IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/jasjnl/v8y2016i4p60.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Agricultural Diversification and Commercialization on Child Nutrition in Zambia: A Dose Response Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Rhoda Mofya-Mukuka
  • Christian Kuhlgatz

Abstract

Zambia, and in particular Eastern Province, has one of the highest levels of malnutrition in the world with 40% of the children having stunted growth. Agricultural diversification and commercialization remain critical for improving the nutrition status of children. However, the impact may vary according to the level of the two agricultural interventions. Results from the dose response function using generalised propensity score method showed that for commercialization, there is highest risk of stunting at medium commercialization levels at 50%. A farm at this point can improve nutrition status by moving either towards high or towards zero levels. Commercialization has a negative effect on short-term nutrition outcomes leading to underweight and wasting. This could indicate that in areas with less everyday access to a range of food items, capital accumulation may not help to avoid deficiencies in child nutrition. In combination with our findings on diversification, two policy options can be recommended. Either the households specialize in cash crops to increase income, or they go into subsistence farming with high levels of diversification. Other off-farm income sources are suggested for resilience in case of yield shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Rhoda Mofya-Mukuka & Christian Kuhlgatz, 2016. "Impact of Agricultural Diversification and Commercialization on Child Nutrition in Zambia: A Dose Response Analysis," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(4), pages 1-60, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:jasjnl:v:8:y:2016:i:4:p:60
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jas/article/download/56283/31094
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jas/article/view/56283
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shahidur R. Khandker & Wahiduddin Mahmud, 2012. "Seasonal Hunger and Public Policies : Evidence from Northwest Bangladesh," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 9373.
    2. Hendriks, Sheryl L. & Msaki, Mark M., 2009. "The impact of smallholder commercialisation of organic crops on food consumption patterns, dietary diversity and consumption elasticities," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 48(2), pages 200-200, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kuhlgatz, Christian & Mofya-Mukuka, Rhoda, 2015. "Agricultural Commercialization and Child Nutrition: Lessons from the Eastern Province of Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Policy Briefs 208578, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    2. Mofya-Mukuka, Rhoda & Kulhgatz, Christian H., "undated". "Child Malnutrition, Agricultural Diversification and Commercialization among Smallholder Farmers in Eastern Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 198189, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    3. Abu S. Shonchoy, 2015. "Seasonal Migration and Microcredit During Agricultural Lean Seasons: Evidence from Northwest Bangladesh," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 53(1), pages 1-26, March.
    4. Basu, Karna & Wong, Maisy, 2015. "Evaluating seasonal food storage and credit programs in east Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 200-216.
    5. Bartoš, Vojtěch, 2021. "Seasonal scarcity and sharing norms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 303-316.
    6. Nartey Menzo, Benjamin Prince & Mogre, Diana & Asuamah Yeboah, Samuel, 2024. "Beyond Income: The Complexities of Credit Risk in Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 122364, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Sep 2024.
    7. Bryan, Gharad & Chowdhury, Shyamal & Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq & Morten, Melanie & Smits, Joeri, 2021. "Encouragement and Distortionary Effects of Conditional Cash Transfers," IZA Discussion Papers 14326, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Kitsuki, Akinori & Sakurai, Takeshi, 2016. "Seasonal Hunger: Heterogenous Impacts of Seasonal Price Changes on Seasonal Consumption in Rural Zambia," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235524, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Gabriel Picone & Assi José Carlos Kimou & Désiré Kanga, 2023. "Medical emergencies and farm productivity in Côte d'Ivoire," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1630-1648, August.
    10. Esteban Méndez & Diana Van Patten, 2022. "Multinationals, Monopsony, and Local Development: Evidence From the United Fruit Company," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2685-2721, November.
    11. Oriana Bandiera & Robin Burgess & Narayan Das & Selim Gulesci & Imran Rasul & Munshi Sulaiman, 2017. "Labor Markets and Poverty in Village Economies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(2), pages 811-870.
    12. Stephen Shisanya & Paramu Mafongoya, 2016. "Adaptation to climate change and the impacts on household food security among rural farmers in uMzinyathi District of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(3), pages 597-608, June.
    13. Adebayo Isaiah Ogunniyi & Abiodun Olusola Omotayo & Kehinde Oluseyi Olagunju & Mistura Adedoyin Rufai & Kabir Kayode Salman & Oluwadara Pelumi Omotayo & Bisola Oyediran & Mobolaji Victoria Adejoorin &, 2024. "Evaluating the Role of Households' Food Security Status and Socioeconomic Determinants on Child Mortality in Nigeria," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(4), pages 1687-1714, August.
    14. Daniel Tobin & Mark Brennan & Rama Radhakrishna, 2016. "Food access and pro-poor value chains: a community case study in the central highlands of Peru," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 895-909, December.
    15. Jackeline Velazco & Ramon Ballester, 2016. "Food Access and Shocks in Rural Households: Evidence from Bangladesh and Ethiopia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(2), pages 527-549, November.
    16. Greenwell C MATCHAYA & Pius CHILONDA, 2012. "Estimating Effects Of Constraints On Food Security In Malawi: Policy Lessons From Regressions Quantiles," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 12(2).
    17. Imogen Bellwood‐Howard & Isaac Gershon Kodwo Ansah & Samuel Arkoh Donkoh & Gabin Korbéogo, 2021. "Managing seasonality in West African informal urban vegetable markets: The role of household relations," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5), pages 874-893, July.
    18. Ogunniyi Adebayo & Kehinde Olagunju & Salman K. Kabir & Ogundipe Adeyemi, 2016. "Social Crisis, Terrorism and Food Poverty Dynamics: Evidence from Northern Nigeria," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(4), pages 1865-1872.
    19. Khandker, Shahidur R & Samad, Hussain A, 2016. "Is Seasonal Hunger a Distant Memory in Bangladesh? Revisiting Earlier Evidences," Working Papers 110, JICA Research Institute.
    20. World Bank, 2013. "Bangladesh - Poverty Assessment : Assessing a Decade of Progress in Reducing Poverty, 2000-2010," World Bank Publications - Reports 16622, The World Bank Group.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:jasjnl:v:8:y:2016:i:4:p:60. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.