Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:09:29.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmental resource collection: implications for children's schooling in Tigray, northern Ethiopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2013

Bahre Gebru  and
Sosina Bezu
Bahre Gebru
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Aksum University, Ethiopia. Tel: +251912897450. Fax: +251347751931. E-mail: bahregebru@gmail.com
Sosina Bezu
Affiliation:
School of Economics and Business, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway. E-mail: sosinac@yahoo.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper examines the adverse effect of natural resources scarcity on children's schooling and the possible gender bias of resource collection work against girls' schooling. It uses cross-sectional data on 316 children aged 7–18 years collected from 120 rural households in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. The two-stage conditional maximum likelihood estimation technique is employed to take care of endogeneity between schooling and collection intensity decisions. The results revealed that a 50 per cent increase in collection intensity reduces the likelihood of child schooling by approximately 11 per cent. However, we find no evidence of gender bias against girls' schooling.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , April 2014 , pp. 182 - 200
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Admassie, A. (2002), ‘Allocation of children's time endowment between schooling and work in rural Admassie, A. (2002), ‘Allocation of children's time endowment between schooling and work in rural Ethiopia’, ZEF Discussion Papers on Development Policy No. 44, Centre for Development Research, Bonn.Google Scholar
Admassie, A. and Bedi, A.S. (2003), ‘Attending school: two R's and child work in rural Ethiopia’, Working Paper Series No. 387, International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague.Google Scholar
Araya, H. and Edwards, S. (2006), The Tigray Experience: A Success Story in Sustainable Agriculture, Penang: Third World Network.Google Scholar
Becker, G.S. (1965), ‘A theory of allocation of time’, Economic Journal 75: 493–517.Google Scholar
Cameron, A.-C. and Trivedi, P.-K. (2009), Micro Econometrics Using Stata, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chaudhury, N., Christiaensen, L., and Asadullah, M.N. (2006), ‘Schools, household risks and gender: determinants of child schooling in Ethiopia’, Working Paper Series No. 6, CSAE, World Bank, ESRC on SKOPE, Oxford University.Google Scholar
Cooke, P.-A. (2000), ‘Changes in intra household labor allocation to environmental goods collection: a case study from rural Nepal, 1982 and 1997’, Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper No. 87, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Edwards, S., Gebreegziabher, T., and Araya, H. (2010), Success and Challenges in Ecological Agriculture: Experiences from Tigray, Ethiopia, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Gage, A. (2005), ‘The interrelationship between fosterage, schooling, and children's labor force participation in Ghana’, Population Research and Policy Review 24: 431–466.Google Scholar
Gebremedhin, B., Pender, J., and Tesfay, G. (2002), ‘Nature and determinants of collective woodlot management in Northern Ethiopia’, Socio-economic and Policy Research Working Paper No. 40, International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi.Google Scholar
GebreMichael, Y. and Waters-Bayer, A. (2007), ‘Trees are our backbone: integrating environment and local development in Tigray region of Ethiopia’, IIED Issue Paper No. 145, Irish Aid, Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin.Google Scholar
Greene, W.H. (1998), ‘Gender economic courses in liberal arts colleges: further results’, Journal of Economic Education 29: 291–300.Google Scholar
Gronau, R. (1977), ‘Leisure, home production and work: the theory of the allocation of time revisited’, Journal of Political Economy 85: 1099–1123.Google Scholar
Haile, G. and Haile, B. (n.d.), ‘Child labor and schooling in rural Ethiopia: nature and trade-off’, Unpublished manuscript, Policy Studies Institute and Department of Economics, Columbia University.Google Scholar
Heltberg, R., Arndt, T.C., and Sekhar, N.U. (2000), ‘Fuel wood consumption and forest degradation: a household model for domestic energy substitution in rural India’, Journal of Land Economics 76: 213–232.Google Scholar
ILO (1999), The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, No. 182, International Labour Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
Jensen, P. and Nielsen, H.S. (1997), ‘Child labor or school attendance? Evidence from Zambia’, Journal of Population Economics 10: 407–424.Google Scholar
Mekonnen, A. and Köhlin, G. (2008), ‘Biomass fuel consumption and dung use as manure: evidence from rural households in the Amhara region of Ethiopia’, EfD Discussion Paper Series 08-18, Environment for Development, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education (2009/2010), ‘Education statistics annual abstract’, Unpublished manuscript, Education Management Information System, Addis Ababa.Google Scholar
Nankhuni, F.J. and Findeis, J.L. (2004), ‘Natural resource collection work and children's schooling in Malawi’, Agricultural Economics 31: 123–134.Google Scholar
Ndiritu, S.W. and Nyangena, W. (2010), ‘Environmental goods collection and children's schooling: evidence from Kenya’, EfD Discussion Paper Series 10-18, Environment for Development, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Nielsen, H.S. and Dubey, A. (2002), ‘Child labor in rural India: a micro-economic perspective’, Indian Journal of Labor Economics 45: 480–496.Google Scholar
Nkamleu, G.B. (2009), ‘Determinants of child labor and schooling in the native cocoa households of Côte d'Ivoire’, AERC Research Paper No. 190, African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi.Google Scholar
Nyssen, J., Haile, M., Moeyersons, J., Poesen, J., and Deckers, J. (2004), ‘Environmental policy in Ethiopia: a rejoinder to Keeley and Scoones’, Journal of Modern African Studies 42: 137–147.Google Scholar
Okpukpara, B.C. and Odurukwe, N. (2006), ‘Incidents and determinants of child labor in Nigeria: implications for poverty alleviation’, AERC Paper No. 156, African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi.Google Scholar
Psacharopoulos, G. (1997), ‘Child labor versus educational attainment: some evidence from Latin America’, Journal of Population Economics 10: 377–386.Google Scholar
Rivers, D. and Vuong, Q.H. (1988), ‘Limited information estimators and exogeneity tests for simultaneous probit models’, Journal of Econometrics 39: 347–366.Google Scholar
Rosenzweig, M.R. and Evenson, R. (1977), ‘Fertility, schooling and the economic contribution of children in rural India: an econometric analysis’, Journal of the Econometric Society 45: 1065–1079.Google Scholar
Sackey, H.A. (2007), ‘The determinants of school attendance and attainment in Ghana: a gender perspective’, AERC Research Paper No. 173, African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi.Google Scholar
Tigray Region Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau (2010/2011), ‘Natural resources utilization and development department report’, Tigray Region Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau, Mekelle, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Tigray Region Education Bureau (2009/2010), ‘Educational statistics annual abstract, planning and resource mobilization department report’, Tigray Region Education Bureau, Mekelle, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Tigray Region Water Resources Bureau (2010/2011), ‘Support process development planning department report’, Tigray Region Water Resources Bureau, Mekelle, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Verbeek, M. (2004), A Guide to Modern Econometrics (2nd edn), Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Weir, S. (2010), ‘Parental attitudes and demand for schooling in Ethiopia’, Journal of African Economies 20: 90–110.Google Scholar
Winkler-Dworak, M. (2003), ‘Food security, fertility differentials and land degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa: a dynamic framework’, Vienna Institute of Demography Working Paper No. 1, Vienna Institute of Demography, Vienna.Google Scholar
Woldehanna, T., Jones, N., and Bekele, T. (2008), The Invisibility of Children's Paid and Unpaid Work: Implications for Ethiopia's National Poverty Reduction Policy, Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Wooldridge, J.M. (2002), Econometric Analysis of Cross-Section and Panel Data, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar