Nutrition matters: Numeracy, Child Nutrition and Schooling Efficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa in long-term perspective

School enrolment has increased at an unprecedented scale in Sub-Saharan Africa, but test scores from international comparable tests draw a rather pessimistic picture. Therefore, focusing on mathematical skills, we provide estimates for basic numerical abilities of the general population born between 1950 and 2000, and assess the efficiency of the educational system at the regional level. We focus our analysis on children’s nutrition, because low-quality diet and insufficient protein in particular might explain the puzzle of increasing schooling inputs resulting in stagnating numeracy skill outputs. Paxson and Schady (2007) and Currie and Vogl (2013) found that low-quality early child nutrition implies a lower efficiency later in life. We confirm this view by using a comprehensive new database of numerical skills in Africa, and by applying an instrumental variable approach. Only if the quality of nutrition of specific groups and regions identified in this study can be improved, self-sustaining long-term growth based on human capital can be achieved in SSA.