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The impact of drought on household vulnerability: The case of rural Malawi

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  • Makoka, Donald

Abstract

Vulnerability to poverty in Malawi is highly associated with risk. Households face multiple shocks, most of which threaten their livelihoods and impact negatively on their welfare. Among the important risks that rural households face is drought, which is exacerbated by environmental change. This study analyzes the impact of drought on household’s vulnerability using a two-period panel dataset of 259 rural households in Malawi. In the framework of vulnerability as expected poverty, the study employs the methodology proposed by Christiaensen and Subbarao (2004). The results show that recurrent drought makes households more vulnerable to the extent that households that were affected by drought in both periods were twice as vulnerable as those who experienced drought in only one period. Policies that are aimed at building poor households’ resilience to recurrent drought hold more promise of enabling the households cope with this livelihood-threatening hazard.

Suggested Citation

  • Makoka, Donald, 2008. "The impact of drought on household vulnerability: The case of rural Malawi," MPRA Paper 15399, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:15399
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2006. "Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 450-474, July.
    2. Luc J. Christiaensen & Kalanidhi Subbarao, 2005. "Towards an Understanding of Household Vulnerability in Rural Kenya," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 14(4), pages 520-558, December.
    3. Agnes R. Quisumbing, 2011. "Poverty Transitions, Shocks and Consumption in Rural Bangladesh, 1996–97 to 2006–07," Chapters, in: Bob Baulch (ed.), Why Poverty Persists, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Harold Alderman & Trina Haque, 2007. "Insurance Against Covariate Shocks : The Role of Index-Based Insurance in Social Protection in Low-Income Countries of Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6736.
    5. Tesliuc, Emil D. & Lindert, Kathy, 2004. "Risk and vulnerability in Guatemala: a quantitative and qualitative assessment," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 30154, The World Bank.
    6. Harrower, Sarah & Hoddinott, John, 2004. "Consumption soothing and vulnerability in the Zone Lacustre, Mali," FCND briefs 175, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. repec:bla:obuest:v:63:y:2001:i:4:p:409-36 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Unknown, 2007. "Evaluation Of The 2006/7 Agricultural Input Supply Programme, Malawi. Interim Report," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 97144, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    9. John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2001. "Child Growth in the Time of Drought," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 63(4), pages 409-436, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sunil Khosla & Pradyot Ranjan Jena, 2023. "Using Multidimensional Poverty Measure to Target Right Beneficiaries to Achieve Sustainable Development Goal-1 in India," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 17(2), pages 290-309, August.
    2. Novignon, Jacob, 2010. "Estimating household vulnerability to poverty from cross section data: an empirical evidence from Ghana," MPRA Paper 39900, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Manzoor Hussain Memon & Naveed Aamir & Nadeem Ahmed, 2018. "Climate Change and Drought: Impact of Food Insecurity on Gender Based Vulnerability in District Tharparkar," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 57(3), pages 307-321.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Drought; vulnerability; poverty; rural Malawi;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics

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