Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung (ZEF)

Spousal Cooperation and Agricultural Technology Adoption

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Spousal Cooperation and Agricultural Technology Adoption Ndip, Francis E.; Maina, Cecilia Adoption of agricultural technologies is crucial for sustainable development, yet adoption of many relevant technologies remains low, especially among smallholder farmers in Africa. While there is an extensive literature aimed at understanding drivers of adoption, intra-household factors have received much less attention. In this study, we examine the relationship between spousal cooperation, an important intra-household factor, and the adoption of agricultural technologies among smallholder farmers in Cameroon. Specifically, we focus on improved seed varieties, inorganic fertilizers, intercropping, and minimum tillage as technologies. We combine survey and lab-in-the-field experimental data and employ multivariate probit models to account for simultaneous adoption. We also estimate associations between cooperation and the number of technologies adopted. The results suggest that spousal cooperation is positively associated with the adoption of improved varieties and intercropping. However, we find no associations between cooperation and adoption of inorganic fertilizers and minimum tillage, although the coefficients are positive. We also find that cooperation is positively associated with the number of technologies adopted. Lastly, we find interesting complementarities between the various technologies. Our findings suggest that promoting spousal cooperation could serve as an important leverage point for the adoption of modern agricultural technologies.

Cooperation under Comparison

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Cooperation under Comparison Stark, Oded; Kosiorowski, Grzegorz We establish a new approach to the modeling of cooperation, and we formulate a new solution concept for cooperative games. We do this by constructing a game of cooperation between individuals who exhibit distaste for relative deprivation, RD, in the sense that they experience stress when their income is lower than that of their comparators. In such a game, the sharing out of the jointly earned income between these individuals when they cooperate, as prescribed by standard solutions of cooperative games, might not be acceptable to the individuals. The stress from RD may have the upper hand. Measuring stress by RD, we thus model a setting in which two individuals who are concerned with being relatively deprived need to decide whether or not to cooperate. We term this setting an RD cooperative game, and we design a rule, the RD solution, for the distribution of the income yielded in this game. The RD solution prescribes cooperation in spite of cooperation-induced stress and preserves the spirit of standardness (an equal sharing of the gain that accrues from cooperation) for two-player games (a property shared by the main solution concepts for cooperative games).

Women's empowerment and nutrition

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Women's empowerment and nutrition Maina, Cecilia Chemeli; Debela, Bethelhem Legesse; Qaim, Matin Women play key roles in food systems, yet continue to face persistent disadvantages in terms of low decision-making power and limited access to goods, services, and markets. Discrimination against women is often deeply ingrained in social norms, policies, and institutions. Widely observed gender gaps are not only unfair; they also undermine broader sustainability objectives. Extensive evidence shows that women's empowerment contributes to productivity, efficiency, and broader social welfare gains. We review and synthesize the literature on links between women's empowerment and nutrition, focusing on rural households in Africa and Asia. We analyze advances in the measurement of women's empowerment, discuss strengths and limitations of existing metrics, and summarize the broad empirical evidence showing that women's empowerment is positively associated with dietary quality and nutrition. Further, we develop a conceptual framework, highlighting key mechanisms of the empowerment-nutrition relationship, including women's bargaining power, control over income, and time allocation. Using this framework and examples from different countries, we show that development initiatives, such as promoting agricultural commercialization and women's off-farm employment, can involve tradeoffs, sometimes resulting in undesirable empowerment and/or nutrition outcomes. Such tradeoffs need to be properly understood and addressed through gender-transformative policies. We conclude by discussing policy and research implications.

Role of agency in envisioning future human-nature relationships in the context of road infrastructure development in the Kavango-Zambezi region, Namibia

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Role of agency in envisioning future human-nature relationships in the context of road infrastructure development in the Kavango-Zambezi region, Namibia Musa, Judith K.; Moseti, Vincent; Biber-Freudenberger, Lisa Amid growing concerns over climate change and biodiversity loss, there is increasing recognition of the need to reconcile local communities' economic aspirations with environmental conservation. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) introduced the Nature Futures Framework (NFF) to foster nature-positive future scenarios. This study explores the impact of road infrastructure on local communities' agency to envision and achieve desirable futures, focusing on Namibia's Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) region. Using semi-structured questions and participatory mapping, we assessed how communities near and far from the Trans-Caprivi highway value nature in present, probable, and desirable future scenarios, as defined by the NFF. We also analyzed the impacts of socioeconomic factors such as age, education, occupation, and gender on shaping these visions. Higher education levels were associated with higher overall agency among respondents, both near and far from roads. Additionally, proximity to roads corresponded with higher agency scores for instrumental (Nature for Society) and intrinsic (Nature for Nature) values, while slightly lower scores were observed for relational (Nature as Culture) values. These patterns suggest spatial and educational factors may influence how individuals perceive their ability to shape future human–nature relationships across different value dimensions. These insights underscore the crucial need to foster nature-positive and socially inclusive futures by systematically integrating local knowledge and stakeholder perspectives into infrastructure planning and decision-making processes.