Education Level Of Household Head Research Articles

Improving access to secondary education in Kenya: what can be done?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse factors that influence access to secondary education, and strategies for improving access to secondary education in Kenya.Design/methodology/approach – A logit model estimated using the Welfare Monitoring Household Survey while a simulation model is used to evaluate some of the strategies for improving access to secondary school education.Findings – The main determinants of access to secondary school education at household level include household's income, education level of household head, household residence, sex of child, availability of schools, and age of student.Research limitations/implications – Factor such as property ownership by household and indirect costs to schooling not adequately captured due to non‐responses.Practical implications – Strategies for expanding secondary school education include: expansion of infrastructure through strong partnerships, enhancing efficiency in use of human and financial resources, developing sustainable poverty...

Sociodemographic correlates of overall quality of dietary intake of US adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between selected sociodemographic variables and overall quality of dietary intake of US adolescents. The Healthy Eating Index, an instrument designed to measure adherence to the US Dietary Guidelines, was used to measure overall quality of dietary intake. Healthy Eating Index scores were computed for a sample of US adolescents (N = 1504) who participated in the 1994-1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals. A proportional odds model for an ordered polytomous response was used to assess the relationships between adolescent Healthy Eating Index scores and selected sociodemographic factors. The sociodemographic factors found to be significantly related to overall quality of dietary intake of US adolescents were age, ethnicity, urbanization, region of residence, and education level of household head. The findings of this study suggest that nutrition research and intervention programs relating to US adolescents should include evaluation of sociodemographic/environmental factors.

CAUSES OF HOUSEHOLD FOOD INSECURITY IN KOREDEGAGA PEASANT ASSOCIATION, OROMIYA ZONE, ETHIOPIA

The main objective of the study was to examine the determinants of households' food security using a logistic regression procedure. The model was initially fitted with eleven factors, of which six were found to be significant, and all exhibited the expected signs. These include farmland size, ox ownership, fertilizer application, education level of household heads, household size, and per capita production. The result was analyzed further to compute partial effects and to conduct simulation studies on significant determinant factors. Analysis of partial effects revealed that an introduction to fertilizer use and an improvement in the educational levels of household heads lead to relatively greater probability of food security. On the other hand, simulations were conducted on the basis of the base category of farmers, representing food secure households, revealed that both educational levels of household heads and fertilizer application by farmers have relatively high potential to more than double the number of food secure households in the study area following improvements in these factors.

The Relationship between Socio-Economic Characteristics of Maize Farmers and Household Food Security in Eastern Uganda

Despite the importance of maize in the Ugandan diet, its role in ensuring food security, and the numerous research studies that have been done on adoption of maize production technologies, limited work has been done to assess the food security status of households engaged in improved maize production vis-à-vis that of local maize farmers. This study was done firstly to compare the socio-economic characteristics of 187 improved maize and local maize growers; secondly, to establish the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics and household food security of improved and local maize growers. Two separate analyses were done- one to examine the socio-economic differences between local maize and improved maize growers and the other to assess the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics and household food security. All socio-economic characteristics were found to be non-significant which implied that improved maize growers and local maize growers did not differ statistically in all aspects. The Subsistence Potential Ratio was used to compare the food security status of improved maize and local maize growers and was found to be 0.54 for improved maize growers, while that for local maize growers was 0.42 though the difference was not significant. Analysis using a consumption model revealed that a significant relationship existed between household food security and income, labour hours exported and imported by a household, education level of household head, number of extension visits, and area allocated to improved maize varieties. Keywords: Food security, maize, subsistence potential ratio Eastern African Journal of Rural Development Vol.19(1) 2003: 2-12

Child poverty in South Africa: an assessment based on microdata for 1995

In this study we assess child poverty in South Africa by estimating multivariate models using household‐survey microdata from 1995. The applied poverty line defines children as poor if they live in households with a disposable per capita income less than US$1 Purchasing Power Parity. In South Africa, people living under such income conditions must be considered extremely poor. The results show that children living in South Africa face a risk of being poor comparable to that of the average world inhabitant. Child poverty in South Africa is an issue with strong racial connotations. Large variations in child poverty rates across provinces are found and most of South Africa's poor children live in rural areas. The educational level of household head is a strong predictor of child poverty. The probability of child poverty is vigorously reduced if a household receives wage earnings, but is affected by households’ demographic structure.

Diarrhoea and effects of different water sources, sanitation and hygiene behaviour in East Africa.

Apart from "Drawers of Water (DOW I)" published in 1972, there have been only a handful of published studies on domestic water use and environmental health in East Africa, based on direct observations or other reliable research methods. The objective of this study was to carry out a repeat analysis of domestic water use and environmental health in East Africa based on DOW I. The study was conducted in the same sites as DOW I. Field assistants spent at least 1 day in each household observing and conducting semi-structured interviews. They measured the amount of water collected, recorded the amount of water used in the home, and noted household socio-demographic characteristics, prevalence of diarrhoea, state and use of latrines, sources of water and conditions of use. We surveyed 1015 households in 33 sites in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya in 1997. From 1967 to 1997, the prevalence of diarrhoea, in the week preceding the survey, increased from 6% to 18% in Kenya and from 16% to 21% in Uganda; it declined slightly in Tanzania (11-8%). Determinants of diarrhoea morbidity included poor hygiene (unsafe disposal of faeces and wastewater), education level of household head, obtaining water from surface sources or wells and per capita water used for cleaning. Hygiene practices are an important complement to improved water and sanitation in reducing diarrhoea morbidity.

Household Food Demand Analysis in India

Price and expenditure elasticities and estimates of the effect of household demographic variables on Indian food items are estimated using a recent household survey data in rural and urban areas. Using a linear approximate almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS), the results indicate that for commodity groups (milk and milk products; cereals and pulses; edible oils; meat, fish, and eggs; vegetables and fruits; other foods) demand is elastic only for milk and milk products in both rural and urban areas of India. The impact of demographic variables such as region, household size, education level of household head, and seasonality, was generally significant.

Characterization of peri-urban dairy production system in Ghana. 1. Social attributes and characteristics of the production environmen

A survey was carried out in five districts on the Accra plains to characterize the peri-urban dairy system. Results of the survey indicated that about half of the farms visited had hired herd managers who were paid in kind with milk. The Fulani ethnic group constituted 58.2 per cent of the herdsmen encountered, followed by Ga, 20.9 per cent, Ewe, 12.0 per cent, and other mixed group, 8.9 per cent. The educational level of household heads was generally low; 49.1 per cent were illiterate, 22.0 per cent had Arabic education, while 18.0 and 10.9 per cent had primary and secondary education, respectively. Utility services, namely electricity, water and telephone, were non-existent. There were little or no farm equipment and most farmers used hand dipping as a means of applying acaricide. Integration of crops and livestock production was very low. Tenancy was communal with no private grazing lands. It was concluded that the factors mentioned above were constraints to smallholder peri-urban dairy production and need to be addressed. Ghana Jnl agric. Sci. Vol.30(2) 1997: 87-94