Teaching

Enhancing Productivity, Market Orientation, and Dietary Outcomes: An Analysis of Smallholder Farms

Introduction: Improving productivity in smallholder farms has the potential to positively impact dietary outcomes through two main pathways: increased availability of own produce for direct consumption and income generation through sales, which ensures economic access to food. For example, recent evidence suggests that diversified agricultural production can lead to better dietary outcomes for households that are distant from markets or have limited market orientation.
doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01098-9

Objectives: This study aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. Assess the Impact of Productivity-Enhancing Technologies and Extension Information on Dietary Outcomes:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of the existing literature to examine the effects of productivity-enhancing technologies and extension information on dietary outcomes.

• Analyze the potential mechanisms through which productivity enhancements influence dietary outcomes, including increased availability of own produce and income generation.

2. Investigate the Role of Market Orientation and Access as Mediating Factors:

• Explore the extent to which the impact of productivity-enhancing interventions on dietary outcomes is mediated by household-level market orientation and access.

• Utilize publicly available datasets, such as those from the IFPRI Dataverse or World Bank microdata, to examine the relationship between market orientation, access, and dietary outcomes. Note: The research country is not defined. The candidate is expected to search for publicly available and relevant datasets from sources like IFPRI Dataverse or World Bank microdata. For example: doi.org/10.7910/DVN/JCXY6E

• Employ statistical analysis using software like R or STATA to investigate and quantify the mediating effects.

Required Skills: The successful completion of this thesis will require the following skills:

• Proficiency in conducting a comprehensive literature review, critically analyzing academic sources, and synthesizing key findings.
• Competence in statistical analysis using software such as R or STATA to estimate the impact of productivity-enhancing technologies on dietary outcomes.
• Ability to search for publicly available and relevant datasets, particularly from sources like the IFPRI Dataverse or World Bank microdata, to explore the role of market orientation and access.
• Strong analytical and writing skills to effectively communicate research findings and draw meaningful conclusions.

Mobile Financial Services for Smallholder Welfare: A Review of Evidence in Sub-Saharan Africa

• The rapid expansion of digital tools has sparked growing interest and investment in addressing key challenges faced by smallholder farmers in the Global South. Among these tools, Mobile Financial Services (MFS) have shown promise in improving access to microfinance and empowering smallholders in input and output related transactions. This master's thesis aims to critically examine the existing literature on MFS in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with a focus on understanding their impact on smallholder welfare.
  
  Objectives: This study seeks to achieve the following objectives:
  
  1. Summarize the Current State of Mobile Financial Services in Sub-Saharan Africa:
  
  • Provide an overview of the current state of MFS adoption and implementation in SSA.
  • Identify key trends, challenges, and opportunities related to the use of MFS in smallholder agriculture.

  2. Systematically Review the Available Evidence on the Impact of MFS on Smallholder Welfare:
  

  • Employ a systematic review methodology to assess the existing empirical evidence on the impact of MFS on smallholder welfare indicators such as income, productivity, and resilience.
  • Analyze the strengths, limitations, and gaps within the literature, and propose potential areas for further research.
    
    Required Skills: The successful completion of this thesis will require the following skills:
    
    • Experience in conducting systematic reviews or a strong desire and willingness to learn the methodology.
    • Proficiency in critically analyzing academic literature and synthesizing key findings.
    • Strong language and analytical capabilities to effectively communicate the research findings and draw insightful conclusions.
    
    By shedding light on the impact of MFS on smallholder welfare in SSA, this research will contribute to the existing body of knowledge, inform policymakers, and potentially guide the development of more effective strategies to enhance the well-being of smallholder farmers in the region.

Does time poverty during childhood translate to poor educational outcomes during adulthood

• Objective: To understand the effect of time poverty (spending much time with housework, having too little time for study and leisure) during childhood on educational and labor outcomes

• Data: Secondary data sources with guidance form the supervisor

• Requirements: Good command of Stata/R and basic knowledge of panel data models

Main Supervisor: Dr. Bezawit Bahru.

Intra-household time allocation and the role of gender norms in Ethiopia

• Objective: Gender norms prescribe unpaid work (e.g. caring for children and elderly, cooking, cleaning, etc.) to women and paid work to men. While men and women’s comparative advantage and efficiency in time allocation support part of this division of labor, a huge portion of this division is merely due to societal agreement of what men and women should do and could be changed. The objective of this study will be to understand the role of gender norms in men and women’s time allocation and propose possible intervention to change norms.

• Data: the student will gather qualitative data. Supervisors will facilitate application for funding.

• Requirements: Good knowledge of qualitative research methods. 

Main Supervisor: Bezawit Bahru, M.Sc.

What are the source of misidentification in crop technology adoption in Ethiopia?

• Objective: To identify individual, household and community level factors that contribute to crop varietal misidentification and misallocation in crop production in Ethiopia

• Data: Secondary data sources with guidance form he supervisor plus primary data collected from the field.

• Requirements: Good command of Stata or R, basic knowledge of panel data models, and good knowledge of qualitative research methods.

Main Supervisor: Bezawit Bahru, M.Sc.

Understanding the production, distribution and acquisition of improved seeds in Ethiopia

• Objective: To understand the process of seed production, distribution and acquisition in Ethiopia.

• Data: The student will gather qualitative data. Supervisors will also facilitate application for funding.

• Requirements: Good knowledge of qualitative research methods.

Main Supervisor: Bezawit Bahru, M.Sc.

Completed Bachelor and Master Theses

Completed PhD Theses

M 4901-420 Poverty and Development Strategies (M.Sc.)

Students learn methods/indicators to measure development, with a specific focus on agriculture, economic growth, poverty, equality, and food security.
This includes indicators of development, such as the Human Development Index, and development objectives and their relationships as well as conflicts between them. Data (mainly from World Bank and UN system) are presented on selected development indicators for all developing regions.
This is followed by a review of development theories (classical, balanced/unbalanced growth models, modernization theory, basic needs approach, role of transaction costs and rural institutions) and related development strategies and by a discussion of the underlying factors of development (as derived by the development theories), such as the endowment with natural resources and land, labor and population growth, and human, financial and social capital. The contributions of agriculture for overall development are presented.
Students learn also about the institutional setting of development aid. This concerns national and international development institutions including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with their structures, roles and development approaches. Finally, students are introduced to several rural and agricultural development policies, with an emphasis on the role of the state for agricultural and rural development and sectoral policy instruments related to agricultural and food markets, land and rural finance, agricultural extension, and social safety net /public works policies.

M 4901-470 Quantitative Methods in Economics (M.Sc.)

Limited to 20 Participants. Registration in ILIAS compulsory!

This module consists of lectures and exercises in the computer lab. Its emphasis is on the design and execution of socio-economic research that investigates issues of rural or agricultural development in developing countries. The course mainly covers quantitative research methods that are used in development economics and in applied socio-economic research in developing countries.

The particular contents of the module are as follows:

1.  Quantitative research designs in the social sciences
2. The sampling process (constructing sampling frames, sampling procedures, sample size)
3. The measurement of variables and questionnaire design (with group assignment)
4. Data entry and data cleaning (with computer exercises)
5. Overview of statistical instruments
6. Parametric and non-parametric tests (with computer exercises)
7. Principal component analysis (with computer exercises)
8. Linear regression (with computer exercises)
9. Binary response models (with computer exercises)
10. Two-stage Heckman procedure for correcting sample selection bias (with computer exercises)

M 4901-810 Interdisciplinary Aspects of Food Security (PhD)

Scientific and interdisciplinary competence in issues of food availability, access, use, quality and safety as well as utilization
Specific topics of lectures:

• Definition and measurement methods of food security at national, household and individual level 
• Gender, food security and nutrition 
• Food quality 
• Global and regional challenges of food security, incl. global trends in food production and trade, causes, and economic im-plication 
• Institutional policies (microfinance, land policy) and safety net policies 
• Sustainability of food production 
• Verifying new qualification by conducting interdisciplinary case studies on food policy 

• Team ability


• - Team competence, through case studies conducted by interdisciplinary groups
• - Presentation skills
• - Writing a seminar paper

Entwicklungspolitisches Seminar für Doktoranden und M.Sc. Studierende (PhD)

Doktoranden und M.Sc. Studierende des Fachgebiets 490A

präsentieren zu Inhalten, Fragen und Problemstellungen ihrer

wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten

M 4901-430 Rural Development Policies and Institutions

The lecture covers rural finance, land tenure, risk sharing and other institutions. Students are introduced to two broad topics of rural development:

1. Rural finance (approaches, question of interest rates and subsidies; savings and insurances, rural financial institutions)
2. Land tenure and natural resource management (property rights, different tenure arrangements, e.g. fixed rent vs. sharecropping, land reform)

Furthermore, representing a global institution, the Kyoto Protocol and the progress made towards a successional agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions are discussed.
Moreover, a workshop on literature search and writing and presentation techniques are an integral part of the module. These tools are subsequently applied by the students in the preparation and presentation of seminar papers on topics related to rural institutions.
Teaching methods: Lecture and discussion, literature review, writing of seminar papers, oral presentation by students and discussion.

Rural Development Seminar for PhD and M.Sc. Students

4901-481 Monitoring and Evaluation of Rural Development Projects

The module consists of lectures as well as guided group work using case studies from recent projects implemented by international organizations such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The lecture covers important methods used in the design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects. It begins with the so-called theory of change that helps to map the logical chain of how project inputs achieve changes in outcomes. It then covers the various evaluation designs and methods used in practice and differentiates methods for data collection and monitoring by multiple stakeholders of development projects. Students are introduced to the rationale behind doing financial and economic appraisal of development projects. Furthermore, students will review existing rural development projects, implemented by IFAD and other organizations in a group work exercise.