Background:Inequalities in maternal health care are pervasive in the developing world,a fact that has led to questions about the extent of these disparities across socioeconomic groups.Despite a growing literature on ...Background:Inequalities in maternal health care are pervasive in the developing world,a fact that has led to questions about the extent of these disparities across socioeconomic groups.Despite a growing literature on maternal health across Sub-Saharan African countries,relatively little is known about the evolution of these inequalities over time for specific countries.This study sought to quantify and explain the observed differences in prenatal care use and professional delivery assistance in Zimbabwe.Methods:The empirical analysis uses four rounds of the nationwide Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey administered in 1994,1999,2005/06 and 2010/11.Two binary indicators were used as measures of maternal health care utilization;(1)the receipt of four or more antenatal care visits and(2)receiving professional delivery assistance for the most recent pregnancy.We measure inequalities in maternal health care use using the Erreygers corrected concentration index.A decomposition analysis was conducted to determine the underlying drivers of the measured disparities.Results:The computed concentration indices for professional delivery assistance and prenatal care reveal a mostly pro-rich distribution of inequalities between 1994 and 2011.Particularly,the concentration index[95%confidence interval]for the receipt of prenatal care was 0.111[0.056,0.171]in 2005/06 and 0.094[0.057,0.138]in 2010/11.For professional delivery assistance,the concentration index stood at 0.286[0.244,0.329]in 2005/06 and 0.324[0.283,0.366]in 2010/11.The pro-rich inequality was also increasing in both rural and urban areas over time.The decomposition exercise revealed that wealth,education,religion and information access were the underlying drivers of the observed inequalities in maternal health care.Conclusions:In Zimbabwe,socioeconomic disparities in maternal health care use are mostly pro-rich and have widened over time regardless of the location of residence.Overall,we established that inequalities in wealth and education are amongst the top drivers of the observed disparities in maternal health care.These findings suggest that addressing inequalities in maternal health care utilization requires coordinated public policies targeting the more poor and vulnerable segments of the population in Zimbabwe.展开更多
The promotion of land,soil and water conservation measures has been a widespread development in sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to tackle degradation and improve productivity.As a result,several gov-ernments have launched...The promotion of land,soil and water conservation measures has been a widespread development in sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to tackle degradation and improve productivity.As a result,several gov-ernments have launched various campaigns on soil,land and water conservation measures.The aim of this study is to determine some of the factors that influence farmers'awareness(knowledge)and adoption of land,soil and water conservation practices.Data for this study was collected from 312 households using a questionnaire survey in the Chinyanja Triangle of Southern Africa.The study sites.were sampled from Tete province of Mozambique,central and southern regions of Malawi and eastern Province of Zambia.We used t-tests to classify adopters and non-adopters of soil,land and water con-servation measures and binomial logit models to identify the factors that infuence farmers'knowledge of conservation measures and adoption of land productivity practices.The results show that the household head's age,education,agricultural advice reception and farmer group membership are critical in raising awareness.While the household head's age,education,agricultural advice reception,farmer group membership,pieces of land owned or used in production and land-to-man ratio influenced adoption decisions.The study,therefore,concludes that in order to improve land productivity in the Chinyanja Triangle,there is a need to consider farmers'heterogeneity in terms of household head's age,level of education,extension services outreach,and socio-economic char acteristics.This suggests that governments'policies in the region should be aimed at improving farmers'level of education,extension delivery that will target the elderly and the youth,land ownership,credit access,and social capital such as group formation.展开更多
文摘Background:Inequalities in maternal health care are pervasive in the developing world,a fact that has led to questions about the extent of these disparities across socioeconomic groups.Despite a growing literature on maternal health across Sub-Saharan African countries,relatively little is known about the evolution of these inequalities over time for specific countries.This study sought to quantify and explain the observed differences in prenatal care use and professional delivery assistance in Zimbabwe.Methods:The empirical analysis uses four rounds of the nationwide Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey administered in 1994,1999,2005/06 and 2010/11.Two binary indicators were used as measures of maternal health care utilization;(1)the receipt of four or more antenatal care visits and(2)receiving professional delivery assistance for the most recent pregnancy.We measure inequalities in maternal health care use using the Erreygers corrected concentration index.A decomposition analysis was conducted to determine the underlying drivers of the measured disparities.Results:The computed concentration indices for professional delivery assistance and prenatal care reveal a mostly pro-rich distribution of inequalities between 1994 and 2011.Particularly,the concentration index[95%confidence interval]for the receipt of prenatal care was 0.111[0.056,0.171]in 2005/06 and 0.094[0.057,0.138]in 2010/11.For professional delivery assistance,the concentration index stood at 0.286[0.244,0.329]in 2005/06 and 0.324[0.283,0.366]in 2010/11.The pro-rich inequality was also increasing in both rural and urban areas over time.The decomposition exercise revealed that wealth,education,religion and information access were the underlying drivers of the observed inequalities in maternal health care.Conclusions:In Zimbabwe,socioeconomic disparities in maternal health care use are mostly pro-rich and have widened over time regardless of the location of residence.Overall,we established that inequalities in wealth and education are amongst the top drivers of the observed disparities in maternal health care.These findings suggest that addressing inequalities in maternal health care utilization requires coordinated public policies targeting the more poor and vulnerable segments of the population in Zimbabwe.
基金the Dryland Systems Consultative Research Programme(CRP11).
文摘The promotion of land,soil and water conservation measures has been a widespread development in sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to tackle degradation and improve productivity.As a result,several gov-ernments have launched various campaigns on soil,land and water conservation measures.The aim of this study is to determine some of the factors that influence farmers'awareness(knowledge)and adoption of land,soil and water conservation practices.Data for this study was collected from 312 households using a questionnaire survey in the Chinyanja Triangle of Southern Africa.The study sites.were sampled from Tete province of Mozambique,central and southern regions of Malawi and eastern Province of Zambia.We used t-tests to classify adopters and non-adopters of soil,land and water con-servation measures and binomial logit models to identify the factors that infuence farmers'knowledge of conservation measures and adoption of land productivity practices.The results show that the household head's age,education,agricultural advice reception and farmer group membership are critical in raising awareness.While the household head's age,education,agricultural advice reception,farmer group membership,pieces of land owned or used in production and land-to-man ratio influenced adoption decisions.The study,therefore,concludes that in order to improve land productivity in the Chinyanja Triangle,there is a need to consider farmers'heterogeneity in terms of household head's age,level of education,extension services outreach,and socio-economic char acteristics.This suggests that governments'policies in the region should be aimed at improving farmers'level of education,extension delivery that will target the elderly and the youth,land ownership,credit access,and social capital such as group formation.
