The effect of transport services and ICTs on carbon dioxide emissions in South Africa.

The rising trend in carbon dioxide emissions has implications on economic livelihoods through global warming and climate change. Attaining lower carbon dioxide emissions is therefore crucial for the realization of the sustainable development goals. South Africa happens to be one of the leading countries in ICT and transport infrastructure in the sub-Saharan African region. Oppossing arguments on how ICT and tranport services affect carbon dioxide emissions exist. However, their effects on the rising trend in carbon emissions in the country has not received much empirical attention. The study analyses the role ICTs and the transportation sector play in the carbon dioxide emissions of South Africa. Regression analysis of data for the 1989-2018 period shows mobile adoption, internet usage, and telephone usage increases carbon dioxide emissions while transportation services in the country helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Income positively affects carbon dioxide emissions while urbanization has negative effects. Implications from the findings include the urgent need to have electricity that power ICT devices and equipment be generated from renewable and sustainable sources rather than from heavy polluting sources.

COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic situation: a year on.

A year after the World Health Organization´s declaration of the novel COVID-19 as a pandemic, the global macro-economic landscape has experienced severe shocks. As a result, developed and developing countries have been saddled with intense economic uncertainties. In this study, we discuss the global macro-economic environment during the pandemic declaration period and juxtapose it with the one-year post-pandemic declaration. The evidence shows significant negative impacts on macro-economic variables in the year of the declaration. However, signs of recovery are evident a year on, albeit slowly. To sustain and accelerate the recovery gains, we suggest that strategic macro-management policies are designed and strictly implemented. Anything short of this will see especially fragile countries plunged into an "economic abyss" with severe sociopolitical implications.

Unraveling the effect of gender dimensions and wood fuel usage on household food security: evidence from Ghana.

Food security discussions have heightened particularly with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 which focuses on hunger and malnutrition. This study investigates gender dimensions of food security and examines the role of wood fuel on households' food security in Ghana. Data from the most recent round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS VII, 2016/2017) were used for this investigation. By employing the Exogeneous Switching Treatment Effect Regression to analyze food security, it was found that significant heterogeneities exist among different gender groups. The largest differences exist between male headed households and de jure female headed households. Further, this study finds that among female headed households, there remain substantial differences in food security. Wood fuel usage, household size and residing in the northern part of the country were found to reduce food security among households while education and income increase household food security. These findings are important for enhanced policy targeting to address food insecurity.

The effect of in utero exposure to household air pollution on child health: Evidence from Ghana.

This study examines the impact of in utero exposure to household air pollution on child health. By using a pseudo panel data compiled from three rounds of two separate household datasets in Ghana, we investigate the impacts of dirty fuel use which leads to household air pollution on child stunting at the district level. The results after analysis using the two stage residual inclusion approach indicate that exposure to household air pollution in utero causes stunting in children after birth. We found that children born in the districts using firewood or charcoal as a main cooking fuel are shorter on average after birth. The estimated impacts are sizable: for example, by switching cooking fuel from dirty fuels to LPG, the average height for age Z score in the sample would increase from -1.269 to -0.43. The gender dimensions of the household air pollution effects were further explored. Boys were found to take a worse hit from in utero exposures compared to girls. The findings imply that policy to enhance clean cooking fuel use will help reduce child stunting in developing countries. An increase in clean cooking fuel usage and a reduction in child stunting are both necessary to support the success of the SDGs.