Agricultural production and children’s diets: Evidence from rural Ethiopia

• Main Author: Hirvonen, Kalle; Hoddinott, John F
• Format: Publication
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, D.C.; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 09.05.2015; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI)
• Subjects: AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; agricultural household model; Agricultural policies; child dietary diversity; Children; count data; D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis; Diet; EAST AFRICA; ETHIOPIA; food consumption; households; Markets; Nutrition; O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; Q12 Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets; Q18 Agricultural Policy, Food Policy

We study the relationship between pre-school children’s food consumption and household agricultural production. Using a large household survey from rural Ethiopia, we find that increasing household production diversity leads to considerable improvements in children’s diet diversity. However, we also document how this non-separability of consumption and production does not hold for households that have access to food markets. These findings imply that nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions that push for market-integration are likely to be more effective in reducing undernutrition than those promoting production diversity. CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM)