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Impact of Ethiopia’s 2015 drought on child undernutrition

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  • Hirvonen, Kalle
  • Sohnesen, Thomas Pave
  • Bundervoet, Tom

Abstract

In 2015, Ethiopia experienced one of its worst droughts in decades. Using nationally representative data from before and after this event, we find that this drought did not lead to widespread increases in chronic or acute child undernutrition rates in the country. However, chronic undernutrition rates increased due to the drought in areas characterized by limited road network. Moreover, the share of households receiving humanitarian aid doubled in drought-affected areas. Together, these findings highlight the role of road infrastructure in contributing to resilience as well as the efficiency of the humanitarian system in delivering and targeting aid in the country.

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  • Hirvonen, Kalle & Sohnesen, Thomas Pave & Bundervoet, Tom, 2018. "Impact of Ethiopia’s 2015 drought on child undernutrition," ESSP working papers 114, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:esspwp:114
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    2. Abate, Gashaw T. & Dereje, Mekdim & Hirvonen, Kalle & Minten, Bart, 2020. "Geography of public service delivery in rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    3. Emily Injete Amondo & Emmanuel Nshakira-Rukundo & Alisher Mirzabaev, 2023. "The effect of extreme weather events on child nutrition and health," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(3), pages 571-596, June.
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    7. Randell, Heather & Gray, Clark & Grace, Kathryn, 2020. "Stunted from the start: Early life weather conditions and child undernutrition in Ethiopia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    8. Nicolas Pazos & Marta Favara & Alan Sánchez & Douglas Scott & Jere Behrman, 2022. "Long-term effects of rainfall shocks on foundational cognitive skills: Evidence from Peru," PIER Working Paper Archive 23-001, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    9. Smith, Lisa C. & Frankenberger, Timothy R., 2022. "Recovering from severe drought in the drylands of Ethiopia: Impact of Comprehensive Resilience Programming," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    10. Richard Freund, 2023. "From drought to distress: unpacking the mental health effects of water scarcity," CSAE Working Paper Series 2023-07, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    11. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn, 2022. "Crop diversification and child malnutrition in rural Ethiopia: Impacts and Pathways," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    12. Injete Amondo, Emily & Mirzabaev, Alisher & Nshakira-Rukundo, Emmanuel, 2021. "Effect of extreme weather events on child health in rural Uganda," Discussion Papers 311135, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
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