{"id":1766,"date":"2025-10-15T13:35:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T17:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/marsh-institute\/research-projects\/eradicating-the-disease-of-the-empty-granary-health-structural-transformation-and-intergenerational-mobility-in-west-africa-2\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T09:01:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T13:01:57","slug":"eradicating-the-disease-of-the-empty-granary-health-structural-transformation-and-intergenerational-mobility-in-west-africa-2","status":"publish","type":"research-projects","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/marsh-institute\/research-projects\/eradicating-the-disease-of-the-empty-granary-health-structural-transformation-and-intergenerational-mobility-in-west-africa-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Eradicating the Disease of the Empty Granary: Health, Structural Transformation, and Intergenerational Mobility in West Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Although structural transformation \u2013 the movement of workers from agriculture into manufacturing and services in cities \u2013 is a key component of economic development, its microeconomic foundations are not well-understood. However, recent empirical work has shown that scientific breakthroughs such as genetically engineered soybeans or massive irrigation infrastructure projects can lead to structural transformation by increasing agricultural productivity. Notably, however, these examples relied on developments that are likely beyond the capabilities of many of the lowest-income countries. This project seeks to answer the question: Are there more cost-effective national-level interventions that can increase agricultural productivity and thus accelerate structural transformation in developing economies? The question will be answered through a case study analysis of the (near) eradication of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) in West Africa beginning in 1990.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although structural transformation \u2013 the movement of workers from agriculture into manufacturing and services in cities \u2013 is a key component of economic development, its microeconomic foundations are not well-understood. However, recent empirical work has shown that scientific breakthroughs such as genetically engineered soybeans or massive irrigation infrastructure projects can lead to structural transformation by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[20],"principal-investigator":[328],"funding-agency":[329],"class_list":["post-1766","research-projects","type-research-projects","status-publish","hentry","tag-current","principal-investigator-jon-denton-schneider","funding-agency-united-nations-university"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Eradicating the Disease of the Empty Granary: Health, Structural Transformation, and Intergenerational Mobility in West Africa | George Perkins Marsh Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/marsh-institute\/research-projects\/eradicating-the-disease-of-the-empty-granary-health-structural-transformation-and-intergenerational-mobility-in-west-africa-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eradicating the Disease of the Empty Granary: Health, Structural Transformation, and Intergenerational Mobility in West Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although structural transformation \u2013 the movement of workers from agriculture into manufacturing and services in cities \u2013 is a key component of economic development, its microeconomic foundations are not well-understood. 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