the harvest period. Implications are drawn for research on market performance in the region.