Child Growth, Shocks, and Food Aid in Rural Ethiopia
Over the past decades child stunting in Ethiopia has persisted at alarming rates. While the country experienced several droughts during this period, it also received enormous amounts of food aid, leading some to question the effectiveness of food a...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/08/2504036/child-growth-shocks-food-aid-rural-ethiopia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18135 |
| Summary: | Over the past decades child stunting in
Ethiopia has persisted at alarming rates. While the country
experienced several droughts during this period, it also
received enormous amounts of food aid, leading some to
question the effectiveness of food aid in reducing child
malnutrition. Using nationally representative household
surveys from 1995-96 and controlling for program placement,
Yamano, Alderman, and Christiaensen find that children
between 6 and 24 months experienced about 0.9 cm less growth
over a six-month period in communities where half the crop
area was damaged compared with those without crop damage.
Food aid was also found to have a substantial effect on the
growth of children in this age group. And on average, the
total amount of food aid appeared to be sufficient to
protect children against plot damage, an encouraging sign
that food aid can act as an effective insurance mechanism,
though its cost-effectiveness needs further investigation. |
|---|