Ethiopian Journal of Economics

Economic Costs of Intimate Partner Violence in Ethiopia

Duvvury Nata — 2024-08-27

Reduction of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a recognised public health
goal worldwide. However, the negative economic impacts of IPV against women,
households and the economy are not well studied, especially in African countries. Based
on a primary quantitative survey of 2,095 women, this study addresses this gap by
estimating the economics costs of IPV against women in Ethiopia, focusing on out-ofpocket (OOP) costs, lost productivity and poverty. According to our study, the lifetime
prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) is approximately 36%, while the prevalence
of IPV within the past year is around 21%. In terms of lost productivity, women missed
an average of 19 care workdays due to IPV and husbands (perpetrators) missed 11 care
workdays. In addition, working women had a productivity loss of about 17 days due to
violence experienced in lifetime. OOP costs were also substantial. In nearly a third of
incidents (34%), women reported incurring an average expense of 2,934 Birr, which
represents roughly 10% of their annual earnings. Furthermore, using Propensity Score
Matching (PSM) analysis, it was found that intimate partner violence (IPV) resulted in a
reduction of 372.83 Birr in women's income, 929.90 Birr in household income, and
332.95 Birr in household spending. The consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV)
for women and their families entail substantial financial instability and negative effects
on social well-being. These results stress the importance of integrating IPV prevention
and response measures into national policies and budgets, as well as strongly improving
current initiatives to prevent and combat IPV.

Mixed Farming System for Crop Yield Improvement and Adaptation to Climate Change: Evidence from Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia

Mekonnen B. Wakeyo — 2024-08-27

Adverse weather appears to compel smallholders in Ethiopia to shift increasingly
towards a mixed-farming system. Nearly 90% of the smallholders practiced the shift.
However, unless carefully dealt with, the shift could lower crop yield because of the
potential disincentive from livestock income. Thus, there is an interesting reason to
investigate whether yield declines with livestock size and the increasing adoption of
mixed farming. To investigate, we used ‘Resilience to Climate Change’ data
collected in 2021 from 2000 households. Descriptive analysis and econometric
models, specifically the Generalized Method of Moments and logit, are employed
for the estimations. The findings pointed out: (1) households beyond livestock
quartile II, who own 60% of the cropland, produce lower average yields. (2) Major
yield factors do not hugely vary between GMM estimations. Mainly high-value
crops, the number of equines owned, and renting land out, increased yields, whereas
age, dummies of drought frequencies, inter-cropping, and drought-resistant crops
decreased yields. The mixed-farming dummy resulted in higher yields only for the bottom livestock groups. (3) The transformative investment in thresher increased yields. (4) Agricultural Growth Program increased yield in the land-abundant
quartile IV. (5) The estimated logit model shows that higher age, family and
landholding sizes, social capital, cooler agro-ecologies, more hot days, the use of
modern feed, and fewer drought shocks affected the adoption of mixed farming. The
findings offered several policy options. Among others, designing extension services
to improve yields in households owning larger livestock sizes requires attention.
Moreover, the frequent drought years urge adaptation measures to climate change.

Impact of Climate Change on Agricultural Output and Adaptation Measures in Ethiopia

Paulos Gutema — 2024-08-27

Part of the literature informs that different regions of the world contribute to
greenhouse gas emissions in varying degrees, in global warming. It also highlights that
these regions influence different influences from the warming effects, ranging from
extreme net loss to net gain. Importantly, it emphasizes that countries in the tropical
regions, such as Ethiopia, are particularly vulnerable to these changes. This study
utilized a production function approach that considers the physiology of plants and
animals to assess the long-term economic impacts of rainfall variability on the
agricultural output. The analysis is based on time-series data covering the period from
1961 to 2012. The results of the econometric analysis confirmed the existence of an
optimal volume of rainfall. When this optimal threshold is exceeded, the benefits of
rainfall diminish indicating that the country experiences short-lived and negligible
gains from climate change, while enduring comparatively higher economic loses in the
long run. Furthermore, there is a probable trend of excessive rainfall during the rainy
seasons, surpassing the optimal amount. In order to delay the onset of diminishing
benefits of rainfall, it is crucial to undertake mitigation and adaptation efforts promptly and resolutely. Among others, too much rainfall, which is catastrophic, can also be an opportunity to use rainwater harvesting to fill the moisture-stress gap that can be
created due to the early stoppage of rainfall. Most importantly, since the adverse
impacts are caused mainly by global negative externalities, the findings suggest a
need to complement the global approach with the local adaptations of smallholder
farmers to address the negative impact of climate change.

Agricultural Technological Change and Technical Efficiency of Crop Production in Ethiopia

Sisay Debebe — 2024-08-27

Proper utilization of agricultural technology and enhancing the technical efficiency
of crop production are key factors for agricultural output growth in Ethiopia.
However, the lack of studies that assess the broad set of agricultural technological
change and efficiency of multiple crop production together using longitudinal
datasets poses major challenges in identifying crop production impediments in
Ethiopia. This study explores agricultural technological changes (specifically
fertilizer, improved seed, pesticides, irrigation, and extension services) and the
factors contributing to technical inefficiency in crop production in Ethiopia.
National-level representative longitudinal data sets from 2004/05 to 2018/19 were
obtained from the Central Statistics Authority and the Ethiopian Meteorology
Agency-(EMA) as data sources in Ethiopia. A panel stochastic frontier model using
a true fixed-effect econometrics model was applied to estimate the coefficients of the
elasticity production coefficients, identify technical inefficiency factors, and
estimate the level of technical efficiency scores for multiple aggregate crops at the
national and regional levels. This study assessed the trends in agricultural
technology use from 2004/05 to 2018/19 in Ethiopia. In response to the increased
utilization of land, labor and inputs such as chemical fertilizer, pesticides, improved
seeds and improved practices through expanded extension coverage, the use of
irrigation, and the availability of rainfall and temperature, good progress in
agricultural production and productivity was observed from 2004/05 to 2018/19.
However, there is a less adequate supply of agricultural production input technologies and the intensive utilization of irrigation is highly insufficient. Furthermore, the elasticity coefficient estimates with respect to labor, cultivated
area, chemical fertilizer, and pesticide have positive and significant effects on crop
output, indicating the importance of these inputs. However, the use of capital and
local seed had negative and statistically significant impacts on crop output from
2004/05 to 2018/19 in different regions of Ethiopia. The overall technical efficiency
value of 73.84% at the national level shows room for further increasing yield using
existing technologies by working on inefficiency factors. Additionally, the room for
further boosting yield is wide and differs across major regions in Ethiopia. The
future crop output growth will be driven by a combination of enhancing the use of
agriculture technologies and efficiency of crop production through promoting the
use of suitable, reliable and affordable modern agriculture technologies, revitalized
agricultural advisory services, mechanization services, providing targeted
affordable credit services, land consolidation by cluster farming, deployment of a
labor force, and the intensive use of irrigation systems over the coming years.

The Effect of Access to Primary School on the Timing of School Enrollment: Analysis of the Ethiopian Education Reform

Yared Seid — 2024-08-27

This paper offers empirical evidence on whether access to primary school induces
children to enroll in primary school at the legal enrollment age using household
survey data from Ethiopia. We exploit the variation in the intensity of the impact of
the education reform across districts in Ethiopia to identify the effect of access to
school on the timing of enrollment. Using pre-reform enrollment rate in primary
school to measure the variation in the intensity of the impact of the reform, we
estimate difference-in-differences models. The results suggest that the reform has
substantially increased the probability the child enrolls in grade 1 by age 7. It is
also found out that the reform has decreased age at enrollment in grade 1 by about
4 months. These estimates highlight the important role access to school plays in
inducing parents to enroll their kids in primary school at the legal enrollment age.