Up in Smoke? Agricultural Commercialization, Rising Food Prices and Stunting in Malawi
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World Bank, Washington, DC
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Diversification into high-value cash
crops among smallholders has been propagated as a strategy
to improve welfare in rural areas. However, the extent to
which cash crop production spurs projected gains remains an
under-researched question, especially in the context of
market imperfections leading to non-separable production and
consumption decisions, and price shocks to staple crops that
might be displaced on the farm by cash crops. This study is
a contribution to the long-standing debate on the links
between commercialization and nutrition. It uses
nationally-representative household survey data from Malawi,
and estimates the effect of household adoption of an export
crop, namely tobacco, on child height-for-age z-scores.
Given the endogenous nature of household tobacco adoption,
the analysis relies on instrumental variable regressions,
and isolates the causal effect by comparing impact estimates
informed by two unique samples of children that differ in
their exposure to an exogenous domestic staple food price
shock during the early child development window (from
conception through two years of age). The analysis finds
that household tobacco production in the year of or the year
after child birth, combined with exposure to an exogenous
domestic staple food price shock, lowers the child
height-for-age z-score by 1.27, implying a 70-percent drop
in z-score. The negative effect is, however, not
statistically significant among children who were not
exposed to the same shock. The results put emphasis on the
food insecurity and malnutrition risks materializing at
times of high food prices, which might have
disproportionately adverse effects on uninsured cash crop producers.
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AGGREGATE HOUSEHOLD INCOME, AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, AGRICULTURAL GROWTH, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, AGRICULTURAL SEASON, AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, AGRICULTURE, ARABLE LAND, CALORIC INTAKE, CASH CROPS, CASH-CROP, CENTRAL REGION, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, CHILD MORTALITY, CHILD NUTRITION, COVARIATE SHOCKS, CROP INCOME, CROP PRODUCTION, CURING, DISASTERS, DIVERSIFICATION, DROUGHT, ECOLOGICAL ZONES, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC SHOCKS, FAMILIES, FAMINE, FARM AREA, FARM HOUSEHOLDS, FARM MANAGEMENT, FARM PRODUCTION, FARMERS, FOOD AID, FOOD AVAILABILITY, FOOD COMMODITIES, FOOD CONSUMPTION, FOOD CROP, FOOD CROP PRODUCTION, FOOD CROPS, FOOD INSECURITY, FOOD MARKETS, FOOD NECESSITIES, FOOD POLICY, FOOD POLICY RESEARCH, FOOD PRICE, FOOD PRICES, FOOD PRODUCTION, FOOD SECURITY, FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY, FOOD STOCKS, GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS, GRAIN RESERVES, HAZARDS, HEALTH INTERVENTIONS, HEALTH OUTCOMES, HIGH POPULATION DENSITY, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HOUSEHOLD WELFARE, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INADEQUATE FOOD, INCOME, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME GROWTH, INCOME QUINTILE, INEQUALITY, INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INTERVENTION, IRRIGATION, LAND HOLDINGS, LAND TENURE, MAIZE, MALNUTRITION, MARKET FAILURES, MARKETING, MATERNAL HEALTH, MORTALITY, NUTRITION, NUTRITION OUTCOMES, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, PEDIATRICS, PESTICIDES, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POOR, POOR SMALLHOLDERS, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY RATE, POVERTY REDUCTION, PREGNANCY, PRESCHOOL CHILDREN, PRODUCTION FUNCTION, REGIONAL BOUNDARY, RICE, RISK FACTORS, RISK REDUCTION, RURAL, RURAL AREAS, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL INCOME, RURAL LIVELIHOODS, RURAL POOR, SAVINGS, SCHOOLING, SMALL FARMS, SMALLHOLDER AGRICULTURE, SMALLHOLDER FARMERS, SMALLHOLDER HOUSEHOLDS, SOCIAL CAPITAL, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SPATIAL DIFFERENCES, STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT, SUBSISTENCE, SUGARCANE, SUSTAINABLE GROWTH, TARGETING, TEA, TOBACCO INDUSTRY, VEGETABLE CROPS, VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT, WAR, WATER AVAILABILITY, WELFARE IMPROVEMENTS