A political economist working on economic development with a focus on labour, poverty, agrarian change and development policy. A keen mixed-methods researcher with a taste for field-based large-N own-designed surveys.
ABSTRACT The Fairtrade lobby ignores the degree to which the poorest rural people depend on wage ... more ABSTRACT The Fairtrade lobby ignores the degree to which the poorest rural people depend on wage labour incomes, pretending that ‘smallholder’ producers and members of cooperatives are homogeneous and that all or most of them can exit poverty as a result of interventions designed to increase farmers’ income from crop production. The argument here, based on a four-year study of the wages and working conditions of labourers hired by ‘smallholder’ tea and coffee producers in Uganda and Ethiopia, is that activists concerned to reduce poverty should be channelling resources to reward good employers rather than mythical ‘small’ farmers.
... and A. Dorward, 'State intervention for food price stabilisation in Africa: ... more ... and A. Dorward, 'State intervention for food price stabilisation in Africa: can it work?', Food Policy 31 ... 16 'Trying to weather the storm', The Economist, 30 October 2008. ... The global financial crisis: impact on WAEMU member countries and policy options' (Staff position note 09/16 ...
The deadline of 2015 for the MDGs is getting dangerously close. It is well known that most Africa... more The deadline of 2015 for the MDGs is getting dangerously close. It is well known that most African countries will not meet most MDGs set out in 2000 as an ambitious plan to achieve fast socio-economic progress in developing countries. This article introduces a special issue to the problematic of MDGs in Africa, progress achieved, challenges and what is missing from the MDG agenda. The article provides an overview of the situation with regards to the MDGs, with particular emphasis on the objective of reducing poverty, which is highly associated with the other MDGs. It is shown that the record in poverty reduction has been generally disappointing. Besides, the poverty reduction agenda has contributed to the fall of “grand narratives” of development and the demise of the idea of “development” as understood in the traditions of old development economics and political economy of development. The New Poverty and the MDG agendas have been relatively successful in garnering support to incre...
and full-text screening The screening of studies for inclusion and the subsequent data extraction... more and full-text screening The screening of studies for inclusion and the subsequent data extraction (coding) will proceed in three distinct stages. Initially, the titles and abstracts of studies identified during the search process will be screened for relevance. Thereafter, studies found to be of relevance to the review will be downloaded in full text and screened against the sets of inclusion criteria set out in this protocol. Lastly, studies selected for inclusion will be coded according to a detailed coding manual. The first screening for relevance on titles and abstracts will be done by research assistants working under the oversight of team members, against clearly defined exclusion criteria. The code sheet for this stage will be piloted and we will test for agreement amongst coders. Screening on title and abstract will not be double-coded, but pilot screening until consistency is reached among coders will ensure uniformity. A coding manual for screening on title and abstract will be put in place to support the coders, while ongoing communication with the rest of the review team will ensure that screening consistency is maintained. Moreover, coders are instructed to be over-inclusive at this stage and will work under close supervision by more senior team members. All exclusions will be logged in an electronic form in EPPI Reviewer 4. Studies will generally not be disregarded on methodological grounds at this stage, as a serious assessment of study quality cannot normally be based on abstracts only. Exceptions are studies where the abstract clearly indicates an unsuitable study type or design, for example, book reviews, literature reviews with no primary evidence or advocacy/policy documents, as listed in section 3.1. Reviewers, when in doubt, will choose to include studies at this stage, so as not to lose relevant evidence. The reports selected for further screening based on their titles and abstracts will then be downloaded as full text into a database to be evaluated in greater detail against the inclusion criteria set out above. We will undertake independent, double-coding at this stage, and the coding sheet will be trialled and refined. A database will be created in EPPI Reviewer 4. Reviewers will complete an electronic form for each study reviewed. The forms will be retained both to ensure transparency and to allow for the creation (and possibly analysis) of an excluded studies table later in the review. The broad range of interventions relevant to the review questions pursued necessitate the inclusion of an equally wide variety of studies in terms of method. Different inclusion criteria will be deployed for both quantitative and qualitative studies. Studies may be excluded from the review on grounds of study design at this stage (see section above). For each study an inclusion/exclusion checklist will be filled in and retained. These checklists will be more detailed than is perhaps common, as this review is the first systematic review following Campbell criteria to target this particular area of the literature.
ABSTRACT The Fairtrade lobby ignores the degree to which the poorest rural people depend on wage ... more ABSTRACT The Fairtrade lobby ignores the degree to which the poorest rural people depend on wage labour incomes, pretending that ‘smallholder’ producers and members of cooperatives are homogeneous and that all or most of them can exit poverty as a result of interventions designed to increase farmers’ income from crop production. The argument here, based on a four-year study of the wages and working conditions of labourers hired by ‘smallholder’ tea and coffee producers in Uganda and Ethiopia, is that activists concerned to reduce poverty should be channelling resources to reward good employers rather than mythical ‘small’ farmers.
... and A. Dorward, 'State intervention for food price stabilisation in Africa: ... more ... and A. Dorward, 'State intervention for food price stabilisation in Africa: can it work?', Food Policy 31 ... 16 'Trying to weather the storm', The Economist, 30 October 2008. ... The global financial crisis: impact on WAEMU member countries and policy options' (Staff position note 09/16 ...
The deadline of 2015 for the MDGs is getting dangerously close. It is well known that most Africa... more The deadline of 2015 for the MDGs is getting dangerously close. It is well known that most African countries will not meet most MDGs set out in 2000 as an ambitious plan to achieve fast socio-economic progress in developing countries. This article introduces a special issue to the problematic of MDGs in Africa, progress achieved, challenges and what is missing from the MDG agenda. The article provides an overview of the situation with regards to the MDGs, with particular emphasis on the objective of reducing poverty, which is highly associated with the other MDGs. It is shown that the record in poverty reduction has been generally disappointing. Besides, the poverty reduction agenda has contributed to the fall of “grand narratives” of development and the demise of the idea of “development” as understood in the traditions of old development economics and political economy of development. The New Poverty and the MDG agendas have been relatively successful in garnering support to incre...
and full-text screening The screening of studies for inclusion and the subsequent data extraction... more and full-text screening The screening of studies for inclusion and the subsequent data extraction (coding) will proceed in three distinct stages. Initially, the titles and abstracts of studies identified during the search process will be screened for relevance. Thereafter, studies found to be of relevance to the review will be downloaded in full text and screened against the sets of inclusion criteria set out in this protocol. Lastly, studies selected for inclusion will be coded according to a detailed coding manual. The first screening for relevance on titles and abstracts will be done by research assistants working under the oversight of team members, against clearly defined exclusion criteria. The code sheet for this stage will be piloted and we will test for agreement amongst coders. Screening on title and abstract will not be double-coded, but pilot screening until consistency is reached among coders will ensure uniformity. A coding manual for screening on title and abstract will be put in place to support the coders, while ongoing communication with the rest of the review team will ensure that screening consistency is maintained. Moreover, coders are instructed to be over-inclusive at this stage and will work under close supervision by more senior team members. All exclusions will be logged in an electronic form in EPPI Reviewer 4. Studies will generally not be disregarded on methodological grounds at this stage, as a serious assessment of study quality cannot normally be based on abstracts only. Exceptions are studies where the abstract clearly indicates an unsuitable study type or design, for example, book reviews, literature reviews with no primary evidence or advocacy/policy documents, as listed in section 3.1. Reviewers, when in doubt, will choose to include studies at this stage, so as not to lose relevant evidence. The reports selected for further screening based on their titles and abstracts will then be downloaded as full text into a database to be evaluated in greater detail against the inclusion criteria set out above. We will undertake independent, double-coding at this stage, and the coding sheet will be trialled and refined. A database will be created in EPPI Reviewer 4. Reviewers will complete an electronic form for each study reviewed. The forms will be retained both to ensure transparency and to allow for the creation (and possibly analysis) of an excluded studies table later in the review. The broad range of interventions relevant to the review questions pursued necessitate the inclusion of an equally wide variety of studies in terms of method. Different inclusion criteria will be deployed for both quantitative and qualitative studies. Studies may be excluded from the review on grounds of study design at this stage (see section above). For each study an inclusion/exclusion checklist will be filled in and retained. These checklists will be more detailed than is perhaps common, as this review is the first systematic review following Campbell criteria to target this particular area of the literature.
Uploads
Papers by Carlos Oya