#LSMS@15: 15 years of experience collecting longitudinal data for better lives

The Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) is a household survey program housed within the World Bank's Development Data Group that provides technical assistance to national statistical offices (NSOs) in low- and middle-income countries on the design and implementation of multi-topic household surveys. The program also develops and promotes the adoption of innovations and standards in survey data collection to support evidence-based policymaking.

Since 2008, the program has been implementing the LSMS-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) initiative, which has been supporting unique systems of longitudinal surveys that are designed to improve the understanding of household and individual welfare, livelihoods, and smallholder agriculture in Africa. Partnering with national statistical offices (NSOs) in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, the LSMS-ISA has supported over 33 country-owned, nationally-representative, multi-topic longitudinal household survey rounds, amounting to more than 160,000 household interviews across Africa and leading to more than 6,400 publications that have been informed by the data from the LSMS-ISA-supported surveys. In the words of Professor Douglas Gollin (Tufts University), “any objective look at the uses and impact of the LSMS-ISA program leads to the inescapable conclusion that the current effort has had a significant impact on research in development economics – and correspondingly on global knowledge.”

The conference will feature research papers that are sole- or co-authored by African researchers that are using the data from any of the surveys that have been supported by the LSMS-ISA initiative in eight partner countries. Preference will be given to African presenters.

The conference’s call for papers has concluded its selection process. The chosen papers will center their research on various critical topics, including:

• Poverty dynamics, income, and welfare: Examining the changes in poverty levels over time, income disparities, and the overall well-being of communities.
• Nutrition and food security: Investigating issues related to access to nutritious food, food scarcity, and the impact on individuals’ health and security.
• Climate change and resilience: Analyzing the effects of climate change on communities and exploring strategies to enhance their resilience in the face of environmental challenges.
• Structural transformation and labor mobility: Understanding shifts in economic structures and the movement of labor within economies, particularly in the context of developing regions.
• Smallholder agriculture, including productivity, technology adoption, climate-smart agriculture: Focusing on the challenges and opportunities faced by small-scale farmers, including their adoption of modern agricultural practices and climate-resilient techniques.
• Gender: Investigating gender-related issues in the context of development, including disparities in access to resources, education, and economic opportunities.
• Methods and tools for survey data collection: Sharing innovative approaches and tools for collecting and analyzing survey data, which are crucial for evidence-based policymaking.

For more information, please contact the LSMS team at lsms2023@worldbank.org.

Logistics

The organizers will cover the travel and accommodation arrangements and expenses of the presenters of the selected papers. The presentations will be in-person only.

Organizing Committee

• Emilian Karugendo, Director, Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics.
• Amparo Palacios-Lopez, Senior Economist, World Bank
• Akuffo Amankwah, Economist, World Bank

For more information, please contact the LSMS team at lsms2023@worldbank.org.