Browsing by Author "Dinbabo, Mulugeta F"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Assessment on the effects of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) on poverty reduction in Hawassa, Ethiopia
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Beyene, Nardos Legesse; Dinbabo, Mulugeta F
    Formal microfinance institutions have been an important tool in the fight against poverty in developing countries, but their reach for rural people and urban slum poor are limited. Following this, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) are established as an alternative, informal mechanism for saving and borrowing that do not require external capital or ongoing financial or administrative support from a founding organization or government bodies. Thus, this study aimed to assess the effects of women participation in VSLA on poverty reduction with a case study in Hawassa city, Ethiopia. Using a mixed qualitative and quantitative research methodology, the study tried to focus on examining the effects of VSLAs contribution to economic and social wellbeing of households, and decision makings, and women participation in community activities. The study used 254 samples (127 VSLA participants, and 127 non-participants) and collected data using questionnaire and focus group discussion. The study used propensity score matching (PSM) to estimate the impact of women participation in VSLA on average monthly household income, and the result indicated the average effect of women participation in VSLA on average monthly household income of participant women is positive and significant at 5% significant level, ranging from 169.63 Birr/month (nearest neighbor matching) to 141.55 Birr/month (Kernel matching), on average. Besides, comparison between participants and non-participants using hypothesis testing shows that women participation in VSLA has a significant positive association with improvements in household diet, health, children's education, and women’s involvement in household decisions. However, although hypothesized, no significant association is found in relation to women participation in community activities. Findings from the focus group discussions are also consistent with the results from the PSM and hypothesis testing. Following the findings, the study recommends government and nongovernmental organizations to provide regular, timely and need based capacity building trainings for VSLA participants; Link VSLA participants with formal microfinance institutions; conduct regular monitoring and follow ups by either the city or sub-cities Women Children Affairs Department/offices or concerned government body; different concerned stakeholders in the city including government, nongovernmental organizations, microfinance institutions and others need to work in coordinated manner to solve the recurrent challenges of VSLA participants in Hawassa city; and finally government and/or nongovernmental organizations need to take best practices and lessons from existing VSLAs and expand the VSLA initiative to address more impoverished women in the city.
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    Development impact of agricultural projects on smallholder farmers: A case study from the Fadama iii project in Ebonyi state, Nigeria
    (University of the Western Cape, 2020) Egenti, Stanley; Dinbabo, Mulugeta F
    Nigeria has over 100 million people living below the US$1.90 poverty line. Most of these poor people are rural smallholder farmers. Agricultural interventions are ongoing to alleviate poverty and food insecurity amongst smallholder farmers in Nigeria, but these interventions have been less successful when compared to similar interventions implemented by developed countries. One such intervention in Nigeria is the Fadama III project. It is against this background that this study evaluated the development impact of the Fadama III project on the agricultural yield, food security, and income of smallholder farmers. The aim was to draw lessons from the evaluated project that would guide the design of future agricultural projects that are more effective. Using primary data from 300 farmers, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, probit regression, propensity score matching, and a quasi-experimental research design, this study found that the Fadama III project increases agricultural yield (rice yield), three dimensions of food security (food availability, food access, food utility), and some type of income (income from cassava production) of smallholder farmers in Ebonyi State. However, Fadama III does not significantly cause an increase in the food stability dimension of food security and other types of income like income from rice production. It also found that youth and female farmers are under-represented in Fadama III project. Also
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    Evaluating the impact of social grants on food security and poverty alleviation in South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Koswana, Victor Mandilakhe; Dinbabo, Mulugeta F
    The relationship between social welfare policies and food security across the world remains a significant challenge that has raised intense scholarly debate. A number of suggestions have been offered on how to measure social welfare policies in terms of addressing the household level food security and poverty reduction. Accordingly, a variety of hypotheses and different modalities of measurements have been developed. In line with Rawls’ theory of justice, this research study seeks to analyse the extent to which social welfare policies address food security and poverty in South Africa. A quantitative method of research was applied and secondary data was used throughout the study to understand the variation of poverty within the provinces of South Africa, by population group and household income. This was accentuated through a social grants review intervention on food security and poverty alleviation in South Africa. For the purpose of this study, the fifth round of the South African National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) (Wave V) was used for data analysis. In general, data entry and analysis was done using statistical software STATA version 15.1. The study found that provincially, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are in serious crisis in poverty and food security and social grants are also in demand especially in rural areas. Secondly, social grants are a crucial component of South Africa's battle against food security and poverty. They are not sufficient to alleviate poverty and food insecurity and the high inflation rate supersedes the slow increase of social grants, especially regarding food princes. The money received from social grants is not spent exclusively on food but on numerous needs of the household such as transport costs, medical care, clothes, etc. Within the context of the abovementioned analysis, the study brings into focus general observations gained from the investigation and makes recommendations to policy-makers and other stakeholders.
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    Examining the challenges of raising a family as a refugee parent in South Africa: A case study of Somali refugees in Cape Town
    (University of Western Cape, 2020) Mohamud, Bahja Ali; Dinbabo, Mulugeta F
    This research foregrounds the experiences of raising a family as a refugee parent in Cape Town, using a case study of Somali refugee parents. Global reports have shown that international migrants make up 3.5% of the world’s population, an estimated 272 million people. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 88.9% of international migrants have been displaced and reside within the Sub-Saharan African countries. Somali migrants arrived in South Africa due to a civil war that ravaged Somalia for over 20 years. Several studies investigated the migrants’ experiences in the host country
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    Obesity in Children: Environmental and Parental Influences. The Case Study of Khayelitsha in South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2020) Nchoung, Ayuk Juveta; Dinbabo, Mulugeta F
    Overweight and Obesity are conditions of excessive fat accumulation in the body of an individual. Due to the growing prevalence of the obesity epidemic, obesity has become a global public health concern. Overweight among South African children is on the increase as many young people now suffer from diseases related to obesity. Given the prevalent conditions of weight gain amongst children, tackling obesity in children should be given greater attention as children are twice at risk of becoming obese in the later stage in life. Such intentional efforts could contribute significantly to reducing public spending in the treatment of noncommunicable disease. This research aimed at understanding the Environmental and Parental Factors Influencing childhood overweight and obesity. The research identified the different factors that were associated with child overweight and obesity in the study area. Besides, the research was aimed at raising awareness of the need to sensitize parents and stakeholders on the factors associated to child obesity and proposed possible recommendations. To achieve these aims, one of the objectives was to statistically evaluate the extent of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the study area as well as identify the types of food choices available to children. Furthermore, it analyzed dietary intake in households with obese parents and children, to determine the relationships that exist.
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    The role of the local enterprise and skills development programme (LESDEP) in reducing youth unemployment and promoting sustainable livelihoods in the central region of Ghana
    (University of Western Cape, 2020) Agwani, Kwesi Aloysius; Dinbabo, Mulugeta F
    Unemployment rates in Ghana are high, and the problem persists in developing countries, making it a significant economic problem for these economies. Unemployment generates severe economic and social issues such as poverty, social exclusion and rural-urban migration; it also poses a threat to national stability. In Ghana, unemployment is more prevalent among urban dwellers than those in rural areas, particularly among the youth. Since independence, successive governments in Ghana have implemented several skills development programmes to reduce youth unemployment. Skills development is regarded as playing a crucial role in Ghana’s youth employability by providing unemployed youth with technical and entrepreneurial skills to become self-employed to improve their livelihoods and socio-economic conditions. However, the impact of these programmes on youth unemployment in the short-run has been weak as a result of its partial and fragmented nature. This study examines the effects of skills development programmes on youth employability using the Local Enterprise and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP) given that skills development is crucial in building human capital, financial capital and social networks. The Ghanaian government, as a means of stemming the tide of unemployment, introduced the Local Enterprise and Skills Development Programme to provide skills that would make the youth employable. The programme is envisaged to reduce unemployment among the youth in Ghana.