Ebenezer Toyin Megbowon

Agriculture, industry, and service sectors’ employment composition is often associated with economic development metrics. The question, however, remains whether sectoral reallocation improves all dimensions of development, or whether some outcomes – such as food insecurity, one of the critical socioeconomic challenges – are being left behind. Despite the observed reduction, though persistent, in national hunger trends in South Africa, it is still unknown whether this reallocation, which reflects structural economic transformation, contributes significantly to the reduction of food insecurity in the country. Thus, this study examines the impact of sectoral employment composition on food insecurity in South Africa. The study employs the Johansen cointegration tests and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) techniques on data series for the year 1991 to 2023. Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR) estimation was also employed as robust check. The Johansen cointegration tests confirm a stable long-run equilibrium between sectoral employment and hunger reduction. The findings from the FMOLS estimation for the long-run impact indicate that increases in employment share across agriculture, tertiary, and secondary sectors may correlate with heightened food insecurity, underscoring the complexity of employment-driven transformation in adressing this socioeconomic challenge. The findings further highlight the role of income in alleviating hunger. Some policy implications are put forward, such as: i) promotion of inclusive industrial policy, ii) strengthening of skills development and vocational training, and iii) promotion of sectoral employment quality, not just quantity. Future research should conduct analysis that disaggregates the Global Hunger Index (GHI) into its dimensions (i.e., undernourishment, child wasting, stunting, and mortality) to identify which aspects are most affected by sectoral employment changes. Addressing food insecurity as a key socioeconomic challenge must remain central to South Africa’s development agenda.

International consensus on the importance of adequate health has led to various global and regional commitments, including the Abuja Declaration. One of the highlights of the Abuja Declaration adopted in 2001 by African state heads is the agreement to an allocation target of at least 15% of annual budget to improve the health sector. This declaration was a response to the pressing need for increased investment in healthcare infrastructure, personnel, and services to improve public health outcomes across the continent. However, more than two decades later, questions remain regarding the extent to which African nations have adhered to this commitment. This study aims to: 1) assess the extent to which African countries have met or complied with the Abuja Declaration’s health expenditure target, 2) analyse and identify economic and institutional factors contributing to the gap between actual health expenditure share in total government expenditure and the Abuja Declaration target. To achieve these objectives, data was collected for forty-five Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries spanning the period from 2002 to 2021. The analysis employs both descriptive statistical methods and econometric modeling including Driscoll-Kraay standard errors to account for potential heteroscedasticity and cross-sectional dependence in the data. Findings from the study data analysis show that despite this commitment, many SSA countries struggle to achieve the target, resulting in a persistent and inequal health expenditure gap (defined as actual minus target), which is often negative as actual expenditures fall short of the target. Furthermore, the results from the econometric analysis underscore the crucial role of governance and institutional quality in influencing compliance with the Abuja Declaration. Specifically, control of corruption, political stability, rule of law, and government effectiveness emerge as key determinants of a country’s ability to allocate and sustain higher levels of health funding. Countries with stronger institutional frameworks and governance structures tend to exhibit better compliance with the Abuja target, while those with weak governance experience severe shortfalls in health investment. Given these findings, this study underscores the importance of enacting and reinforcing health policy as a national priority in line with the Abuja Declaration. Strengthening anti-corruption measures to enhance budget efficiency, improving legal frameworks to enforce health budget commitments, and fostering better financial planning and budget execution capacity are crucial for ensuring progress toward the 15% health expenditure target. Policymakers must prioritize sustainable financing strategies, such as innovative public-private partnerships and improved domestic revenue mobilization, to bridge the health expenditure gap. By addressing economic and governance challenges, SSA countries can enhance ability to meet health investment commitments, ultimately improving health outcomes and fostering long-term economic and social development.

This study investigates the relationship between sectoral labour productivity and unemployment in South Africa by answering the question how has labour productivity across different sectors affected employment rates in South Africa? Both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillips-Perron tests and Autoregressive Distributed Lag Bound test and estimation techniques) were applied on obtained timeseries data for the period 1991-2022. The analysis surprisingly shows that none of the sectoral labour productivity variables contribute to unemployment reduction in the country. Plausible reasons for this finding include the adoption of automation and technological advancements in labour intensive, imbalance between rate of job loss in labour intensive sector and rate of job creation in the service sector during sectoral shifts and economic transition, and general lower purchasing due to unequal distribution of labour productivity gain and income inequality that could have boosted consumer demand, these measures can stimulate economic growth and job creation. Various recommendations are suggested to reduce unemployment in the light of these findings.

The aim of this article is to analyse the long-term impact of different livestock production and on greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa. Using data for the period 1981-2022, the study applied the ARDL techniques to determine the cointegration relationships and the long-run effect of the variables of interest in four models on the GHG emission. The empirical findings reveal that beef and buffalo meat production significantly reduce CH4 emissions but increase N2O emission, poultry meat production significantly reduces CO2 emission but significantly increase methane and nitrogen oxide emissions, pig meat production was found to reduce methane and nitrogen oxide emission by 0.11% and 0.98%, respectively, but have increasing effect of 0.29% on CO2. The finding obtained shows mixed results of impact of different livestock production on GHGs emission that in the long-run in South Africa. These mixed results underscore the complexity of achieving sustainable livestock production. Similarly, the variability in the impact of different types of meat production on GHG emissions indicates that a one-size-fits-all approach to mitigating emissions in the livestock sector may not be effective.

Purpose -This study investigates the applicability of a modified Kaldor's First Law in the context of Lesotho's economic growth, with particular focus on the role of South Africa's manufacturing sector output as a key driver. Research design/method/approach - This study employs a modified Kaldor's framework, incorporating gross domestic product of Lesotho for economic growth as the dependent variable, Lesotho manufacturing sector output, South Africa's manufacturing sector output, capital investment proxy by gross fixed capital formation of Lesotho, and population of Lesotho as explanatory variables. With date series from 1980 to 2022, the study applied descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and econometric estimation technique (Autoregressive Distributed Lag modelling) to explore both short-run and long-run period relationships. Findings -The descriptive and correlation analysis highlight the interconnectedness of these variables, with the ARDL bounds test confirming the presence of a long-term cointegration relationship. The results reveal that South Africa's manufacturing sector output indeed have a positive and statistically significant impact on Lesotho's GDP in the long run thereby validating the modified Kaldor's First Law, same is Lesotho capital investment. Practical implication - The study's findings underscore the importance of South Africa's manufacturing sector in driving economic growth in Lesotho, emphasizing the role of cross-border economic linkages. Lesotho can capitalize on the positive spillover effects of South Africa's manufacturing sector, improve its investment climate, and achieve sustainable economic growth. This study contributes to the discourse on Kaldor's Law and intercountry collaboration. Actionable insights for Lesotho's policymakers are suggested. Originality/Value - This study contributes to literature on Kaldor's First Law by extending its application and relevance to inter-country context.

This study analyses the long-run relationship between, and the direction and magnitude of impact of sectoral economic growth and fiscal capacity on government health expenditure. The study was carried out to validates the Wagner hypothesis from sectoral perspective and revenue-expenditure hypothesis for South Africa for the period 1984–2020. Fully modified least squares and dynamic least squares and canonical cointegration regression were used to achieve the objectives of the study. Empirical regression results showed that there is a negative impact of the secondary sector GDP on public health expenditure. Thus, invalidating the Wagner hypothesis and suggesting that secondary sector GDP cannot serves as an answer for public health expenditure. However, there was a positive relationship between tertiary sector GDP and public health expenditure. The study make case for unceasing provision of an enabling environment that continuously support growth of the tertiary sector.

This study examines how the smoking behavior of household head impacts the food insecurity status of household in South Africa, with a focus on smoking behavior transition. The study used the fifth wave of the 2017 National Income Dynamics Study survey. Additionally, the smoking transition variable was computed using smoking status in waves 3 and 5 of the survey. Foster-Greer-Thorbecke food insecurity index, descriptive statistics, and logit regression techniques were deployed in the study. Surprisingly, the analysis shows that households headed by current smokers have a lower prevalence of food insecurity (compared to households whose heads are nonsmokers). Similarly, household food insecurity prevalence is lesser for homes whose head initiated smoking behavior or remained a smoker compared to those whose head remained a nonsmoker or transition to nonsmoking. Nevertheless, the findings from the applied logit regression suggested that household food insecurity significantly increases when a household head is a current smoker and a consistent smoker. The finding indicates that household head smoking behavior does contribute to household food insecurity in South Africa. The need to address food insecurity at the household level is a compelling argument for tobacco smoking cessation or control in addition to health consequence concerns.

(1) Background: Labor market outcomes can be directly or indirectly influenced by the health behavior patterns of the labor force. This study assesses the association between patterns of physical activity and smoking behavior maintenance (and their transitions) and the labor market outcomes of employment participation and formal employment participation. (2) Methods: The sample evaluated in this study comprises adult individuals aged 18 and above from wave 5 of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a chi-square test, and bivariate probit regression techniques. (3) Results: The bivariate probit regression results regarding the impact of health behavior transition and maintenance patterns on labor market outcomes show that transitioning to physically active behavior or maintaining physically active behavior increases the likelihood of participating in the labor market and being employed in the formal sector compared to those ceasing to be physically active over time. Surprisingly, both the maintenance and uptake of smoking behavior increases the probability of the occurrence of both labor market outcome variables. (4) Conclusions: These findings have both explicit and implicit implications that can serve to increase labor force participation probability and to promote healthy behavior. There is a need for community-wide campaigns via promotions and media coverage to promote active physical activity among the labor force group. Also, interventions to support individuals who lack extensive social networks is necessary. The results further highlight the importance of education, rural economic development, and good health status for desirable labor market outcomes.

Urbanization has been argued to be having an impact on several other development challenges. To this end, this paper aims to contribute to the empirical literature by exploring the effect of urbanization and its' magnitude on poverty, both in the short run and long run in Nigeria. The macroeconomic analysis was conducted using data from 1982 to 2017 which was obtained from the World Bank. Bound Test and autoregressive distributed-lag (ARDL) estimation techniques were used to test the existence of a cointegration relationship and to estimate the short and long-run effect of urbanization and other variables on poverty reduction. Results from the study and an economic standpoint, provide strong evidence that urbanization remains an important factor in poverty reduction in Nigeria. The analysis further shows that while international remittances have a positive and significant effect, foreign aid and government expenditure have significant negative effects on poverty reduction in the long-term period. While findings from this study suggest that urbanization remains a valid tool in the fight against poverty, the need for sustainable urbanization policies and efforts by the Nigerian government is highly imperative.

Introduction: Development of information and communication technology has been identified as a tool for fast and effective information gathering and dissemination, and as a means through which almost every social and economic sector (including the health sector) could achieve economic, operational, and service delivery efficiencies that can enable the realization of targeted outcomes. ICT can serve as a tool for achieving international agreements (including the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978), thereby accelerating the achievement of various global development targets.Methods: Consequently, based on a sample of 38 countries from 2000 to 2018, this study investigates the effect of ICT development on the health gap, and whether the effect varies by gender and sub-region in Africa. The dependent variable (health gap) was measured as the difference between the achieved life expectancy at birth of 60 years and the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 targeted life expectancy at birth of 60 years. The main independent variables are ICT indicators (ICT index, mobile cellular subscriptions, and internet access), while the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the measure of economic growth, healthcare expenditure, urbanization, and labor market outcome, is employed as control variables. The effect was examined using Driscoll-Kraay standard errors, feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), and panel-corrected standard error (PCSE).Results and discussion: The findings of the Driscoll-Kraay standard errors estimation technique supported by those of FGLS and PCSE suggest that ICT does act as an indispensable stimulator for Africa to significantly exceed the international health target of life expectancy at birth of 60 years. It can be concluded that African leaders need to take advantage and maximize the health-enhancing potential of the internet component of ICT through relevant policies that would improve internet coverage, connectivity, and access for individuals and health institutions.