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The lack of health insurance for smallholder farmers in most sub‐Saharan African countries hurts the families and can also negatively affect agriculture production, exports, and tax revenues. This paper analyzes the linkage between medical emergencies and agriculture exports and the corresponding tax revenues for smallholder farmers in Côte d'Ivoire. It uses two complementary datasets: the 2016 Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) smallholder survey and the 2015 Côte d'Ivoire living standard survey. The paper finds that a medical emergency is negatively and significantly associated with a decrease in the likelihood that a smallholder farmer cultivates cocoa of 3.9 percentage points, driving them into poverty and reducing productivity at the lower quantiles. The paper then estimates that medical emergencies can be correlated with the decline in cocoa exports of $853 million and in tax revenues of $125 million, representing 0.2% of the Ivorian gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies on the determinants of employees' participation in decision‐making have ignored the sector dualism (formal sector vs. informal sector) in developing countries, despite the differences in the characteristics of formal and informal firms. This paper tests the idea that a firm's formal versus informal status matters, using firm‐level data from Côte d'Ivoire. It emerges that a firm's formality status influences positively its probability to involve employees in decision‐making. This result holds after controlling for manager‐, firm‐, and sector‐level factors. Ultimately, the paper contributes to sending the signal that formalization of informal firms in developing countries should be beneficial to their decision‐making process and thereby to their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper offers a detailed review of African firms' participation to international value chains and provides new quantitative insights on two countries, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, based on a unique dataset, which was obtained by merging firm census and detailed customs transactions over time. "GVC firms" are defined as firms that both export and import, with positive production and labour. The paper characterises GVC firms in the two countries. GVC firms represent about 15% of manufacturing firms; they are more frequent than pure exporters, a sign of the challenges faced by firms in those countries if they want to sell abroad. In line with the literature on firm heterogeneity and trade, firms engaged in GVCs are larger, more productive and live longer than one‐way‐traders or domestic firms. African markets are the main destination of manufacturing GVCs in Ivory Coast, while Cameroon GVC firms rely on OECD (including for agricultural exports). There is limited cross‐penetration between African‐oriented and OECD‐oriented GVC firms over time. The probability of moving into a GVC is higher for exporters than for importers, showing that exporting is a stepping stone for African firms to join a GVC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atchan is a Kwa language spoken by approximately 150,000 people in and around Abidjan in southern Côte d'Ivoire. In this paper, I describe aspects of the phonology of Atchan, including its consonant and vowel inventory, syllable structure, patterns of nasalisation, and lexical and grammatical tone. I provide examples from primary data collected in collaboration with native speakers of Atchan. This article offers the first comprehensive sketch of Atchan phonology in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes changes in agricultural productivity gender gaps in Côte d'Ivoire between 2008 and 2016 using decomposition methods. The analysis finds that the gender gap went from 40% in food crops and 17% in exports crops in 2008, to 19% in food crops and a statistical zero in export crops in 2016. The overall gender gap decreased by 15 percentage points over this period, and is statistically insignificant in 2016 once accounting for whether households farm export crops. Moreover, our results show that while some drivers of the gender gap remain stable across the decade (including total land cultivated, and pesticide and fertilizer use), others change their contribution (number of plots, crop choice and household labor). Despite substantial improvements, female‐headed households in the bottom half of the distribution remain disadvantaged. Our results indicate that strengthening women's access to agricultural labor and adoption of export crops are policy priorities to reach gender parity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the threat of political violence affect wellbeing? We argue that political violence induced by elections reduces wellbeing as it provokes emotional reactions like anxiety and fear. There is a lingering effect from political violence that reemerges with new rounds of elections, and that reduces wellbeing. To test this claim, we employ an experimental analysis in Côte d'Ivoire. We motivate political violence via a treatment about the 2020 election, and the proximity of the 2020 election. We find that each has a negative effect on wellbeing. In Côte d'Ivoire, we also consider the direct effect of political violence on wellbeing, and find that it is inversely associated with wellbeing. Finally, we extend the analysis of election proximity to Nigeria during the 2023 election. The results here show that proximity is (i) inversely associated with wellbeing and (ii) that it is directly associated with the expectation of political violence. In all cases, political violence lowers self‐assessed wellbeing. We argue that this effect is likely to be greater for women than men, but find that it is generally true for the latter. We conclude the paper with considerations about its generalizability, ideas for future research, and policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guébie is an Eastern Kru language spoken by about 7000 people in the Gagnoa prefecture of Côte d'Ivoire. This paper provides an overview of the phonology of Guébie, including the complex tone system with four contrastive pitch heights, multiple types of vowel harmony, reduplication in multiple morphosyntactic contexts, CVCV/CCV alternations, and the phonotactic behaviour of implosives as sonorant‐like rather than obstruent‐like. Comparisons with other Kru and West African languages are made along the way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Process innovation has been shown to influence positively firms' productivity. This has led to a fruitful literature on its determinants. However, in the context of developing countries, the potential role of firms' formal versus informal status as a determinant has been overlooked. The objective of this paper is to fill this gap in the literature by analyzing the effect of firms' formal versus informal status on the introduction of process innovation using data from Côte d'Ivoire. Econometric estimations show that formality status positively influences the introduction of process innovation. This result remains unchanged when the industrial, services, and trade sectors are considered separately. Policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cross‐border livestock mobility through transhumance is mainly practiced in West African countries for seasonal access to resources and market. Cross‐border herds are involved in the dynamic of transboundary animal diseases among them brucellosis taken as model. Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease causing abortion. Objectives: This study explores the seroprevalence of brucellosis according to mobility and infection spread between Mali and Côte d'Ivoire in the context of seasonal cross‐border transhumance. Methods: From February to April 2021, a transversal serological survey of brucellosis was conducted on 521 cattle from 111 transhumant herds and 283 cattle from 59 sedentary herds, all from Mali. Results: The global individual seroprevalence for Brucella spp. in transhumant and sedentary cattle from Mali was 8.2% (95% CI = 6.0–10.5). At herd level, seroprevalence was 21.2% with a significant variation between transhumant (11.7%) and sedentary (39.0%) herds. For herds in transhumance, cattle seropositivity was associated with a previous infection suspected by herdsmen odds ratio (OR = 4.4; 95% CI = 1.1–18.1) and unknown abortion aetiology (OR = 4.3; 95% CI = 1.0–17.3). The departure region (coming from Sikasso) and previous brucellosis infection or unexplained abortion could be used to predict Brucella infection in transhumant herds with a probability of around 60%. The risk of brucellosis introduction in host regions was high despite the individual animal seroprevalence of 3.6% and a low sale rate in transhumant cattle. Conclusions: The findings suggest that testing transhumant during border control and survey of cattle markets and sales could improve risk control of the spread of disease at regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ecology & Evolution (20457758) is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim: The African Guineo‐Congolian (GC) region is a global biodiversity hotspot with high species endemism, bioclimatic heterogeneity, complex landscape features, and multiple biogeographic barriers. Bioclimatic and geographic variables influence global patterns of species richness and endemism, but their relative importance varies across taxa and regions and is poorly understood for many faunas. Here, we test the hypothesis that turnover in endemic amphibians of the GC biodiversity hotspot is influenced mainly by the geographic distance between grid cells and secondarily by rainfall‐ and temperature‐related variables. Location: West and Central Africa. Major Taxa Studied: Amphibians. Methods: We compiled species‐occurrence records via field sampling, online databases, and taxonomic literature. Our study used 1205 unique georeferenced records of 222 amphibian species endemic to the GC region. Patterns of species richness were mapped onto a grid with a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5°. We estimated weighted endemism and tested whether endemism was higher than the expected species richness (randomization test). We quantified species turnover using generalized dissimilarity modelling to evaluate the processes underlying observed patterns of species richness in GC endemic amphibians. We explored bioregionalization using agglomerative hierarchical clustering based on the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages. Results: We identified seven areas within the lower GC region – forests in Cameroon, Gabon, Southern Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cote d'Ivoire – as having high species richness of endemic amphibians. The randomization test returned four major areas of significant weighted endemism: Nigeria‐Cameroon mountains, forest regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, and Ghana. Our analysis revealed five bioregions for amphibian endemism, four of which were located within the lower Guineo‐Congolian forest. Species turnover was strongly related to the geographic distance between grid cells; contributing bioclimatic variables included precipitation of the warmest quarter, mean temperature of the wettest quarter, and mean diurnal temperature range. Main Conclusions: Our results indicate that geographic distance between grid cells is the primary determinant of turnover in GC endemic amphibians, with secondary but significant effects of rainfall‐ and temperature‐related variables. Our study identifies key areas of endemic amphibian richness that could be prioritized for conservation actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor complementary feeding (CF) challenges early childhood growth. We examined the trends and influencing factors of CF practices among children aged 6–23 months in Côte d'Ivoire. Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS, 1994–2011) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS, 2000–2016), the trends and predictors of World Health Organization‐United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund CF indicators including the timely introduction of complementary foods (INTRO), minimum meal frequency (MMF), minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and minimum acceptable diet (MAD) were determined. Using 2016 MICS data, we applied multivariate logistic regression models to identify factors associated with CF indicators. Between 1994 and 2016, the mean proportion of children aged 6–8 months achieving INTRO was 56.9% and increased by about 25% points since 2006. Over 2011–2016, the proportion of children aged 6–23 months meeting MMF, MDD and MAD increased from 40.2% to 47.7%, 11.3% to 26.0% and 4.6% to 12.5%, respectively. Older children and those from urban households had higher odds of meeting MDD and MAD. Maternal TV watching was associated with higher odds of meeting MDD. The secondary or higher education levels of mothers significantly predicted higher odds of meeting INTRO and MDD. Currently, breastfeeding was also positively associated with odds of meeting MMF and MAD. Children from poorer households had lower odds of meeting MMF, MDD and MAD. Despite the improvements, CF practices remain suboptimal in Côte d'Ivoire. Influencing factors associated with CF were distributed across individual, household and community levels, calling for future programmes and policies to implement multi‐level strategies to improve young children's diet in Côte d'Ivoire. Key messages: Over 2006–2016, the proportion of children aged 6–23 months meeting complementary feeding (CF) indicators, including introduction of complementary foods, minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency and minimum acceptable diet (MAD), improved steadily.Suboptimal CF practices remain a concern, with 12.5% of children aged 6–23 months meeting MAD in 2016.Inappropriate CF practices are significantly associated with factors at individual (child age, maternal education TV watching and currently breastfeeding), household (wealth and urbanicity) and community levels (community‐level access to health care). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of African Journal of Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that differences in crown structure, enamel growth, and crown geometry in Cercocebus and Lophocebus molars covary with differences in the feeding strategies (habitual vs. fallback durophagy, respectively) of these two genera. Relative to Lophocebus molars, Cercocebus molars are predicted to possess features associated with greater fracture resistance and to differ in enamel growth parameters related to these features. Materials and Methods: Sample proveniences are as follows: Cercocebus atys molars are from the Taï Forest, Ivory Coast; Lophocebus albigena molars are from a site north of Makoua, Republic of Congo; and a Lophocebus atterimus molar is from the Lomako Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo. For μCT scans on which aspects of molar form were measured, sample sizes ranged from 5 to 35 for Cercocebus and 3 to 12 for Lophocebus. A subsample of upper molars was physically sectioned to measure enamel growth variables. Results: Partly as a function of their larger size, Cercocebus molars had significantly greater absolute crown strength (ACS) than Lophocebus molars, supporting the hypothesis. Greater crown heights in Cercocebus are achieved through faster enamel extension rates. Also supporting the hypothesis, molar flare and proportional occlusal basin enamel thickness were significantly greater in Cercocebus. Relative enamel thickness (RET), however, was significantly greater in Lophocebus. Discussion: If ACS is a better predictor of fracture resistance than RET, then Cercocebus molars may be more fracture resistant than those of Lophocebus. Greater molar flare and proportional occlusal basin thickness might also afford Cercocebus molars greater fracture resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of psychomotor development in young children from low‐ and middle‐income countries is impeded due to the lack of tools specifically designed for these resource‐constrained contexts. This cross‐sectional study aimed at analysing the measurement properties of the Kilifi Developmental Inventory (KDI) in two‐year‐old children. We administered the KDI to 289 children from Côte d'Ivoire and 230 children from Ghana. The postulated internal structure with two first‐order latent variables (locomotor performance and eye‐hand coordination) that loaded on a second‐order latent variable (psychomotor functioning) was supported. The reliability of most factors and scales was sufficient. Interrater reliability of most items was acceptable. Correlations were weak between the scale scores and age and gender, respectively. The findings are limited by the restricted age range of the sample. Overall, the KDI showed promising measurement properties for the assessment of psychomotor performance in children from sub‐Saharan countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unsuccessful drillings are issues in groundwater exploration using electrical resistivity profiling (ERP) and vertical electrical sounding (VES). Many geophysical companies spend a lot of money without obtaining the flow rate (FR) required during the campaigns for drinking water supply (CDWS). To solve this problem, we applied the support vector machines (SVMs) to real‐world data to predict the FRs before any drilling operations. First, from the ERP and VES, the features such as shape, type, power, magnitude, pseudo‐fracturing index, and ohmic‐area were defined including the geology of the survey area. Second, the FRs were categorized into four classes (dry: FR0 (FR = 0), unsustainable: FR1 (0 < FR ≤ 1), and productive boreholes: FR2 (1 < FR ≤ 3) and FR3 (FR > 3 m3/hr)) and associated with the features to compose two separated data sets: a multiclass data set (D $\mathcal{D}$) for common prediction during the CDWS and a binary data set Db ${\mathcal{D}}_{b}$ (FR < FR2, FR ≥ FR2) addressed to the population living in a rural area. Features were vectorized and data were transformed before feeding to the SVM algorithms. As a result, the SVM models performed 77% of good predictions on D $\mathcal{D}$ and 83% on Db ${\mathcal{D}}_{b}$. Better performances with the optimal hyper‐parameters in D $\mathcal{D}$ (81.61%) and Db ${\mathcal{D}}_{b}$ (87.36%) were achieved using the polynomial and radial basis function kernels respectively. Furthermore, the learning curves have shown that the performance scores on D $\mathcal{D}$ can be improved if larger training data becomes available (275 test samples at least) while it is not necessarily so for Db ${\mathcal{D}}_{b}$. As a benefit, the proposed approach could minimize the rate of unsuccessful drillings during future CDWS. Plain Language Summary: The electrical resistivity profiling and the vertical electrical sounding are cheap geophysical subsurface imaging methods. They are most preferred to find groundwater during the campaigns of drinking water supply, especially in developing countries. However, despite the use of both methods, the numerous unsuccessful drillings, due to their wrong locations, have considerably increased the budget of the project and thereby limiting the number of boreholes previously intended for the population. To solve this problem, a technique was developed using one famous method of artificial intelligence called support vector machines to predict the flow rate (FR) before the drilling operations. To check the efficiency of the proposed approach, the technique was tested with data from a region in the northern part of Cote d'Ivoire (West Africa), which faced a considerable water shortage. The results show 77% capability to predict an accurate FR and 83% when the problem is addressed to the population living in a rural area. Henceforth, the proposed technique can be used to select the right locations expecting to give the recommended FR to minimize the rate of unsuccessful drillings, and indirectly reduce the problem of water scarcity. Key Points: The support vector machines (SVMs) are used to predict groundwater flow rate (FR) before the drilling operationsPrediction data are gathered from electrical profiling, vertical electrical sounding, and boreholesThe SVM models correctly perform 77% and 83% of FR predictions for multiclass and binary data sets respectively [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates public debt sustainability, in the context of a novel exogenous shock, by proposing a realistic forecasting procedure. The procedure implies the combination of a Bayesian VAR model and a nonlinear fiscal reaction model to derive a large number of simulated public debt paths and construct a probabilistic debt sustainability indicator. Annual data covering the period from 1970 to 2019 are used in the African context, with Côte d'Ivoire as a case study. Forecasts suggest low probabilities of non‐increasing trend and well‐contained upside risks (16%–27%) in Côte d'Ivoire for the forecasting period 2021–2024, regardless of the scenario underlying the evolution of COVID‐19 and suggesting that the country remains vulnerable to debt distress risks. Government should promote a sound and reliable debt management system to mitigate such risks. Results also highlight the importance of domestic resources mobilization in reducing the country's fiscal vulnerability and building a sustainable post‐COVID recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the complex links between land reform and peacebuilding through a case study of Côte d'Ivoire. The country provides fertile ground for analysis given its torturous history of land conflict and civil war, its enduring debates surrounding land reform, and its ongoing efforts to consolidate peace. The article argues that while the failure to address the agrarian dimensions of the country's longstanding conflict undermines long‐term prospects of bridging deep political and societal divides, aggressive attempts to tackle the land question at the outset of the peacebuilding process may have threatened the fragile peace of the post‐conflict period. The analysis thus highlights the political risks involved in undertaking land reform during periods of precarious peacebuilding. In so doing, the article draws upon insights from over 70 interviews with local stakeholders and document analysis of key primary documents from the Ivorian government, the United Nations Security Council, and the World Bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do the cognitive biases established in WEIRD populations also exist in other populations? We test the implications of dual‐process theory by varying experimental scenarios between those hypothesized to produce different levels of emotional response within a developing‐country context. We hypothesize that respondents in an African setting will exhibit rational responses to questions about disease and corruption as these are relatively normalized parts of life, but they may be subject to framing biases under emotionally provocative events like terrorist events. In a series of field experiments conducted in Côte d'Ivoire, we find that respondents exhibit responses that are consistent with the expectations of the rational‐choice model. However, when evaluating a question about terrorism, responses deviate from rationality and do so most significantly in Grand Bassam where a major attack occurred, consistent with the predictions of the availability heuristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Since the campaign launched by UNICEF in 2013, the momentum for measuring violence has grown significantly. Such studies generally measure risk and protective factors at the individual and interpersonal levels, but often overlook the critical institutional and structural drivers of violence. Purpose: This article demonstrates how socioeconomic transformations, including "modern" forms of violence fuelled by social fragmentation, armed conflict and urbanization, are important conditions favouring violence against children. Approach and methods: The article offers a systematic literature review following protocols in the original Multi‐Country Study on the Drivers of Violence Affecting Children, an approach first proposed by the UNICEF Office of Research ‐ Innocenti. Findings: We underline two main changes among the drivers of violence in Côte d'Ivoire: economic crisis and urbanization, which combine to foster a climate of violence; and politico‐military crisis, which also creates a fertile ground for violence and its acceptance. Policy implications: Child protection policy in Côte d'Ivoire is out of step with the evolution of the social context. It is mainly oriented towards "traditional" practices, which contrast with newer forms of violence developed over the past 30 years. The article shows that the country's child protection policy does not take these changes sufficiently into account, and argues for policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the role of quality management in the internalization of environmental practices. A qualitative study based on interviews with 35 practitioners was conducted in three African countries (Cameroon, Senegal, and Ivory Coast). The results highlight the contrasting roles played by the main reference model for quality management—International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001—in the internalization of the international standard for corporate environmental management—ISO 14001—with positive points related to formal and documentary aspects and perverse effects such as increased bureaucracy and a focus on quality at the expense of the environment. The results also point to four configurations of integration of environmental practices according to the level of quality management internalization and the level of institutional pressure to adopt corporate environmental management: poor integration, partial integration, substantial integration, and sustainable integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]