IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ragrxx/v56y2017i3p248-262.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Food Assistance Improve Recipients' Dietary Diversity and Food Quality in Mozambique?

Author

Listed:
  • Agatha Carol Zhou
  • Sheryl L. Hendriks

Abstract

Little is known about the potential for food assistance in the form of cash and food transfers to improve nutrition and create demand for nutritious food in crises. This study investigated the influence of the World Food Programme’s cash and food transfers on the diversity and quality of diets among recipient households in Mozambique and the implications of this for the design of systemic food assistance intentions. The study found that direct food provision improved dietary diversity, while cash enabled beneficiaries to purchase more nutritious foods and improve their diet quality. Both cash and food transfers have potential to generate demand for a variety of nutritious foods in the communities investigated through this study. Providing adequate rations of basic food with a cash portion could improve both dietary diversity and quality and stimulate demand for nutritious foods by addressing both income (purchasing power) constraints as well as stimulating demand for these foods. This demand could have a pull factor in terms of local food systems, stimulating demand not only for food but also for food system services – both upstream and downstream – provided a functioning market exists. Context analysis is necessary to understand if cash injections could lead to price spikes, eroding purchasing power and if the incentives exist for private traders to respond to demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Agatha Carol Zhou & Sheryl L. Hendriks, 2017. "Does Food Assistance Improve Recipients' Dietary Diversity and Food Quality in Mozambique?," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 248-262, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ragrxx:v:56:y:2017:i:3:p:248-262
    DOI: 10.1080/03031853.2017.1360783
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03031853.2017.1360783
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/03031853.2017.1360783?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adato, Michelle & Hoddinott, John (ed.), 2010. "Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number 978-0-8018-9498-5.
    2. Gentilini, Ugo, 2014. "Our daily bread : what is the evidence on comparing cash versus food transfers?," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 89502, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Blesh, Jennifer & Hoey, Lesli & Jones, Andrew D. & Friedmann, Harriet & Perfecto, Ivette, 2019. "Development pathways toward “zero hunger”," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Bethelhem Legesse Debela & Gerald E. Shively & Stein T. Holden, 2021. "Implications of food-for-work programs for consumption and production diversity: Evidence from the Tigray Region of Ethiopia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-24, December.

    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. Lara Cockx & Nathalie Francken, 2016. "Evolution and impact of EU aid for food and nutrition security: a review," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 572519, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    2. Fiorella Benedetti & Pablo Ibarrarán & Patrick J. McEwan, 2016. "Do Education and Health Conditions Matter in a Large Cash Transfer? Evidence from a Honduran Experiment," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(4), pages 759-793.
    3. Christensen, Cheryl, 2018. "Progress and Challenges in Global Food Security," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 0(01), February.
    4. Wiebelt, Manfred & Pauw, Karl & Matovu, John Mary & Twimukye, Evarist & Benson, Todd, 2011. "Managing future oil revenue in Uganda for agricultural development and poverty reduction: A CGE analysis of challenges and options," IFPRI discussion papers 1122, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. World Bank, 2016. "Bangladesh Social Protection and Labor Review," World Bank Publications - Reports 25265, The World Bank Group.
    6. Bradshaw, Sarah & Chant, Sylvia & Linneker, Brian, 2019. "Challenges and changes in gendered poverty: the feminization, de-feminization and re-feminization of poverty in Latin America," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87366, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Resnick, Danielle & Babu, Suresh & Haggblade, Steven & Hendriks, Sheryl L. & Mather, David, 2015. "Conceptualizing Drivers Of Policy Change In Agriculture, Nutrition, And Food Security: The Kaleidoscope Model," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 258732, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    8. Margherita Scarlato & Giorgio d'Agostino & Francesca Capparucci, 2016. "Evaluating CCTs from a Gender Perspective: The Impact of Chile Solidario on Women's Employment Prospect," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 177-197, March.
    9. José L. Casco, 2024. "Intra-household resource shares under poverty transfers: evidence from Ecuador," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1243-1274, September.
    10. Fabianna Bacil & Beatriz Burattini & João Pedro Lang & Camila Rolon & Merindah Loessl, 2022. "Las transferencias en efectivo con enfoque universal en América Latina y el Caribe," Research Report Spanish (Country Study) 65, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    11. Verónica Amarante & Martín Lavalleja & Luana Méndez, 2023. "Tarjeta Uruguay Social: diseño, implementación y posibles efectos," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 23-11, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    12. Nelson, Suzanne & Frakenberger, Tim & Brown, Vicky & Presnall, Carrie & Downen, Jeanne, 2015. "Ex-Post impact assessment review of IFPRI’s research program on social protection, 2000–2012," Impact assessments 40, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Guush Berhane & Daniel O. Gilligan & John Hoddinott & Neha Kumar & Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, 2014. "Can Social Protection Work in Africa? The Impact of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 1-26.
    14. Joshi, Shareen & Sivaram, Anusuya, 2014. "Does it Pay to Deliver? An Evaluation of India’s Safe Motherhood Program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 434-447.
    15. Francesco Burchi & Margherita Scarlato & Giorgio d'Agostino, 2018. "Addressing Food Insecurity in Sub‐Saharan Africa: The Role of Cash Transfers," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(4), pages 564-589, December.
    16. Aker,Jenny C., 2015. "Comparing cash and voucher transfers in a humanitarian context : evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7469, The World Bank.
    17. Zhou, Agatha Carol & Hendriks, Sheryl L., 2017. "Does Food Assistance Improve Recipients' Dietary Diversity and Food Quality in Mozambique?," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 56(3), July.
    18. Salauddin Tauseef, 2022. "The Importance of Nutrition Education in Achieving Food Security and Adequate Nutrition of the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(1), pages 241-271, February.
    19. Sarah Baird & Francisco H.G. Ferreira & Berk Özler & Michael Woolcock, 2014. "Conditional, unconditional and everything in between: a systematic review of the effects of cash transfer programmes on schooling outcomes," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 1-43, January.
    20. Apella,Ignacio Raul & Blanco, Gastón, 2015. "Effectiveness of targeting mechanisms utilized in social protection programs in Bolivia," Social Protection and Labor Policy and Technical Notes 100363, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    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:taf:ragrxx:v:56:y:2017:i:3:p:248-262. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/ragr20 .

    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.