Paul Winters – författare

Impact evaluations must be embedded in the ongoing process of policy and programme design in order to be effective in influencing country policy. This is the primary lesson found in this book, which is based on the rigorous impact evaluations and country-case study analysis of government-run cash transfer programmes undertaken in eight Sub-Saharan African countries (Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa) evaluated as part of the Transfer Project and From Protection to Production Project. The impact evaluations employed mixed method approaches, including randomized controls trials (RCTs) and non-experimental designs, qualitative methods and village LEWIE-CGE modelling. Evidence presented in the book counteracts concerns around social protection creating dependency showing that unconditional cash transfers lead to a broad range of social and productive impacts, even though they are not tied to any specific behaviour.

The increasing volume of remittances and public transfers in rural areas of the developing world has raised hopes that these cash inflows may serve as an effective mechanism for reducing poverty in the long term by facilitating investments and raising productivity, particularly in agriculture where market failures are most manifest. This book systematically tests the empirical relationship between cash transfers and productive spending in agriculture amongst rural households in six different countries of the developing world. Together, the studies point to little impact of migration and public and private transfers on agricultural productivity, instead facilitating a transition away from agriculture or to a less labour intensive type of agriculture.From a policy perspective the studies raise the question of how to maintain rural economies, as migration and social assistance are unlikely to provide a sustainable way to overcome rural poverty in the long run for those that remain in rural areas. For the foreseeable future, agriculture will play an important role in alleviating poverty and sustaining growth in rural areas. Yet, public and private transfers are not providing much of the impetus needed to raise the sector’s productivity. Whether the transfers are invested in agriculture will ultimately depend on the attractiveness of the sector, which is largely determined by the policies of governments and donors.This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Development Studies.

Uganda is home to 1.5 million refugees from DRC, Burundi, South Sudan and other countries. The Uganda political framework is one of the most progressive and inclusive toward refugees. Only a fraction of the refugees is likely to go back to their home countries. This book assesses Uganda’s progressive refugee policy with reference to how it functioned in the era of COVID-19 using a unique panel data collected between 2017 and 2021.The Uganda Refugee Policy (2006) and the Refugee Regulations (2010) grant refugees wide-ranging rights that include allocating land for agriculture purposes, freedom of movement, and the right to seek employment. However, the magnitude and the speed of influx of refugees in recent years have posed critical challenges to the sustainability of these progressive policies. On top of this, unpredictable and unprecedented crises have emerged, such as COVID-19 and the Ukraine war, that have threatened food security and the resilience of livelihoods, value chains and food systems. The chapters in this book assess Uganda’s progressive refugee policy with reference to how it functioned in the era of COVID-19. They focus on the following three main areas: (i) the economic relationship and coexistence between host and refugees’ communities; (ii) the success and sustainability of the current model of assistance; and (iii) the response to COVID-19 on communities’ welfare and long-term prospects. Addressing these issues is possible due to a unique panel dataset of thirteen refugee settlements and neighbouring host communities specifically collected for these purposes.Investigating the economic consequences of the integration between host and refugees’ communities and offering new evidence with specific reference to Uganda, this book will be a key resource for scholars, researchers and practitioners of development studies, African studies, economics, and sociology. It was originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Development Studies.

Uganda is home to 1.5 million refugees from DRC, Burundi, South Sudan and other countries. The Uganda political framework is one of the most progressive and inclusive toward refugees. Only a fraction of the refugees is likely to go back to their home countries. This book assesses Uganda’s progressive refugee policy with reference to how it functioned in the era of COVID-19 using a unique panel data collected between 2017 and 2021.The Uganda Refugee Policy (2006) and the Refugee Regulations (2010) grant refugees wide-ranging rights that include allocating land for agriculture purposes, freedom of movement, and the right to seek employment. However, the magnitude and the speed of influx of refugees in recent years have posed critical challenges to the sustainability of these progressive policies. On top of this, unpredictable and unprecedented crises have emerged, such as COVID-19 and the Ukraine war, that have threatened food security and the resilience of livelihoods, value chains and food systems. The chapters in this book assess Uganda’s progressive refugee policy with reference to how it functioned in the era of COVID-19. They focus on the following three main areas: (i) the economic relationship and coexistence between host and refugees’ communities; (ii) the success and sustainability of the current model of assistance; and (iii) the response to COVID-19 on communities’ welfare and long-term prospects. Addressing these issues is possible due to a unique panel dataset of thirteen refugee settlements and neighbouring host communities specifically collected for these purposes.Investigating the economic consequences of the integration between host and refugees’ communities and offering new evidence with specific reference to Uganda, this book will be a key resource for scholars, researchers and practitioners of development studies, African studies, economics, and sociology. It was originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Development Studies.

The increasing volume of remittances and public transfers in rural areas of the developing world has raised hopes that these cash inflows may serve as an effective mechanism for reducing poverty in the long term by facilitating investments and raising productivity, particularly in agriculture where market failures are most manifest. This book systematically tests the empirical relationship between cash transfers and productive spending in agriculture amongst rural households in six different countries of the developing world. Together, the studies point to little impact of migration and public and private transfers on agricultural productivity, instead facilitating a transition away from agriculture or to a less labour intensive type of agriculture.From a policy perspective the studies raise the question of how to maintain rural economies, as migration and social assistance are unlikely to provide a sustainable way to overcome rural poverty in the long run for those that remain in rural areas. For the foreseeable future, agriculture will play an important role in alleviating poverty and sustaining growth in rural areas. Yet, public and private transfers are not providing much of the impetus needed to raise the sector’s productivity. Whether the transfers are invested in agriculture will ultimately depend on the attractiveness of the sector, which is largely determined by the policies of governments and donors.This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Development Studies.