Policy Note: Policy Responses to Ensure Access to Water and Sanitation Services During COVID-19: Snapshots from the Environment for Development (EfD) Network

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

This policy note provides a snapshot of water and sanitation measures implemented by governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 14 countries in the Global South: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Panama, South Africa, Uganda and Vietnam. We find that many countries have taken action to stop utility disconnections due to non-payment.

Covid-19, Health, Policy Design, Water

Short-run subsidies, take-up, and long-run demand for off-grid solar for the poor – evidence from large-scale randomized trials in Rwanda

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

Abstract
Over a billion people lack access to electricity, instead relying on kerosene and other dirty lighting sources, while grid expansion is not expected to keep pace with population growth. Moreover, pneumonia is the leading cause of death for under-fives in the world and kerosene smoke is a significant risk factor.

Energy, Health, Policy Design

CO2 emissions, agricultural productivity and welfare in Ethiopia

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:

Purpose – Climate change has become one of the most important development challenges worldwide. It affects various sectors, with agriculture the most vulnerable. In Ethiopia, climate change impacts are exacerbated due to the economy’s heavy dependence on agriculture. The Ethiopian Government has started to implement its climate-resilient green economy (CRGE) strategy and reduce CO2 emissions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of CO2 emission on agricultural productivity and household welfare.

Agriculture, Climate Change, Land, Policy Design

Games as boundary objects: charting trade-offs in sustainable livestock transformation

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:

Attempts to structurally transform segments of the agri-food system inevitably involve trade-offs between the priorities of actors with different incentives, perspectives and values. Trade-offs are context-specific, reflecting different socio-economic and political realities. We investigate the potential of structured boundary objects to facilitate exposing and reconciling these trade-offs within the context of multistakeholder social learning processes with pastoral and mixed crop-livestock communities in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Agriculture, Land, Policy Design

Designing sustainable pathways for the livestock sector: the example of Atsbi, Ethiopia and Bama, Burkina Faso

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:

Demand for animal sourced food is predicted to double in the upcoming 20 years in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is simultaneously a big opportunity in terms of poverty reduction and a significant threat to the environment. The objective of this paper is to present an approach to co-create a set of viable and acceptable development pathways for the livestock sector that maximizes benefits from increased production, exploits the synergies between livestock and the environment, while minimizing the negative effects.

Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land, Policy Design