Effects of food price shocks on child malnutrition: The Mozambican experience 2008/2009

Resource type
Authors/contributors
Title
Effects of food price shocks on child malnutrition: The Mozambican experience 2008/2009
Abstract
A propitiously timed household survey carried out in Mozambique over the period 2008/ 2009 permits us to study the relationship between shifts in food prices and child nutrition status in a low income setting. We focus on weight-for-height and weight-for-age in different survey quarters characterized by very different food price inflation rates. Using propensity score matching techniques, we find that these nutrition measures, which are sensitive in the short run, improve significantly in the fourth quarter of the survey, when the inflation rate for basic food products is low, compared to the first semester or three quarters, when food price inflation was generally high. The prevalence of underweight, in particular, falls by about 40 percent. We conclude that the best available evidence points to food penury, driven by the food and fuel price crisis combined with a short agricultural production year, as substantially increasing malnutrition amongst under-five children in Mozambique.
Publication
Elsevier
Date
2016
Language
English
Short Title
Effects of food price shocks on child malnutrition
Accessed
13/03/2023, 17:14
Citation
Arndt, C., Hussain, M. A., Salvucci, V., & Østerdal, L. P. (2016). Effects of food price shocks on child malnutrition: The Mozambican experience 2008/2009. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2016.03.003
Sectors / Setores
Geography / Geografia
Language / Linguagem