IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/10607.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Herder-Related Violence, Agricultural Work, and the Informal Sector as a Safety Net

Author

Listed:
  • Bloem,Jeffrey Richard
  • Damon,Amy
  • Francis,David C.
  • Mitchell,Harrison

Abstract

Violent conflict between nomadic herders and settled—mostly agricultural—communities in Nigeria occurs as both groups clash over the use of land and resources, in part, due to a changing climate. This paper uses panel data from 2010 through 2019 to study the labor responses of individuals to exposure to herder-related violence during the post-planting and post-harvest seasons. Specifically, it considers a “shadow of violence” channel, where recent exposure to a violent event alters labor-related responses to a subsequent event. Results find that in the post-planting season, exposure to a herder-related violent event leads to an increase in informal work for both men and women, a decrease in agricultural work for men, and an increase in total hours worked for women among households that have previously been exposed to herder-related violence in the preceding six months. The paper also considers two other specific forms for a “shadow of violence” channel—namely, raised tensions over open-grazing bans enacted in 2016 and 2017 within three states and a drastic peak in violence in the first half of 2018— and find similar results. Lastly, findings show how household exposure to violence can have so-called knock-on effects. Households exposed to herder-related violence in the previous post-planting season shift consumption and crop selling patterns in the post-harvest season. These findings highlight the gender-specific labor response to violence and document the role of the informal sector as a partial safety net for individuals in the presence of adverse shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Bloem,Jeffrey Richard & Damon,Amy & Francis,David C. & Mitchell,Harrison, 2023. "Herder-Related Violence, Agricultural Work, and the Informal Sector as a Safety Net," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10607, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10607
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099417511152376048/pdf/IDU0087febc70d8df04ff50a05a0a34a221591c0.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Akresh, Richard & Lucchetti, Leonardo & Thirumurthy, Harsha, 2012. "Wars and child health: Evidence from the Eritrean–Ethiopian conflict," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 330-340.
    2. Dean Karlan & Robert Osei & Isaac Osei-Akoto & Christopher Udry, 2014. "Agricultural Decisions after Relaxing Credit and Risk Constraints," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(2), pages 597-652.
    3. Rafael La Porta & Andrei Shleifer, 2014. "Informality and Development," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 109-126, Summer.
    4. Moya, Andrés, 2018. "Violence, psychological trauma, and risk attitudes: Evidence from victims of violence in Colombia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 15-27.
    5. Epstein, Brendan & Finkelstein Shapiro, Alan, 2017. "Employment and firm heterogeneity, capital allocation, and countercyclical labor market policies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 25-41.
    6. Colombo, Emilio & Menna, Lorenzo & Tirelli, Patrizio, 2019. "Informality and the labor market effects of financial crises," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 1-22.
    7. Pascaline Dupas & Jonathan Robinson, 2013. "Savings Constraints and Microenterprise Development: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 163-192, January.
    8. John Mullahy & Edward C. Norton, 2022. "Why Transform Y? A Critical Assessment of Dependent-Variable Transformations in Regression Models for Skewed and Sometimes-Zero Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 30735, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    10. Gharad Bryan & Shyamal Chowdhury & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, 2014. "Underinvestment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(5), pages 1671-1748, September.
    11. Townsend, Robert M, 1994. "Risk and Insurance in Village India," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(3), pages 539-591, May.
    12. Thoenig, Mathias & Eberle, Ulrich J. & Rohner, Dominic, 2020. "Heat and Hate: Climate Security and Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Africa," CEPR Discussion Papers 15542, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Adriana Camacho, 2008. "Stress and Birth Weight: Evidence from Terrorist Attacks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 511-515, May.
    14. Maarten J. Voors & Eleonora E. M. Nillesen & Philip Verwimp & Erwin H. Bulte & Robert Lensink & Daan P. Van Soest, 2012. "Violent Conflict and Behavior: A Field Experiment in Burundi," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 941-964, April.
    15. Chamarbagwala, Rubiana & Morán, Hilcías E., 2011. "The human capital consequences of civil war: Evidence from Guatemala," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 41-61, January.
    16. Odozi, John Chiwuzulum & Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth, 2021. "Does violent conflict affect the labor supply of farm households? The Nigerian experience," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 401-435, December.
    17. Shawn Cole & Xavier Gine & Jeremy Tobacman & Petia Topalova & Robert Townsend & James Vickery, 2013. "Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 104-135, January.
    18. Ubilava, David & Atalay, Kadir & Hastings, Justin V, 2021. "Commodity Price Shocks and the Seasonality of Conflict," Working Papers 2021-03, University of Sydney, School of Economics, revised Jul 2021.
    19. Justin George & Adesoji Adelaja & Dave Weatherspoon, 2020. "Armed Conflicts and Food Insecurity: Evidence from Boko Haram's Attacks," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 114-131, January.
    20. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    21. Brown, Ryan & Velásquez, Andrea, 2017. "The effect of violent crime on the human capital accumulation of young adults," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 1-12.
    22. Richard Akresh & Sonia Bhalotra & Marinella Leone & Una Okonkwo Osili, 2012. "War and Stature: Growing Up during the Nigerian Civil War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 273-277, May.
    23. Melanie Morten, 2019. "Temporary Migration and Endogenous Risk Sharing in Village India," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(1), pages 1-46.
    24. Robin Burgess & Rohini Pande, 2005. "Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 780-795, June.
    25. Verpoorten, Marijke, 2009. "Household coping in war- and peacetime: Cattle sales in Rwanda, 1991-2001," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 67-86, January.
    26. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    27. Baker, Andrew C. & Larcker, David F. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2022. "How much should we trust staggered difference-in-differences estimates?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 370-395.
    28. Loayza, Norman V. & Rigolini, Jamele, 2011. "Informal Employment: Safety Net or Growth Engine?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1503-1515, September.
    29. Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "Neighborhood violence, poverty, and psychological well-being," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    30. Heidi Kaila & Abul Azad, 2019. "Conflict, Household Victimization, and Welfare: Does the Perpetrator Matter?," HiCN Working Papers 315, Households in Conflict Network.
    31. Adelaja, Adesoji & George, Justin, 2019. "Effects of conflict on agriculture: Evidence from the Boko Haram insurgency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 184-195.
    32. Justin George & Adesoji Adelaja & Titus O Awokuse, 2021. "The agricultural impacts of armed conflicts: the case of Fulani militia," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 48(3), pages 538-572.
    33. Pamela Jakiela & Owen Ozier, 2019. "The Impact of Violence on Individual Risk Preferences: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(3), pages 547-559, July.
    34. Kaila,Heidi Kristiina & Azad,M Abul Kalam, 2019. "Conflict, Household Victimization, and Welfare : Does the Perpetrator Matter ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9019, The World Bank.
    35. Magda Tsaneva & Marc Rockmore & Zahra Albohmood, 2019. "The effect of violent crime on female decision-making within the household: evidence from the Mexican war on drugs," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 615-646, June.
    36. Marc Rockmore, 2020. "Conflict-Risk and Agricultural Portfolios: Evidence from Northern Uganda," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 1856-1876, October.
    37. Bundervoet, Tom, 2010. "Assets, Activity Choices, and Civil War: Evidence from Burundi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 955-965, July.
    38. Fiess, Norbert M. & Fugazza, Marco & Maloney, William F., 2010. "Informal self-employment and macroeconomic fluctuations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 211-226, March.
    39. Prakarsh Singh, 2013. "Impact of Terrorism on Investment Decisions of Farmers," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 57(1), pages 143-168, February.
    40. Singh, Prakarsh & Shemyakina, Olga N., 2016. "Gender-differential effects of terrorism on education: The case of the 1981–1993 Punjab insurgency," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 185-210.
    41. Weldeegzie, Samuel G., 2017. "Growing-up Unfortunate: War and Human Capital in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 474-489.
    42. George, Justin & Adelaja, Adesoji & Awokuse, Titus & Vaughan, Olufemi, 2021. "Terrorist attacks, land resource competition and violent farmer-herder conflicts," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vesco, P. & Baliki, G. & Brück, T. & Döring, S. & Eriksson, A. & Fjelde, H. & Guha-Sapir, D. & Hall, J. & Knutsen, C. H. & Leis, M. R. & Mueller, H. & Rauh, C. & Rudolfsen, I. & Swain, A., 2024. "The Impacts of Armed Conflict on Human Development," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2462, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    2. Abay, Kibrom A. & Tafere, Kibrom & Berhane, Guush & Chamberlin, Jordan & Abay, Mehari H., 2023. "Near-real-time welfare and livelihood impacts of an active war: Evidence from Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Manian, Shanthi, 2021. "Conflict and risky health behavior: Evidence from Mexico's drug war," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Laura Rodríguez, 2022. "Violence and newborn health: Estimates for Colombia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 112-136, January.
    5. Mercier, Marion & Ngenzebuke, Rama Lionel & Verwimp, Philip, 2020. "Violence exposure and poverty: Evidence from the Burundi civil war," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 822-840.
    6. Abay,Kibrom A. & Hirfrfot,Kibrom Tafere & Berhane,Guush & Chamberlin,Jordan & Abay,Mehari H., 2022. "Near-Real-Time Welfare and Livelihood Impacts of an Active Civil War : Evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10004, The World Bank.
    7. Fadare, Olusegun & Srinivasan, Chittur & Zanello, Giacomo, 2024. "Livestock diversification mitigates the impact of farmer-herder conflicts on animal-source foods consumption in Nigeria," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    8. Heidi Kaila & Larissa Nawo & Hyuk Harry Son, 2021. "Unpacking the Links between Conflict and Child Welfare: Evidence from a Foreign Insurgency," HiCN Working Papers 353, Households in Conflict Network.
    9. Ajogbeje, Korede & Sylwester, Kevin, 2024. "How conflict affects education: Differences between Boko Haram and Farmer-Herder conflicts in Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    10. Patricia Justino, 2012. "Nutrition, Governance and Violence: A Framework for the Analysis of Resilience and Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Contexts of Violent Conflict," HiCN Working Papers 132, Households in Conflict Network.
    11. Haile, Kaleab K. & Nillesen, Eleonora & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2020. "Impact of formal climate risk transfer mechanisms on risk-aversion: Empirical evidence from rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    12. Ryan Brown & Verónica Montalva & Duncan Thomas & Andrea Velásquez, 2019. "Impact of Violent Crime on Risk Aversion: Evidence from the Mexican Drug War," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(5), pages 892-904, December.
    13. Avuwadah, Benjamin Y. & Kropp, Jaclyn D. & Mullally, Conner C. & Morgan, Stephen N., 2020. "Heterogenous effects of conflict on agricultural production patterns: Evidence from Nigeria," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304417, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Felipe Kast & Dina Pomeranz, 2013. "Saving More to Borrow Less: Experimental Evidence from Access to Formal Savings Accounts in Chile," Harvard Business School Working Papers 14-001, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2014.
    15. Dagnelie, Olivier & Luca, Giacomo Davide De & Maystadt, Jean-François, 2018. "Violence, selection and infant mortality in Congo," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 153-177.
    16. Hönig, Tillman, 2017. "The Impact of Peace: Evidence from Nigeria," MPRA Paper 83302, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Martin-Shields, Charles P. & Stojetz, Wolfgang, 2019. "Food security and conflict: Empirical challenges and future opportunities for research and policy making on food security and conflict," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 150-164.
    18. Weldeegzie, Samuel, 2023. "The persistent effect of conflict on educational outcomes: Evidence from Ethiopia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    19. Olivier Dagnelie & Giacomo De Luca & Jean-Francois Maystadt, 2014. "Do girls pay the price of civil war? Violence and infant mortality in Congo," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven 490852, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    20. Takahiro Tsujimoto & Yoko Kijima, 2020. "Effects of conflict on child health: Evidence from the 1990–1994 Northern Mali Conflict," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(11), pages 1456-1474, November.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10607. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.