Food security and safety nets

www.steinholden.com

My research on food security and safety nets has mostly been carried out in Ethiopia, a country that suffered from severe droughts and famines in the 1970s and 1980s. With a high population growth after that the country and its people still faces severe threats due to climatic risks, and safety nets play a vital role protecting against human disasters. At the same time markets and infrastructure have been improved and the way forward will require a green revolution to increase the land productivity in an increasingly land scarce environment. Climate change and increasing global food prices may also increase the pressures on these safety nets and their financial basis.

The research includes studies of safety nets and their impacts drawing on household panel data and bio-economic modelling to explore the consequences of alternative policies, new technologies, demographic changes, land degradation and climatic shocks.

Some recent publications:

Holden, S. T. (2020). Policies for Improved Food Security: The Roles of Land Tenure Policies and Land Markets, Chapter in "The Role of Smallholder Farms in Food and Nutrition Security", edited by Gomez y Paloma S., Riesgo L., Louhichi K. Link

Holden, S. T. (2019). Economics of Farm Input Subsidies in Africa. Annual Review of Resource Economics, doi: 10.1146/annurev-resource-100518-094002. Link

Legesse, B., Shively, G. E. and Holden, S. T. (2017). Food for Work and Diet Diversity in Ethiopia. CLTS Working Paper No. 14/2017. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway. Link

Araya, G. B. and Holden, S. T. (2017). Is Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program Enhancing Dependency? CLTS Working Paper No. 5/2017. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas, Norway. Link

Holden, S. T. and Ghebru, H. (2016). Land tenure reforms, tenure security and food security in poor agrarian economies: Causal linkages and research gaps. Global Food Security 10: 21-28. Link

Debela, B. L., Shively, G. and Holden, S.T. (2015). Does Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program improve child nutrition? Food Security 7(6): 1273-1289. Link

Legesse Debela, B. and Holden, S. T. (2014). How Does Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program Affect Livestock Accumulation and Children’s Education?. CLTS Working Paper No. 8/2014. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway. Link

Legesse Debela, B. Shively, G. and Holden, S. T. (2014). Does Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program Improve Child Nutrition? CLTS Working Paper No. 1/2014. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway. Link

Ghebru, H. and Holden, S. T. (2013). Links between Tenure Security and Food Security: Evidence from Ethiopia. CLTS Working Paper No. 2/2013. Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway. Link

Gebregziabher, G. and Holden, S. T. (2011). Distress Rentals and the Land Rental Market as a Safety Net: Evidence from Tigray, Ethiopia. Agricultural Economics 42, 45-60. Abstract

Gebregziabher, G. and Holden, S. T. (2011). Does Irrigation Enhance and Food Deficits Discourage Fertilizer Adoption in a Risky Environment? Eveidence from Tigray, Ethiopia. Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics 3(10), 514-528. Link

Holden, S. T. and Lunduka, R. (2010). The Political Economy of Targeted Input Subsidies in Malawi. Paper presented at the NFU conference, Oslo, 25-26. November, 2010.

Bezu, S. and Holden, S. T. (2008). Can Food-for-Work Encourage Agricultural Production? Food Policy 33(5): 541-549. Abstract

Holden, S. T., Barrett, C. and Hagos, F. (2006). Food-for-Work for Poverty Reduction and Promotion of Sustainable Land Use: Can it Work? Environment and Development Economics 11, 15-38. Abstract. Paper

Holden, S. T., Shiferaw, B. and Pender, J. (2006). Policies for Poverty Reduction, Sustainable Land Management and Food Security – A Bio-economic Model with Market Imperfections. In J. Pender, F. Place and S. Ehui (eds.), Strategies for Sustainable Land Management in the East African Highlands. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D. C. Paper

Holden, S. T., Shiferaw, B. and Pender, J. (2005). Policy Analysis for Sustainable Land Management and Food Security – A Bio-economic Model with Market Imperfections. Research Report 140. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D. C. Abstract and Full Report

Barrett, C., Holden, S. and Clay, D. (2005). Can Food-For-Work Programs Reduce Vulnerability? In S. Dercon, (ed.), Insurance Against Poverty. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Book. Chapter

Holden, S. T. and Shiferaw, B. (2004). Land Degradation, Drought and Food Security in a Less-favoured Area in the Ethiopian Highlands: A Bio-economic Model with Market Imperfections. Agricultural Economics 30 (1): 31-49. Abstract