Development Policy Review
March 2016 Volume 34, Issue 2 Pages 177–319
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dpr.2016.34.issue-2/issuetoc

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Original Articles
Targeting Disaster Aid in Post-Tsunami Sri Lanka (pages 179–195)
Asha Gunawardena and Jean-Marie Baland
Article first published online: 2 FEB 2016 | DOI: 10.1111/dpr.12148
Abstract
In this article we examine the allocation of boats and houses, the two major types of aid made available to tsunami-affected fishery households in Sri Lanka. We investigate the effectiveness of targeting by looking at the distributional impacts and the determinants of allocation of these transfers at the household level. We find that houses were much better targeted than boats in terms of compensating for the losses due to the tsunami. We also find that the ex post distribution of boats is much more unequal than the distribution that prevailed before the tsunami. The reverse is true for the distribution of houses, for which the government took a much more active role.

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Household Enterprises and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa (pages 197–221)
Louise Fox and Thomas Pave Sohnesen
Article first published online: 2 FEB 2016 | DOI: 10.1111/dpr.12152
Abstract
Employment in Household Enterprises (HEs) has been an integral part of the recent economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Yet employment and development strategies tend to exclude the sector, despite the fact that households with HEs tend to be richer. A good example is Mozambique, where 34% of households rely on income from this source. Analysis of household livelihoods using panel data shows that starting HEs is associated with upward wealth mobility and poverty reduction, particularly for rural and poorly-educated households. Targeted programmes directed towards the constraints to HE creation, survival and income growth would be likely to enhance the effectiveness of employment and poverty reduction strategies in Mozambique as well as in other low income countries in SSA.

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Effects of ‘women empowerment’ on household food security in rural KwaZulu-Natal province (pages 223–252)
S. Sharaunga, M. Mudhara and A. Bogale
Article first published online: 2 FEB 2016 | DOI: 10.1111/dpr.12151
Abstract
Understanding the dimensions of ‘women’s empowerment’ that influence food security among rural households is crucial to inform policy. This study uses the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) to identify the food security status of 300 primary female-headed households in Msinga, South Africa. Principal Component Analysis was then used to identify the various dimensions along which the rural women sampled were empowered. Finally, the Ordered Logit model was used to identify the dimensions of women’s empowerment that influence their household food security status. It was found that households headed by women with higher levels of economic agency, physical capital empowerment, psychological empowerment and farm financial management skills empowerment were more likely to be food secure.