Rice production in Africa has tended to be low-yielding, geographically dispersed, and uncompetitive against low-cost Asian imports, even when protected by high freight costs and substantial trade barriers. Skyrocketing prices in world markets in 2007-08 were a shock to African consumers,...

How do markets respond to extreme rainfall in West Africa? This paper examines the effect of weather on grain market performance in Niger, a country increasingly affected by drought and severe food crises over the past two decades. Using a dataset that combines information on rainfall,...

Famines are a common occurrence in the Sahelian region of Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2004, a drought occurred in Niger, resulting in a production shock, higher grain prices and a severe food crisis. Whereas a drought in 2000 resulted in lower per capita grain production relative to 2004, a food...

While cash transfers will tautologically increase contemporaneous consumption, it is unclear whether these gains will persist, especially in rural agricultural settings with limited productive investment opportunities. Using bi-monthly survey data from recipients of a large, unconditional cash...