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Project
A synthesis of evidence on take home rations
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) in 2015-16, 38.4 percent of children in India under the age of five are stunted, i.e., have impaired growth and development. This rises to 41.2 percent in rural areas, ranking India 134th out of 151 countries. Devoting public resources to reducing micronutrient deficiencies in children is essential for improved health...
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Project
Regional (dis)integration in the East African Community
Two forms of regional trade agreements are free trade areas and customs unions. In a free trade area, members liberalise trade with each other, but each country sets its own tariffs for imports originating from non-members of the agreement. A customs union goes one step further: members negotiate and adopt a uniform tariff schedule called a Common External Tariff (CET),...
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Project
Review of Myanmar policies related to agricultural value chain finance
This project aims to increase understanding of the policy context and the potential to make policy reforms to increase formal agricultural value chain financing in Myanmar, by producing a report with policy recommendations. Inadequate access to finance can stifle the productivity and growth of agriculture, which is especially pertinent in the case of a country where about...
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Project
Informal workers and labour market risk during COVID-19 in India
Informal work, such as through casual, temporary, and contract work, is a defining feature of labour markets in many developing countries and more recently in developed countries. India has one of the highest shares of informal work in the world, estimated to be between 75-90 percent of all workers. It typifies the current concerns over informal workers suffering...
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Do farmers’ ability and community networks matter in agricultural adaptation to climate change? A case study of Bihar
The consequences of climate change have led to significant implications for agricultural productivity. Most especially in poorer Indian states such as Bihar, where farmers rely on traditional agricultural practices, have less room-to-maneuver in response to climate uncertainty – and the resulting changes to overall agricultural productivity. Although, mitigation and...
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Project
Food security during pandemic times: Insights and perspectives from rural Bihar
COVID-19 and the government-enforced lockdown has adversely impacted peoples’ livelihoods. The impact of the lockdown is very severe in the rural areas due to closures, restricted farming, and other economic activities. In a poor state like Bihar where nearly 90 percent of the population lives in rural areas and out-migration numbers are extremely high, the flow of...
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Project
Uganda’s energy sector: A fiscal risk
Uganda is a low-income country -- with middle-income ambitions -- that has made the energy sector a cornerstone of its development policy. The country allocates a large share of its public resources on providing a reliably supply of electricity to new businesses and to its citizens. Uganda has used debt to finance hydropower dams, transmission lines, and other large...
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Project
Estimating income losses and consequences of the COVID-19 crisis in Uganda
COVID-19 continues to take its toll on the world and more recently, the African continent. While the continent still accounts for fewer cases or deaths, in cities such as Uganda, the incidence of the disease has risen sharply. Uganda is not new to infectious diseases and has successfully battled outbreaks of Ebola, Marburg and even HIV/AIDS. Whilst COVID-19 has...
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Project
In-kind transfers as insurance
In-kind transfers have historically been an important way in which countries transfer resources to poorer households – the World Bank estimates that 44% of individuals on social safety net programmes around the world receive in-kind transfers. In recent years, however, there has been increasing interest among academics and policymakers in moving toward unconditional cash...
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Project
Using spatial data for targeting the poor: Reaching the most vulnerable
The lockdown of mega cities and the perceived trade-off between lives and livelihoods throws up immense policy challenges. We take up the social protection side of this challenge by constructing a targeting tool that pays attention to economic vulnerabilities, as well as requirements of disease containment. Our proposed tool geo-maps Karachi on the basis of electricity...
Project
Female politicians and economic growth: Evidence from state elections in India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS7YtrR2yjU&feature=emb_logo The project studies close elections between men and women for election to India's state legislative assemblies. It finds significantly higher growth in economic activity in constituencies that elect women. Given average GDP growth in India of about 7% per year (during the study period), the researchers...