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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Emily Schmidt

Emily Schmidt is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. Her most recent research explores household livelihood strategies in Papua New Guinea, including linkages between agriculture, poverty, and nutrition outcomes among rural smallholder farmers.

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Lesotho

countries and regions

Publications

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Report

Cost effectiveness of anticipatory action: Lesotho, Madagascar, and Mozambique

2025Brauw, Alan de
Details

Cost effectiveness of anticipatory action: Lesotho, Madagascar, and Mozambique

An important question when conducting anticipatory action programs relates to its cost-effectiveness. By cost effectiveness, we refer to the relative costs and benefits of anticipatory action in general relative to a more standard approach to post-shock aid. In this context, we largely want to know what would happen to potential beneficiary households in two different scenarios: 1) if they receive anticipatory action transfers, and 2) if they instead receive unconditional post-shock transfers of the same size. The idea is that we assume there is a fixed budget envelope, and the same amount of assistance could be provided as either anticipatory action or as post-shock transfers. The resulting measurement estimates the difference in benefits and losses to providing anticipatory action relative to post-shock assistance, providing a conclusion on the overall net benefits or losses of this approach. Since we assume a fixed budget envelope, we invert the process of measuring cost effectiveness by measuring the net benefits of anticipatory action relative to post-shock transfers. This analysis uses the conceptual framework developed by de Brauw and Bloem (2024) to identify classes of potential benefits and costs for anticipatory action relative to unconditional post-shock transfers. The model suggests the main benefit to anticipatory action is that households can better protect their productive asset holdings, whether livestock or other farm implements, which implies their future incomes will be higher than they would be otherwise. There are also potential gains for households during the negative shock, implying those households may be less food insecure, for example, while the shock is occurring.1 On the other hand, the framework suggests that a specific cost to anticipatory action is the cost of getting it wrong (i.e., giving people benefits when the shock does not materialize for those people).

Year published

2025

Authors

Brauw, Alan de

Citation

De Brauw, Alan. 2025. Cost effectiveness of anticipatory action: Lesotho, Madagascar, and Mozambique. CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration Technical Report. Montpellier: CGIAR System Organization. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173370

Country/Region

Lesotho; Madagascar; Mozambique

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Cost Analysis; Shock; Assets; Income; Households

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-4.0

Source

Source record

Project

Fragility, Conflict, and Migration

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Dataset

Survey on Gendered Constraints to Employment and Entrepreneurship, Lesotho

2023International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

Survey on Gendered Constraints to Employment and Entrepreneurship, Lesotho

The dataset comprises a sample of small and medium-sized enterprises in Lesotho interviewed in 2021. The sectors represented are farms; agro-processors; other agricultural businesses; manufacturers; tourism industries & creative industries. The survey instrument was designed to capture information on the experiences of and constraints to employment and entrepreneurship among under-represented groups, specifically: women, youth & persons with disabilities.

Year published

2023

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2023. Survey on Gendered Constraints to Employment and Entrepreneurship, Lesotho. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VBDO8K. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Lesotho

Keywords

Southern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Gender; Women; Women’s Participation; Youth; Employment; Entrepreneurship; Business Enterprises; Economic Growth; Workforce

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/vbdo8k Source record

Record type

Dataset

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Does bilateral trade in cereals within SADC reflect virtual trade in water between countries with different water endowments?

2023Matchaya, Greenwell C.; Garcia, R. J.; Traoré, F.
Details

Does bilateral trade in cereals within SADC reflect virtual trade in water between countries with different water endowments?

This paper examines intraregional bilateral trade in virtual water embedded in cereal flows between the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) states. A gravity model is employed to examine whether annual bilateral trade depends on differences in water endowments, but also includes socio-economic and political determinants that affect trade. There is evidence that the abundance of water resources in a country influences trade for a product that is water dependent. Thus, the adverse effect of water scarcity in a country may be ameliorated by encouraging exports of water-intensive cereal crops where water is in abundance and imported where water is scarce.

Year published

2023

Authors

Matchaya, Greenwell C.; Garcia, R. J.; Traoré, F.

Citation

Matchaya, Greenwell; Garcia, R. J.; Traore, F. 2023. Does bilateral trade in cereals within SADC reflect virtual trade in water between countries with different water endowments? Water International, 25p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2023.2255822]

Country/Region

Botswana; Lesotho; Madagascar; Malawi; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; South Africa; Zambia; Zimbabwe

Keywords

Eswatini; Tanzania; International Trade; Cereal Crops; Virtual Water; Exports; Imports; Agricultural Trade; Sadc Countries; Water Resources; Water Scarcity; Water Demand; Water Availability; Policies; Models

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2023.2255822 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Datasets

Dataset

Survey on Gendered Constraints to Employment and Entrepreneurship, Lesotho

2023International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

Survey on Gendered Constraints to Employment and Entrepreneurship, Lesotho

The dataset comprises a sample of small and medium-sized enterprises in Lesotho interviewed in 2021. The sectors represented are farms; agro-processors; other agricultural businesses; manufacturers; tourism industries & creative industries. The survey instrument was designed to capture information on the experiences of and constraints to employment and entrepreneurship among under-represented groups, specifically: women, youth & persons with disabilities.

Year published

2023

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2023. Survey on Gendered Constraints to Employment and Entrepreneurship, Lesotho. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VBDO8K. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Lesotho

Keywords

Southern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Gender; Women; Women’s Participation; Youth; Employment; Entrepreneurship; Business Enterprises; Economic Growth; Workforce

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/vbdo8k Source record

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

ASTI Lesotho Database

2014Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators
Details

ASTI Lesotho Database

This dataset includes national-level time series data on researcher capacity by qualification level, age bracket, discipline mix, and commodity, as well as a detailed breakdown of agricultural research investment across government, higher education, nonprofit, and (where possible) private for-profit agricultural research agencies. These data were derived through a series of primary survey rounds conducted by IFPRI’s Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) and in close collaboration with a large network of national collaborators. The ASTI data constitute a powerful resource for national and regional research managers, policymakers, donor organizations, and other stakeholders. ASTI’s key indicators provide both a diagnostic tool for assessing the allocation and use of existing resources and an advocacy tool for increasing resources and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of resource use. The ASTI website offers interactive pages that allow users to access country-level time series data, make cross-country comparisons, create graphs, and download country datasets and publications as well as detailed institutional information on agencies involved in agricultural research. The interactive benchmarking tool on the ASTI website is a convenient map-based instrument allowing users to make cross-country comparisons and rankings based on a wide set of financial and human resource indicators. The detailed ASTI datasets are available in an easy-to-use data download tool. Detailed information on definitions, methodology, and calculation procedures are available at www.asti.cgiar.org

Year published

2014

Authors

Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators

Citation

Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators. 2014. ASTI Lesotho database. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. http://www.asti.cgiar.org/lesotho. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1. https://www.asti.cgiar.org/lesotho

Country/Region

Lesotho

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Southern Africa; Agricultural Research

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-3.0

Source

Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

Lesotho Social Accounting Matrix, 2007

2014International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

Lesotho Social Accounting Matrix, 2007

The Lesotho Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), 2007 is constructed using data that available during the second half of 2011. The SAM provides a detailed representation of the Lesotho economy. It separates 24 activities and 23 commodities; labor is disaggregated by 3 broad skill groups (high, medium and low); and households into 6 groups based on the rural/urban and income earning status of the household head. The SAM is a useful database for conducting economy-wide impact assessments, including SAM-based multiplier analysis and computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling.

Year published

2014

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute. 2014. Lesotho Social Accounting Matrix, 2007. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/28529. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Lesotho

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Southern Africa; National Accounting; Social Accounting Matrix

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-NC-3.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/28529 Source record

Project

Policies, Institutions, and Markets

Record type

Dataset

Projects

National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP)

National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP)

Starting in 2016, IFPRI has led the provision of technical support to countries for next-generation National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIPs) at the request of the……