Household Categories Research Articles

A Clustering Algorithm via Density Perception and Hierarchical Aggregation Based on Urban Multimodal Big Data for Identifying and Analyzing Categories of Poverty-Stricken Households in China

Nowadays, urban multimodal big data are freely available to the public due to the growing number of cities, which plays a critical role in many fields such as transportation, education, medical treatment, and land resource management. The successful completion of poverty-relief work can greatly improve the quality of people’s life and ensure the sustainable development of the society. Poverty is a severe challenge for human society. It is of great significance to apply machine learning to mine different categories of poverty-stricken households and further provide decision support for poverty alleviation. Traditional poverty alleviation methods need to consume a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources. Based on the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN), this paper designs the hierarchical DBSCAN clustering algorithm to identify and analyze the categories of poverty-stricken households in China. First, the proposed method adjusts the neighborhood radius dynamically for dividing the data space into several initial clusters with different densities. Then, neighbor clusters are identified by the border and inner distances constantly and aggregated recursively to form new clusters. Based on the idea of division and aggregation, the proposed method can recognize clusters of different forms and deal with noises effectively in the data space with imbalanced density distribution. The experiments indicate that the method has the ideal performance of clustering, which identifies the commonness and difference in characteristics of poverty-stricken households reasonably. In terms of the specific indicator “Accuracy,” the accuracy increases by 2.3% compared with other methods.

Knowledge and practice on prevention of mosquito-borne diseases in livestock-keeping and non-livestock-keeping communities in Hanoi city, Vietnam: A mixed-method study

Mosquito-borne diseases (MBDs) are causing high morbidity and mortality for humans. Urban livestock keeping is still common in cities around the world. The animals may serve as reservoirs for zoonotic MBDs, which increase the risks for humans. Here we assess the knowledge and practices related to MBDs in households with livestock and without livestock and explore the perceptions of the health care sector about MBDs and livestock keeping in Hanoi city of Vietnam in a cross-sectional study. A quantitative survey was conducted including 513 households with and without livestock-keeping in six districts and complemented with qualitative surveys with four health staff from Hanoi Center of Disease Control and three district health centers. The quantitative survey indicated that the participants possessed basic knowledge on MBDs with an average score of 18.3 out of 35, of which non-livestock-keeping households had a better knowledge than households keeping livestock (p<0.05). Both household categories had low score, 3.5 out of 11, regarding preventive practices against MBDs. The negative binomial model showed that occupation and location of living were factors associated to the knowledge on MBDs. Farmers were likely to have better preventive practices as compared to office workers (p<0.05). Those who had better knowledge also had more adequate preventive practices against MBDs (p<0.001). The qualitative survey revealed that livestock keeping was determined as increasing risks of MBDs due to the increase of mosquito population. It is recommended that community campaigns to raise the awareness and change behavior on MBDs should be organized based on collaboration between the health sector and the veterinary sector for households with and without livestock living in central urban and peri-urban areas. Further studies are needed to confirm the association between urban livestock keeping and potential increasing risks of MBDs such as dengue and Japanese encephalitis.

Residential solar photovoltaic adoption behaviour: End-to-end review of theories, methods and approaches

The effectiveness of deployment policies to promote the uptake of residential rooftop solar photovoltaic systems ultimately hinges on the behaviour of households who decide to accept or reject the technology. Over the past years, research has strived to understand, designate significant predictors, model the behaviour of heterogeneous households, and predict the diffusion rate by putting a wide range of approaches in place. Inspired by compiling a comprehensive database of home solar adoption studies, the present study systematically reviews the adopted theories, methods and approaches used within 199 original quantitative, qualitative, statistical, and non-statistical articles covering households’ attitudes, awareness, tendencies, knowledge, motives, willingness, intentions, and adoption decisions. The study provides a critical analysis of investigations on the adoption of solar photovoltaics, solar home systems, and solar photovoltaics coupled with battery energy storage systems. The outcome of the review revealed 108 future and 91 retroactive studies that exploit 10 key dependent variables by means of 52% primary (empirical data), 34% secondary (available sources), and 13% covering both modes of data collection. The sensitivity of these dependent variables was tested by 36 intervention variables that seek to capacitate effective managerial policies. The complexity of the individual decision was comprehended by 13 forms of behavioural theories, with the top-ranked two being the diffusion of innovation and the theory of planned behaviour. The literature showcased a total of 170 quantitative, 20 qualitative, and nine mixed-method studies, with statistical and non-statistical techniques being applied 139 and 86 times, respectively. Regression analysis was the most commonly used statistical analysis method, followed by spatial analysis for non-statistical models. At the heart of the predictive methods for analysing the diffusion rate of these solar technologies, nuances of 25 agent-based models and their social networks were examined in depth. The review further revealed 14 spectra of household categories as well as 12 typologies of household comparisons.

A Comparative Study of Solid Waste Generation and Waste Management Practices in Rural and Urban Households in Guyana

As the global population increases, consumption behaviour has resulted in the generation of excessive solid waste. Appropriate solid waste management practices are not yet available in many developing countries like Guyana. This study compared solid waste and waste management practices of urban and rural households. The overall objective of this study was to identify and analyse household solid waste categories, and explore the potential impacts of various factors that contribute to waste generation.

Vulnerability, family assets, and income-generating strategies of households in rural Mexico

ABSTRACT This study is a first step in analyzing, on a national scale in Mexico, the assets, income and vulnerability context of households in rural communities. A multinomial logit model was used to show the impact of family labor, education, indigenous status, climate change, and access to markets on the probability of belonging to the different categories of households with diverse sustainable livelihoods. Our results provide evidence that increasing investment in human capital encourages participation by large numbers of households in the productive activities that offer the greatest returns. The findings also suggest that public policies should aim to solve structural concerns that limit the efficacy of the use of assets to promote sustainable development in rural communities in countries like Mexico.

Recovery of agricultural and wood wastes: The effect of biomass blends on the quality of pellets

The generation of large volumes of agricultural residues and the environmental problems arising from rice production has led producing countries to seek alternatives for the disposal of the residues generated in the rice production chain. This study aimed to analyze the quality of pellets produced with different blends containing rice husk, rice straw, rice husk ash, and Pinus spp. shavings. We analyzed 7 treatments: T1 (75% Pinus spp. shavings and 25% Rice straw); T2 (30% Rice husk, 60% Rice straw and 10% Rice husk ash); T3 (100% Rice straw); T4 (25% Pinus spp. shavings and 75% Rice Straw); T5 (75% Pinus spp. shavings and 25% rice husk); T6 (30% Pinus spp. shavings, 30% Rice husk, 30% Rice straw and 10% rice husk ash); T7 (100% Pinus spp. shavings). To verify the quality of the pellets, we analyzed the results according to the criteria of the ISO 17225-6 standard, considering the household and commercial use categories. Results showed that the rice straw and the Pinus spp. shavings are the raw materials that most change the pellets’ physical and energetic properties. The inclusion of rice straw in the blends improve the pellets’ physical properties. Similarly, the inclusion of Pinus spp. shavings in the blends improve the pellets’ energetic properties. According to the ISO 17225-6 criteria, the pellets produced with 75% of Pinus spp. shavings and 25% of rice husk (25%) are the best among the analyzed treatments (T5).

Children, Income, and the Impact of Home Delivery on Household Shopping Trips

Expanding e-commerce and delivery benefit consumers through increased flexibility and convenience. However, there is a potential impact on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by delivery and personal vehicles, and the resulting energy consumption, air quality, and congestion. Delivery trips could replace personal vehicle trips, but, if not a replacement, could add to (or supplement) shopping-related VMT for a given household. We examined the benefits of e-commerce to consumers and the impact on personal shopping trips, and how these differed across item types, household child status, and income. We found that high-income households and households with children cared relatively more about time saving from deliveries. We found that, on average, deliveries substituted for 12% of vehicle shopping trips, but supplemented personal shopping trips for 9% of purchase deliveries. Underlying these averages were two main types of households: those for whom all deliveries substitute for trips (between 55% and 70% of households) and those for whom all deliveries supplement trips (between 20% and 35% of households). There was significant heterogeneity across households with and without children and with high or low incomes with respect to the use of delivery. Although time savings were more likely to motivate higher-income households and households with children to use delivery, this did not translate through to these households substituting for more of their trips; deliveries of prepared meals for both these categories of household were relatively more likely (15% for households with children, and 12% for higher-income households) to supplement, and not substitute for, personal trips.

Modern energy consumption in Indonesia: Assessment for accessibility and affordability

The Indonesian Government, in the last decade, attempted to increase modern energy consumption through the implementation of the Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) conversion program and the construction of numerous power generators. The attempt hoped to increase access to modern energy. This study investigates the Government modern energy projects by assessing both the accessibility and affordability of modern energy consumption in urban-rural areas and across different income level households. This study measured the changes in energy access in different household categories as well as the energy burden of each household category using descriptive statistics. The present study confirmed the roles of access and income in energy spending using multiple regression analysis. The result showed that household access to modern energy significantly increased in all household categories. However, access to rural households and low-income households still needed improvement. Besides, there was no proof of energy poverty in low-income households. The results also revealed that modern energy access, income, and head of household education were the major determinants of energy spending, especially for low-income household and rural areas. Hence, if Government wants to improve energy consumption, households are willing to consume modern energy if the supply is available. However, the education and financial ability will also be main consideration in determining energy consumption level.

Income-Based Poverty among Non-Farm Households in Rural Punjab

This paper focuses upon the magnitude of income-based poverty among non-farm households in rural Punjab. Based on the primary survey, a sample of 440 rural non-farm households were taken from 44 sampled villages located in all 22 districts of Punjab.The poverty was estimated on the basis of income level. For measuring poverty, various methods/criteria (Expert Group Criteria, World Bank Method and State Per Capita Income Criterion) were used. On the basis of Expert Group Income criterion, overall, less than one-third of the persons of rural non-farm household categories are observed to be poor. On the basis, 40 percent State Per Capita Income Criteria, around three-fourth of the persons of all rural non-farm household categories are falling underneath poverty line. Similarly, the occurrence of the poverty, on the basis of 50 percent State Per Capita Income Criteria, showed that nearly four-fifths of the persons are considered to be poor. As per World Bank’s $ 1.90 per day, overall, less than one-fifth of rural non-farm household persons are poor. Slightly, less than one-fourth of the persons are belonging to self-employment category, while, slightly, less than one-tenth falling in-service category. On the basis of $ 3.10 per day criteria, overall, less than two-fifth persons of all rural non-farm household categories were living below the poverty line.

Beware of the Crocodile: Quantitative Evidence on How Universal Old Age Grants Distort the Social Assistance Systems of Low‐Income Countries

This article compares two approaches to establishing or improving social assistance systems in low‐ and lower‐middle‐income countries. Taking Eswatini and Lesotho as examples of the mainstream approach, it provides quantitative evidence on the social protection outcomes of social assistance systems that are based on categorical programs and are dominated by universal Old Age Grants. Both countries fail to provide social assistance to large sections of the poorest and most vulnerable households. An alternative approach has been pursued in Malawi and in a number of other African countries like Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Malawi's social support system adopts a systemic, need‐oriented, and inclusive approach with means‐tested programs tailored to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable households. Such an approach does not focus on a single program but considers an ensemble of programs, which together ensure that the most pressing social needs are covered. This approach gives a fuller meaning to the human rights requisites of universalism by requiring that the overall arrangement of social protection in a country be universalistic, not just a single program.The comparison leads to conclusions with regard to how low‐income and lower‐middle‐income countries should design or redesign their social assistance systems. The design process should start with a quantitative poverty and vulnerability assessment, leading to a detailed identification of the social assistance needs of different categories of poor and vulnerable households. The design should further be based on an assessment of to what extent the identified social assistance needs are covered by existing programs. The comparison of social assistance needs with the coverage of those needs by existing programs leads to the identification of social protection gaps. The results of the gap analysis provide the base for social assistance policy decisions and priority setting. When planning how best to close the prioritized social assistance gaps within the financial space available, different program options have to be assessed with regard to their impact on the performance of the social assistance system as a whole. The guiding principle should be to harmonize the system in such a way that the combined outcome of system components (programs) achieves a maximal welfare impact. This means shifting from “program universalism” to “systemic universalism,” to ensure that social assistance systems cover all citizens in need while giving priority to cover the neediest.

Disadvantage and economic viability: characterising vulnerabilities and resilience in upland farming systems

Less Favoured Areas (LFA) were designated to support farming activity on land with limited productive potential. However, progressive land abandonment in these areas questions the rationale and targeting of support payments to maintain viable farming enterprises. Using micro level data on farm businesses over the period 2003-2016 matched to land capability and spatial data we identify the distribution of viable and vulnerable enterprises in Less Favoured Areas. We find five categories of household based on progressive quality of life thresholds, namely i. vulnerable, ii. sustainable, iii. viable, iv. resilient, and v. robust. A proportional odds model measured the effect of biophysical and remote disadvantage on predicting these states of viability, along with farm family lifecycle factors. Whilst we would expect higher proportions of disadvantaged farmland to be negatively related to viability, when combined with rural remoteness this increases the magnitude of the effect. However, clear succession planning and tenancy arrangements suggest that approaches to management of the business and the farm family life-cycle may overcome some of these disadvantages. These results have to be considered against the UK’s planned withdrawal from the Common Agricultural Policy. This offers opportunities to provide a more nuanced approach to targeting and supporting disadvantaged regions beyond current criteria. However, there would seem to be dissonance between the proposed payment for public goods agenda, which is results orientated, and support for correcting natural disadvantages where opportunities for delivery of these public goods will be limited.

Assesing efficiency of targeting in social services in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract This paper analyses the inefficiency of social services targeting in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&amp;H). Using official statistics microdata of the Household Budget Survey 2015, three models of social minimum in FB&amp;H were constructed: extreme and general poverty, and the model with multidimensional poverty aspects. The analysis of features of poor household categories showed that the most vulnerable residents of FB&amp;H are not beneficiaries of permanent financial assistance. The reason for such an inefficient targeting was recognized in the Federal Law on Principles of Social Care, Care for the War-Disabled Civilians and Care for Families with Children that stipulates that only persons and families that (cumulatively): are incapable for work, have insufficient income, and there are no family members who are legally obligated to support them. The results indicated a high inconsistency in the legal criteria for qualification, and also in the amounts of permanent social assistance among cantons. The Proxy Means Test (PMT) Model is offered as one of the possible solutions for the improvement of social services targeting in FB&amp;H. Given the importance of efficiency of targeting in social services, the research results could be useful, for both, vulnerable segments of the society and federal and cantonal ministries of labour and social affairs, in the process of targeting the households qualified for social support programmes.

Consumption of organic meat products in France: An analysis based on panel data (scanner dataset)

The consumption of organic meat products has been characterized using the Kantar Worldpanel data col-lected from 2012 to 2014. Based on the price of the total quantity purchased and the amount spent on each purchase, several indicators were calculated and their values compared between organic households (OHs) and nonorganic households (NOHs). OHs were characterized according to sociodemographic and attitudi-nal variables. Finally, a logit model was constructed to determine the likelihood of belonging to the organic household category. Consumption is low in terms of the proportion of households that purchase organic meat (O-ME) and meat products (O-MPs), the average quantity purchased per year and per purchasing household (2 kg and 0.9 kg respectively), and purchasing frequency. These values are below those reported by questionnaire surveys which can be attributed to an attitude-behavior gap. The main organic meat prod-ucts purchased are bovine meat and pork processed products. Moreover, being part of a family with children and living in a big city increase the probability of purchasing O-ME and O-MPs. ,

Income Inequalities among Rural Households of Punjab

ABSTRACT The study aimed to examine the inequality in income among various categories of households of rural Punjab. An attempt was made to compare and contrast the relative shares of the different components of income items in the total income of the households across the different rural household categories, along with examining the inequalities in the distribution of income prevailing therein. The analysis showed that an average rural household earns around one and a half lakh rupees annually in rural Punjab. There were considerable variations in the income levels earned among the different rural household categories. The farm business income is the most important component of household income for the farmer households, followed by livestock, pension and salary from private jobs. There were considerable differences in the range of average per capita and the average household incomes of the various rural categories. The per capita income earned by large farm households was 10.79 of times the per capita income earned by agricultural labour households.

Status of Labour households and Marginal Farmers in Bihar: A Comparative Analysis

This study is based on the longitudinal information collected in the selected villages of Bihar. The data collected during 2010-11 and 2014-15 were analyzed using descriptive and econometric techniques. An attempt was made to analyze employment generation, income of different marginal farmers and labour households and the extent of indebtedness and earning prevalent among rural labour and marginal farm households in rural Bihar. The result indicated that the average size of landholding of labour and marginal farmers increased in villages under study because some of these households purchased land from other categories of households through their meagre savings possible due to increase in employment opportunity and wages, particularly in non- farm sector in Bihar. The levels of livelihood parameter are low on labour households, but they performed impressively during the recent past. The total values of assets of labour and marginal farms’ households under study has considerably enhanced during five years due to either possession of new assets, rejuvenation, and/ or value appreciation of the existing assets. Labour households earned a higher income than marginal household in 2014- 15 due to availability of non - farm employment and grants under social security schemes. There has been significant improvement in education level, asset possession and availability of facilities. However, social security programmes seem to be more robust than economic development programmes including agricultural development. The investment in human capital or skill development in rural area will be equally important in the endeavour for alleviating poverty and improving livelihood status. The complementarities among various types of infrastructures, institutions and development programmes need to be ensured to accelerate the process of poverty alleviation and improving livelihood in rural Bihar.

EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF INCREASED GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL EXPENDITURE ON NIGERIAN ECONOMY USING COMPUTABLE GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODELLING APPROACH

The study was conducted to examine the effects of increased government agricultural expenditure on Nigerian economy using computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling approach. The research used simple, practically-oriented exposition of computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling. The study relied strictly on secondary data, to estimate parameters of the model before simulation using the Nigerian Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) of 2012 as the base year data in General Algebraic Modelling System developed (GAMS) by IFPRI for this analysis. The 2012 SAM is the most recent SAM data for Nigeria. But after the parameters were estimated, the 2018 SAM data used for the simulation. This 2018 SAM data capture 83 activities, 84 commodities, 18 factors, 15 categories of households, 5 taxes, and 6 other accounts. The result shows that the introduction of 10% on government expenditure affects virtually many sector of Nigerian economy in a different ways. The findings of the study revealed that most macroeconomic variables have shown positive changes except for consumption in government investment which was reduce by 2.00%. The gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices increased by 0.28%, 1.05% on transport and communication and 0.73% for trade margin. On exports increase by 0.98 per cent, 0.36% and 0.59%. Other manufactured products increased by 2.1%, 0.7%, and 0.6%, other capital equally increases by 1.21%, 0.82% and 0.44%. Household income increase for rural for those with primary education at 0.22%, 1.7% and 1.72%. Changes in investment, affect rural labour for the non-school sector, which was reduced by 0.84%, although, the value of the land on government investments equally reduces by 0.69%, capital reduces by 0.76%, livestock equally reduces by 0.71%. The impact of 10.00% shock result in changes in urban household with primary education increases by 3.37% followed by labour household with secondary education with 3.17%. The study concluded, that application of 10.00% shocks impacted both positively and negatively on several sectors of the economy like GDP at market prices, sectoral GDP, prices, nominal household income and export. The study recommended the need for government at all tiers to examine the effect of such policy on other sectors of the economy. It is therefore recommended that Government should enhance expenditure by 10.00% to stimulate productivity, output and consumption, Govt. should support short term agricultural consumption subsidy policy measure, increase government investment on research and development (R&amp;D).

Testing the impact of financial inclusion on income convergence: Empirical evidence from Nigeria

AbstractFinancial inclusion, as a key pillar for inclusive development, has long been considered as an important instrument for reducing poverty and income inequality. However, the income convergence effect of financial inclusion remains only partially explored. Using longitudinal data covering three survey waves on Nigerian households, this study explores the potential of financial inclusion as an instrument for reducing income disparity. After controlling for the endogeneity issues, the results of instrumental variable linear and quantile regressions consistently show a strong nexus between financial inclusion and per capita income. This positive effect is experienced by all households regardless of income distribution. The decomposition results reveal that ab initio, financial inclusion resulted in income divergence leading to widening inequality across the households with various income distributions. However, the income convergence started from the middle to the higher income household categories, with the lowest income lagging behind in the second wave. The lowest income households eventually converged in the data of the third wave. In this sense, it can be argued that financial inclusion could play an important role in the reduction of income inequality.

Household Biomass Fuel Consumption Pattern in Rural Areas of Bangladesh

Biomass fuels contribute to the largest share of the energy uses in Bangladesh. The present study determines the household biomass fuel consumption pattern in the rural areas of Titas Upazila under Comilla district in Bangladesh using the stratified random sampling technique through semi-structured questionnaires. Data were collected from 84 households under three household land categories – poor (land area &lt;0.10 acre), middle (land area 0.10-0.25acre) and well-off household (land area &gt;0.25 acre). Households were found to depend largely on biomass fuel including firewood, branches, leaves and twigs, bamboo, agricultural residue (rice husk, rice straw) and cow dung mainly for cooking. Firewood was the dominant biomass fuel for well-off and middle households (28% and 25%) and branches of the tree were dominant fuel for poor households (24%). More than 40% well-off households collect major amount of fuelwood from their own homestead forests while 32% middle and 37% poor households collect tree biomass from agricultural lands. Villagers preferred mostly Albizia procera, Mangifera indica, Cocos nucifera, Tamarindus indica as fuelwood tree species. Households across three categories (poor, middle, well-off) spend 19%, 12% and 11% of their total income for buying biomass fuels, respectively. All of the three households used a traditional wood-burning oven. Among them 39% well-off households and 18% middle households used LPG. Decreasing forest resources impose threats on the availability of biomass fuels. About 70% of households think that fuelwood was a scarce resource because of the degradation of homestead forest and fuelwood production unsustainability. Villagers suggested for alternative fuel items to decrease the pressure on biomass fuel energy sources. They also prescribed inclusion of fast-growing tree species into plantation program at the homestead level. Moreover, they demanded their involvement in this plantation program. The outcome of this study might be helpful to formulate policies to meet future challenges in fuel consumption and their sustainable utilization.

СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ ТЕНДЕНЦИИ ИНТЕГРАЦИОННЫХ ПРОЦЕССОВ В АГРОПРОМЫШЛЕННОМ КОМПЛЕКСЕ

The article is devoted to the research of the trends of the main indicators of agricultural development in the Stavropol Territory in comparison with similar national indicators, the trends and structure of cattle meat production in the context of different household categories on the basis of official statistics for 2014–2019, the integrative interaction of small businesses in various models of cooperatives. The findings may serve as a basis for justifying the course of development of integration cooperation between agricultural entities.

Food price changes and farm households’ welfare in Nigeria: direct and indirect approach

ABSTRACT This paper analyzed the welfare effects of price changes over categories of farm households in Nigeria taking into consideration the dual role of farm households as both consumer and producer of food between 2010–2016. This study attempts to shed some light on the differences between the direct approach and indirect. Estimated Compensating Variation reveals that 79.0% of farm households were net food buyers and suffered welfare loss (mean = 2.98) with the mean expenditure of N529, 397.5 per annum while 21.0% were net food sellers and enjoyed welfare gain (mean = −1.66) with the mean expenditure of N513, 755.7 per annum. Cereal was identified as food for which the households were most vulnerable to price shocks. When adjustments are allowed, households can adapt their consumption and production patterns resulting in lower deteriorations in welfare with significant differences across quintiles. Therefore, efforts to mitigate extreme price spikes are relevant for improved overall household welfare.