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Women wearing colorful clothes carry goods in baskets on their heads in a market in Accra, Ghana.

Gender norms and women's work: Reflecting on current evidence and policy opportunities

While the challenges women face in entering and remaining in the labor market are not new, they have worsened in the wake of the pandemic. One of the barriers to women’s economic empowerment and labor market participation is restrictive gender norms relating to the acceptability of women working...
A male farmer standing in a field of crops looks down at a mobile phone that he is holding.

Evidence for digital and bundled services: Framing a research agenda for the Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative

As the reach of digital agricultural services has grown rapidly within the last few years, building an evidence base on how these services should be designed, implemented, and scaled to best align with the priorities of small-scale producers is an important and timely issue—and one that J-PAL's...
A large group of mostly women, many of whom are wearing purple, sits in front of a stage with eight people on it.

Affiliate Spotlight: Sandip Sukhtankar on his path to becoming a economist and the value of interdisciplinary collaboration

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Sandip Sukhtankar is an associate professor of economics at the University of Virginia. He serves on the board of J-PAL’s Digital Identification and Finance Initiative in Africa (DigiFI Africa) and co-directs the Payments and Governance Research Program (PGRP) hosted at J-PAL South Asia. Sandip’s...
Women in Kenya walk along town street while in conversation.

Unpacking the evidence on social programs in sub-Saharan Africa

J-PAL Africa recently concluded a five-part blog series providing evidence-informed perspectives on key debates in the fight against poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting lessons for policymakers.

Prepaid versus Postpaid Electricity: Provision, Access, and Efficiency

Many countries in Africa are transitioning from postpaid to prepaid electricity metering. However, the way this transition will affect households is not well understood. What are the differences between the two billing systems, and how can they affect energy access?
Unidentified Ghanaian pupils in school uniform in a local village. Photo: nicolasdecorte | Shutterstock.com

Want to get girls to school in sub-Saharan Africa? Tackle poverty

Female education remains a key challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to the largest population of out-of-school girls. Poverty remains a key barrier to school enrolment, especially following the economic disruptions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Can governments really hope to tackle...
Headshot of Dr. Nkechi Owoo

African Scholar Spotlight: Dr. Nkechi Owoo

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In this post we speak with Dr. Nkechi Owoo, a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana. Nkechi’s primary research interests relate to gender, health, demography, and poverty alleviation.
Farmers in Malawi gather around a laptop to learn about fingerprinting technology.

Challenges of fingerprinting: Will digital IDs revolutionise service delivery in sub-Saharan Africa?

Can digital IDs and biometric data collection really revolutionise service delivery in Africa? Digital identification systems could assist the delivery of emergency relief programs by uniquely identifying individuals in the target countries, generating a cleaner and more precise database. However...