Mekong River Basin is crucial for the livelihoods of millions of people of six countries: China, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The last four countries are categorized as the Lower Mekong Basin, where two thirds of the population relies on the water resources for subsistence agriculture and fisheries as well as to develop other activities such as transport and tourism. The current anthropogenic causes for environmental degradation in the region include the construction of dams, over-extraction of underground water, pollution from fast developing cities, deforestation, sand extraction, and other activities which create risks to human settlements that were even unheard of ten years ago. More often than not, the impacts of changes vary between groups of people and strongly informed by the social inequalities. Climate change adds to this ongoing environmental degradation by increasing the region’s fragility. For example, one meter of sea-level rise would cause displacement of 7 million inhabitants and flood the homes of more than 14.2 million people in the Mekong Delta. 

These major anthropogenic degradations take place in a specific regional and global socio-political context. On the one hand, an accelerated rural transition has been pushed by national governments with the idea of integrating the agricultural sector into the global markets, but also under the pressure of global financial markets searching for returns in the aftermaths of the financial crisis. This rural transition occurs at a pace that fragilizes the economies when they cannot absorb the workforce in excess into the developing industrial or services sectors. In this respect, the Mekong region is a spectacular example of the economic and environmental consequences of the 2008 financial collapse on developing and emerging economies. On the other hand, the countries of the Mekong region are also subjected to the geopolitical shift putting China in the center of a new globalized system. Most of them contribute heavily to this new dynamics, which also severely impacts their environment and inequalities altogether.

For years, international and local organizations, South-East Asian governments as well as bilateral and multilateral development banks have been working to help the Mekong countries mitigate these impacts. However, the lack of a systematic review of existing knowledge in the Mekong makes it difficult to evaluate the impact of specific actions on inequalities and environmental quality. At a moment when governments (both regionally and globally) call for urgent actions, it is time to consider a systemic approach to the environment - inequality nexus in the region.

This project is part of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities, coordinated by AFD and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships over the 2017-2020 period. The first phase of the Facility has led to the conduct of 22 research projects and the publication of around 100 research papers and policy briefs.

Rising inequalities and accelerating environmental changes are two of the most significant challenges of the twenty-first century. But how do they relate to each other? Do they have common dynamic factors? This research project proposes a specific regional study on how these multidimensional variables of inequality and environmental changes relate and interact with each other. It aims at building scientific base for policy action as well as identifying uninvestigated research questions

Throughout the region, socio-economic inequalities relating to income, employment, education, access to land and other services, as well as demographic differences, such as age, gender, ethnic, and so on are more and more associated with unequal exposure to environmental risk factors. These factors can represent direct threats to people’s lives (landslides, flooding, etc.), or contribute, in an indirect way, to the degradation of agricultural land, propagation of diseases, or, more widely, health issues (air pollution, etc.). They often put already disadvantaged groups at significantly higher risk for environmental effects. Besides, the existing inequality might also contribute to the environmental changes.  

Environmental risk factors considered in this project are not solely linked to global climate changes. They are also (and, for the moment, most often) the direct consequences of the growing pressure of human populations and the economic dynamics on the ecosystems. This is particularly visible throughout the Mekong River Basin. The Mekong region has been radically transformed in the last ten years by the pace and scale of large-scale land acquisitions through foreign and domestic investments leading to growing inequalities, rural unrest, and a process of simplification and commodification increasingly replacing traditional and natural systems. The spatial scope of analysis cannot thus remain purely national. 

At this stage however, it seems difficult for the local or national decision maker, let alone any regional institution, to take science-based action, as long as no mapping of this scattered knowledge exists, highlighting the diverse quality of the studies, their data sources, their representativeness, the needs for further studies or on the contrary the well-established results. Scoping and systematic reviews, a technics initially coming from the field of medicine, can provide with such a dashboard instrument.

Beyond the project, an objective would be to build a research and capacities research project mobilizing the main academic and non-academic actors in the Southeast Asia region on the research directions which would have emerged from this systematic study.

• Scoping the existing knowledge on inequalities and environmental change in the Mekong region

First, we will conduct a preliminary scoping review of the related scientific and grey literature on inequalities and environmental changes in the Lower Mekong region. The resulting literature and data repository created by the review can be of use to researchers and stakeholders interested in the topic. As such, it represents a scientific result and output that can be published in a first scientific paper. It also represents a crucial first step for the two co-implementing partners in the region, who represent a broad network of interdisciplinary researchers in the four countries of the Lower Mekong River basin, and who intend to develop broader research programs based on this scoping review.

• Building a dashboard for operational recommendations through a systematic review

Second, we will develop a systematic review. In this second step, quality filters apply, it involves data extraction as well as quantitative analysis. This step requires the work of a full time post-doc, helped by experts in the different fields represented in the scoping review, and possibly the help of documentalists from the different represented countries. It is thus crucial to be able to gather the expertise of a network of researchers and operational experts already working in the different dimensions of the subject. This is what the WANASEA network, combined with the IRD network in South-East Asia as well as experts from AFD in the region, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the IUCN will allow to convey. This expert committee will commit to contribute a few days in the year to help the post-doctoral expert taken the right decisions in the filter of data, methods and papers.

• Integrating case studies illustrations in the general framework

As a third step of the project, we propose to develop four case-studies which would shed the light on different existing research programs which already studied some aspects of the relation between inequalities and environmental changes along the lower Mekong river basin, from Laos to Vietnam.

The first results of the project will be presented for the international conference on “Climate impacts in South-East Asia” in Quy Nhon (Vietnam) in march 2020. They will lead two at least two research papers and a collective book.

The final results will be presented at the ASEAN Water Platform (WANASEA) in the summer 2020 in Chiang Mai University (Thailand).

Find the presentation of the research paper “Inequalities and Environmental changes in the Mekong region: a scoping review” by Huynh Thi Phuong Linh (IRD in Ha Noi) during the seventh webinar of the Research Facility on Inequalities: 

You may find the research papers here:

• Displaced Sand, Displaced People: Examining the Livelihood Impacts of Sand Mining in Cambodia
• Inequalities and environmental changes in the Mekong region: A systematic mapping

You may find the policy briefs here:

• Environmental Inequalities in the Mekong River Basin: A systematic mapping of existing knowledge
• Displaced Sand, Displaced People: Examining the Livelihood Impacts of Sand Mining

• Anda David, Research Officer, AFD
• Stéphane Lagrée, WANASEA, International Coordinator
• Alexis Drogoul, Representative of IRD  Vietnam - Philippines

Climate change and variability in South East Asia (SEA) has been remarkable in the past 20 years. In this study we focus on Vietnam and Indonesia, two countries that are among the fastest growing lower-middle income countries in the region. They are also among the worst affected by climate extreme in the past decades, ranking 6th and 50th in the Climate Risk Index (2017), respectively. However, their poverty and inequality patterns and trends are remarkably different. Although reducing at a significant pace, poverty in Indonesia persists at much higher rate than in Vietnam (ADB, 2019).

Inequality patterns also differ and have specific country level peculiarities that makes each of these countries an interesting case study. A recent UNESCAP report suggests that, between 1990-2014, despite the similar economic growth, inequality has been increasing steadily in Vietnam and even more in Indonesia. Finally, inequality driving factors are also quite dissimilar, with ethnicity and remoteness, and rural-urban divide and migration, being predominant factors respectively in Vietnam and Indonesia. 

The main purpose of this study will be two-fold:

• to provide policy makers with a substantial evidence base to target social equity and equality interventions effectively
• and to strategically inform the enforcement of social protection policies that are able to capture the climate-inequality nexus while maintaining a high degree of climate and poverty sensitivity and responsiveness.

The outputs of the project will be tailored to specific national priorities in terms of climate change and inequality via the direct engagement with policy makers and local experts. Advocacy, consultations and capacity building exercises carried out throughout the project will ensure that the research will address relevant evidence gaps to inform the dialogues for climate-inequality-sensitive decision making in Vietnam and Indonesia. 

Using a combination of repeated cross section analysis, panel analysis, synthetic panel analysis, we will investigate the relationship between climate variability and inequality at four levels:

• average impact – national level – entire population;
• average impact – national level – entire population by deciles of income distribution;
• impact at sub-national level – population located in hot-spots - vis-à-vis average/national impact (hot spots will be identified using the comprehensive climate data and the unit of analysis defined accordingly);
• impact at sub-national level – most vulnerable groups: ethnic minority, female headed HHs, etc.

The outputs have been: 

• One complete research article: Who bears the burden of climate variability? A comparative analysis of the impact of weather conditions on inequality in Vietnam and Indonesia?
• One policy brief in the AFD Policy Brief Series detailing the core contributions to the literature and results of the study: Climate variability and inequality: Comparing the experiences of Indonesia and Vietnam
• Two country policy briefs in the AFD Policy Brief Series detailing for each country the most salient aspects, results and recommendations forward: 
  - The impact of climate variability on inequality: Evidence from Indonesia
  - The impact of climate variability on inequality: Evidence from Vietnam

Two webinars based on the research paper have been organised in the CGIAR Webinar Series. These two events sought to reflect on the impacts that the current climate crisis has on the most vulnerable in Vietnam and Indonesia and to answer the following questions: Is climate variability regressive? Or better does climate variability impacts more on those who are less able to cope with its consequences? And if so, what can we do to ensure an equal, sustainable economic development for all?

• Webinar on Vietnam: watch the replay here
• Webinar on Indonesia: watch the replay here

• Cecilia Poggi, Research Officer, AFD
• Dr Grazia Pacillo

Ghana has experienced rapid economic growth and significant reduction in poverty levels in recent times. However, the reduction in poverty has not translated into a reduction in inequality. Coloumbe and Wodon (2007), and also Cooke et al. (2016) recognise the spatial inequality that exists in the country, manifested particularly in the differences in income levels between the northern and southern parts of Ghana. Evidence by Oduro et al. (2011) and FAO (2012) also point to persistent gender inequalities relating to access to and control of assets as well as access to secured and less vulnerable employment.

According to Corak (2013), economic inequalities limit opportunities for economic and social advancement of the next generation as increased inequalities often alter the opportunities and the incentives for households to invest in the human capital development of their children.

This project is part of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities, coordinated by AFD and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships over the 2017-2020 period. The first phase of the Facility has led to the conduct of 22 research projects and the publication of around 100 research papers and policy briefs.

This project will draw on and consolidate this evidence-base and then fill some important, policy-relevant gaps that remain. By design, the research program outlined below seeks to address distributional issues in both the bottom half and the top of the distribution. The work program recognises from the outset that there are several dimensions of human development and wellbeing, and progress in some measures might be accompanied by deterioration in others. It recognises that economic growth does not necessarily lead to equitable outcomes – both poverty and inequality have self-reinforcing characteristics that are hard to counter.

The research project will be developed across three work streams: 

• The diagnostic study on inequality in Ghana will in essence aim to produce a report on inequality in Ghana. It will explore the census data and include an analysis of spatial inequality using the most recent poverty maps of Ghana. In view of this the team will be working with the Ghana Statistical Service to produce this report. This report will be based on a common framework to be developed by the hub of the ACEIR network.
• The researchers will take advantage of the two rounds of the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey (GSPS) which are a result of collaboration between Yale University and ISSER. Using this data they intend to study how economic inequality has changed in Ghana over the period 2010 to 2014 (Wave 1 & 2 respectively) and what explains the changes. In particular, they will try to analyse the changing dynamics from a spatial, gender (of household head and at the individual levels) and ethnicity perspective.
• A paper on is the relationship between economic inequalities and inequalities in education opportunities in the context of Ghana. Even though enrolment rates in Ghana are generally very high, the inputs for good educational outcomes, such as the quality of school infrastructure, books and other educational materials are not equally available to pupils due to economic inequality. This in turn will have implications for educational outcomes and consequently future welfare status of these pupils as Mayer (2010) and Corak (2013) suggest. The researchers involved in this project hope to use this study to contribute to a better understanding of the nature and extent of this relationship. The study will use the two waves of the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey (GSPS).

Find the presentation of the research paper "Exploring the dynamics of micro- level consumption inequality in Ghana" by Nkechi Owoo (University of Ghana, ACEIR) during the sixth webinar of the Research Facility on Inequalities: 

You may find the research papers and the Inequality Diagnostics here:

- Understanding the relationship between consumption inequality, inequality of opportunity and education outcomes in Ghana

- Exploring the dynamics of micro-level consumption inequality in Ghana

- Inequality Diagnostics for Ghana 

Contact:

Anda David, Research Officer, AFD

Over the last twenty years, poverty has declined in Kenya. The poverty rate has fallen from 52% of the population in 1997 to 36% of the population in 2015. However, in 2015 income inequality was still large with more than half of total wealth controlled by the 20% richest of the population. An assessment of inequality causes could help design and implement policies to eliminate it. In particular, policies with well-designed redistributive fiscal components could play a substantial role in reducing income inequality.

This project is part of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities, coordinated by AFD and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships over the 2017-2020 period. The first phase of the Facility has led to the conduct of 22 research projects and the publication of around 100 research papers and policy briefs.

The proposed research program has two objectives: 

• Documentation of inequality and poverty trends in Kenya since independence and diagnosis of their main drivers;
• Assessment of the impact of fiscal policies on inequalities in Kenya.

First, the Kenyan National Household Budget Surveys will be used to analyse poverty and inequality trends over a long period of time. These datasets will also be used to assess which factors perpetuate inequalities in the country.

Then, the Commitment to Equity methodology (Lustig and Higgins, 2017) will be used to conduct an in-depth assessment of the impact of fiscal policies on inequalities and poverty. It would enable to analyse who mostly pays taxes and who benefits from transfers and public spending in the country and what fiscal policy instruments have the greatest impact on inequality reduction.

The research project will result in two research papers, as well as workshops and policy briefs to disseminate the results to policymakers.

You may find the research paper here:

• Fiscal incidence, inequality and poverty in Kenya: a CEQ assessment
• Inequality trends and diagnostics in Kenya 2020

You may find the policy briefs here:

• Inequality in Kenya : trends and policy responses
• Fiscal policies in Kenya : Effects on poverty and inequalities
  
   

Contact:

Hélène Ehrhart, Research Officer, AFD

Anda David, Research Officer, AFD

Professor Germano Mwabu, University of Nairobi

 

The recent release of the Sustainable Development Goals reinforces the central role of health as a key element of human development, calling for further investments in health as part of a concerted effort to overcome poverty and inequalities worldwide. Specifically, SDG3 reiterates the importance of investing in policies that favor Universal Health Coverage (UHC), defined in relation to access to quality care and financial protection against the cost of illness. The urge to sustain and increase investments in health as part of an overall development policy is accompanied by the need to ensure that the investments made produce benefits for all groups in a society, contributing to reducing existing inequities in access and health status between the poor and the least poor. Evidence on the equity benefit of recent UHC reforms (ranging from user fee removal to results-based financing) is still limited. Similarly, evidence is lacking on whether investments in these recent reforms have altered spending on health at a national health, increasing the distributional incidence of this spending to benefit the poor rather than the least poor, as indicted by prior research.

This project is part of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities, coordinated by AFD and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships over the 2017-2020 period. The first phase of the Facility has led to the conduct of 22 research projects and the publication of around 100 research papers and policy briefs.

This project aims at assessing whether the distributional incidence of total and public spending on health has become more equitable over time, especially as a function of introducing UHC-specific reforms. The research objective is purposely set not only to describe the inequities in access and in health outcomes that may persist in spite of UHC-specific reforms, but also to explore more explicitly the link between the financial investments made and the benefits accrued across socio-economic groups. This choice stems from a wish to generate analytical evidence on the equity impact of the investments made in health, whether these investments are made by African countries themselves or with support from their development partners. The investigators trust that this evidence is much needed to direct and inform future investments in health. Moreover, keeping in mind this wish to inform policy making in a pragmatic manner, they plan to appraise their findings in the light of the different social and political circumstances that have shaped the emergence and implementation of the specific UHC policies and investments under analysis.

The project expands the framework proposed by McIntyre and Ataguba published in 2011 and conducts a quasi-longitudinal benefit incidence analyses to assess the distributional incidence of total, public, and UHC-specific spending (such as user fee removal policies, targeted subsidies, or results-based financing) across all countries over time, measured both at the individual beneficiary level and at the district/health facility level. Traditionally, tables and concentration curves and indexes have been used to display the results of the Benefit Incidence Analysis (BIA). In addition to this traditional approach, the investigators plan to generate maps based on the BIA results to illustrate spatial inequities in the distributional incidence of spending on health.

Furthermore, they will appraise findings in the light of the specific circumstances within which policy decisions on health have been reached in each country, to be able to explain, from a qualitative point of view, what policy elements might have contributed to generate greater or smaller equity.

You may find the research papers here:

• Estimating the distributional incidence of healthcare spending on curative health services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Benefit incidence analysis in Burkina Faso, Malawi and Zambia
• Estimating the distributional incidence of healthcare spending on maternal health services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Benefit incidence analysis in Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Zambia
• Distributional effects of healthcare spending : lessons from Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Zambia
• Assessing inequalities in healthcare spending in Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Zambia: data and methods 
• Inequalities in Maternal Healthcare spending: Evidence from Burkina Faso
• Inequalities in healthcare spending on curative services: evidence from Burkina Faso
• Inequalities in maternal healthcare spending: evidence from Zambia
• Inequalities in healthcare spending on curative services: evidence from Zambia
• Inequalities in maternal healthcare spending: evidence from Malawi
• Inequalities in healthcare spending on curative services: evidence from Malawi

Contact:

Cecilia Poggi, Research Officer, AFD

Social-protection schemes have become a popular form of intervention in developing countries both by governments and within the international-development community, as they are seen as a tool to combat the adverse impacts of natural and economic crises. However, the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of these programs remains mixed. Notwithstanding the wealth of interest from policy makers, donors, and researchers, there is a paucity of evidence about the distributional incidence of these programs. Existing work has often not been able to establish longer-run effects of public-works programs on poverty and inequality. In addition, there is a lack of focus on horizontal and spatial inequalities. This research project intends to fill this evidence gap.

This project is part of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities, coordinated by AFD and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships over the 2017-2020 period. The first phase of the Facility has led to the conduct of 22 research projects and the publication of around 100 research papers and policy briefs.

This research project proposes to investigate the distributional impact of three large-scale social-protection schemes - the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) in Ethiopia, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in India, and the Juntos conditional cash-transfer program in Peru. These programs were chosen because they are large-scale projects involving a coordinated effort by governments, donors, local authorities and individual households. The programs cover three countries with diverse social, cultural, political, and economic contexts from which to draw lessons for future policy initiatives.

The researchers propose to go beyond measuring the direct intended impacts of the programs and rather focus on their indirect, and not necessarily intended, consequences. In particular, they first consider the effect of these programs on the income and wealth of program participant households over both the shorter- and longer-run. They then turn to the programs’ impact on horizontal and spatial inequalities, as well as their effect on household social relations and the distribution of resources within households.

Unlike traditional benefit-incidence studies, the researchers exploit policy differences across time and space, both within and across the countries, to provide causal estimates of the social-policy impacts. They use the Young Lives cohort study that collected data both pre-and post-program implementation between 2002 and 2014 in all three countries. They exploit a number of aspects of the Young Lives cohort study and the roll-out of the social-protection schemes in each country to produce estimates that deal with non-random program placement.

The researchers planned to begin by conducting an individual-specific pre- and post-program comparison of income and wealth. Then to exploit the staggered rollout of the social-protection programs across districts to causally identify the impact of the schemes on a set of indicators. They intend to compare changes in districts that received the program earlier to changes in districts that received the program later in a difference-in-differences approach. Last but not least, they will further assess the impact of the program on individual outcomes, taking advantage of administrative boundaries to separate treated and control areas in a geographic regression discontinuity.

You may find the research papers here :

• Social protection and inequality: Evidence from Ethiopia, India and Peru
• Social protection and multidimensional poverty: Lessons from Ethiopia, India and Peru 
• Social protection and intrahousehold resource allocation: Evidence from three large-scale programs 

You may find the policy briefs here:

• Policy Dialogues No. 1 | Social Protection: The Impact on Inequality in Ethiopia, India, and Peru
• Policy Dialogues No. 2 | Social Protection: The Impact on Multidimensional Poverty in Ethiopia, India, and Peru
• Policy Dialogues No. 3 | Social protection: impact on household resource allocation and child undernutrition

Contact:

Conchita d’Ambrosio, Professor of Economics, Université du Luxembourg

Cecilia Poggi, Research Officer, AFD

 

An upturn in growth in Côte d'Ivoire since 2012 has been observed, with average growth rates in real GDP surpassing 8%. However, this renewed vitality in the economy has not yet been felt by all of Ivorian society. The level of poverty remains high (46.3%), as does that of inequalities. (The Gini index for 2015 is estimated at 0.402 by the National Statistics Institute and 0.415 by the World Bank). We can thus see that, while the Ivorian economy seems to be doing well, a very large proportion of its population is excluded from the benefits of this economic upturn. 

This project is part of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities, coordinated by AFD and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships over the 2017-2020 period. The first phase of the Facility has led to the conduct of 22 research projects and the publication of around 100 research papers and policy briefs.

This research program on inequalities in Côte d’Ivoire will first take stock of the inequalities there, and then it will carry out scientific studies on three themes:

• the impact of shocks on inequalities;
• the inequalities of access to education and to quality health services;
• the impacts of public policies on inequalities. 

The study will also focus on the perception of inequalities by Ivorians.

 

The research on inequalities will take stock of the Ivorian situation and will review the initiatives of public authorities to fight monetary and non-monetary inequalities. Using the data available on the living conditions of the households, the main indicators for the measurement of inequalities will be calculated and a representation of the spatial distribution of the inequalities will be carried out in the form of maps. Subsequently, an analysis will be carried out on inequalities in opportunities (measured by the effect on opportunities from parents’ education, their occupation, place of birth, and gender) with regard to access to property and assets, as well as on the sources and the perceptions of these inequalities. 

The study on the shocks will be based on statistical analysis and modeling methods (in particular, a linear regression model and a panel data model will be applied). Access to basic services will be covered mainly with the help of micro-econometric models. The study of the effects of public policies will be considered with a microsimulated inter-industry model, then by impact evaluation models.

 

The project is expected to produce a review describing the state of public interventions designed to eradicate inequalities in Côte d'Ivoire. The study on the perception of inequalities will also make it possible to measure the extent to which households are conscious of the need for greater social justice and identify possible measures at the individual level. This research will also help identify the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of inequalities and will propose policy measures for social mobility in Côte d'Ivoire. 

This research will give rise to conferences and workshops. Various publications are also expected: a report, policy briefs, and research articles.

You may find the report and the research papers linked to this project here (in French) :

• Etat des lieux des inégalités en Côte d'Ivoire
• D'où proviennent les inégalités en Côte d'Ivoire? 
• Analyse de l'impact de la crise de 2002 sur les inégalités en Côte d'Ivoire 
• Impacts des dépenses publiques sur les inégalités en Côte d'Ivoire: le cas des secteurs sociaux

You may find the policy briefs linked to this projet here (in French) :

• Impacts de la crise militaro-politique de 2002 sur les inégalités en Côte d’Ivoire
• D’où proviennent les inégalités sociales en Côte d’Ivoire ?
• Les effets des dépenses publiques sociales sur les inégalités en Côte d’Ivoire

Contacts:

Linda Zanfini, Research Officer, AFD.

Anda David, Research Officer, AFD.