Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/frz/wpaper/wp2012_04.rdf.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Food Price Volatility over the Last Decade in Niger and Malawi: Extent, Sources and Impact on Child Malnutrition

Author

Abstract
Recently, considerable attention has rightly been paid to the nutritional impact of the sharp hikes in international food prices which took place in 2007-8 and, again, in 2010-11. While sacrosanct, this growing focus has somewhat obscured the effect of other factors which do affect malnutrition in the Sub-Saharan Africa context, i.e. the long term impact of agricultural policies, huge and persistent seasonal variation in domestic food prices, and the impact of famines which still regularly stalk the continent. This paper focuses on the relative weight of these factors in explaining child malnutrition (proxied by the number of child admissions to feeding centers) in Malawi and Niger, two prototypical countries in the region. The analysis shows that the drivers of domestic food staple prices and of the ensuing child malnutrition have to be found not only – or not primarily – in the changes of international food prices but mainly in the impact of agricultural policies on food production, the persistence of a strong food price seasonality, and recurrent and often poorly attended famines. Indeed, even during years of declines in international food prices, these factors often exert a huge upward pressures on domestic food prices and child malnutrition.

Suggested Citation

  • Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Laura Deotti & Maria Sassi, 2012. "Food Price Volatility over the Last Decade in Niger and Malawi: Extent, Sources and Impact on Child Malnutrition," Working Papers - Economics wp2012_04.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    • Handle: RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2012_04.rdf
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.disei.unifi.it/upload/sub/pubblicazioni/repec/pdf/wp04_2012.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dorosh, Paul A. & Dradri, Simon & Haggblade, Steven, 2007. "Alternative Instruments for Ensuring Food Security and Price Stability in Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 54488, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    2. Dostie, B. & Haggblade, S. & Randriamamonjy, J., 2002. "Seasonal poverty in Madagascar: magnitude and solutions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5-6), pages 493-518.
    3. Harrigan, Jane, 2008. "Food insecurity, poverty and the Malawian Starter Pack: Fresh start or false start?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 237-249, June.
    4. Minot, Nicholas, 2011. "Transmission of world food price changes to markets in Sub-Saharan Africa:," IFPRI discussion papers 1059, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Abdoulaye, T. & Lowenberg-DeBoer, J., 2000. "Intensification of Sahelian farming systems: evidence from Niger," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 67-81, May.
    6. Smith, Lawrence D., 1995. "Malawi: reforming the state's role in agricultural marketing," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 561-571, December.
    7. World Bank, 2009. "Niger : Food Security and Safety Nets," World Bank Publications - Reports 18550, The World Bank Group.
    8. Ivanic, Maros & Martin, Will, 2008. "Implications of higher global food prices for poverty in low-income countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4594, The World Bank.
    9. Jayne, Thomas S. & Chapoto, Antony & Minde, Isaac J. & Donovan, Cynthia, 2008. "The 2008/09 Food Price and Food Security Situation in Eastern and Southern Africa: Implications for Immediate and Longer Run Responses," Food Security International Development Working Papers 54556, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    10. Michael Herrmann, 2009. "Food Security And Agricultural Development In Times Of High Commodity Prices," UNCTAD Discussion Papers 196, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    11. Jayne, Thomas S. & Sitko, Nicholas J. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Mangisoni, Julius H., 2010. "Malawi’s Maize Marketing System," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 62162, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    12. Minot, Nicholas, 2010. "Staple food prices in Malawi," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 58558, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    13. Liangzhi You & Michael Johnson, 2010. "Exploring strategic priorities for regional agricultural R&D investments in East and Central Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(2), pages 177-190, March.
    14. Jayne, Thomas S. & Tschirley, David L., 2009. "Food Price Spikes and Strategic Interactions between the Public and Private Sectors: Market Failures or Governance Failures," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 97142, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    15. Aksoy , M. Ataman & Isik-Dikmelik, Aylin, 2008. "Are low food prices pro-poor ? net food buyers and sellers in low-income countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4642, The World Bank.
    16. Tschirley, David L. & Nijhoff, Jan J. & Arlindo, Pedro & Mwiinga, Billy & Weber, Michael T. & Jayne, Thomas S., 2006. "Anticipating and Responding to Drought Emergencies in Southern Africa: Lessons from the 2002-2003 Experience," Food Security International Development Working Papers 54564, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    17. Rashid, Shahidur, 2002. "Dynamics of agricultural wage and rice price in Bangladesh," MSSD discussion papers 44, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    18. von Braun, Joachim & Ahmed, Akhter & Asenso-Okyere, Kwadwo & Fan, Shenggen & Gulati, Ashok & Hoddinott, John & Pandya-Lorch, Rajul & Rosegrant, Mark W. & Ruel, Marie & Torero, Maximo & van Rheenen, Te, 2008. "High food prices: The what, who, and how of proposed policy actions [In Chinese]," Policy briefs 1A CH, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Roshni Menon, 2007. "Famine in Malawi: Causes and Consequences," Human Development Occasional Papers (1992-2007) HDOCPA-2007-35, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    20. Ravallion, Martin, 1989. "Do price increases for staple foods help or hurt the rural poor?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 167, The World Bank.
    21. Diallo, Boubacar Cisse & Dembele, Niama Nango & Staatz, John M. & Cisse, Moussa & Adjao, Ramziath, 2009. "Transmission des hausses des prix internationaux des produits alimentaires en Afrique de l’Ouest : Leçons de la crise de 2007-2008 pour l’expansion de la production," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 57244, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    22. Todd Benson & Samuel Mugarura & Kelly Wanda, 2008. "Impacts in Uganda of rising global food prices: the role of diversified staples and limited price transmission," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(s1), pages 513-524, November.
    23. von Braun, Joachim & Ahmed, Akhter & Asenso-Okyere, Kwadwo & Fan, Shenggen & Gulati, Ashok & Hoddinott, John & Pandya-Lorch, Rajul & Rosegrant, Mark W. & Ruel, Marie & Torero, Maximo & van Rheenen, Te, 2008. "High food prices: The what, who, and how of proposed policy actions," Policy briefs 1A, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    24. Dorward, Andrew & Chirwa, Ephraim & Kelly, Valerie A. & Jayne, Thomas S. & Slater, Rachel & Boughton, Duncan, 2008. "Evaluation Of The 2006/7 Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme, Malawi. Final Report," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 97143, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Higgins, Nathaniel & Hintermann, Beat & Brown, Molly E., 2015. "A model of West African millet prices in rural markets," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 33-43.
    2. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea & Martorano, Bruno, 2017. "Income Inequality Trends in sub-Saharan Africa: Divergence, determinants and consequences: The Dynamics of Income Inequality in a Dualistic Economy: Malawi over 1990-2011," UNDP Africa Reports 267648, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    3. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea & Deotti, Laura & Sassi, Maria, 2016. "Sources of food price volatility and child malnutrition in Niger and Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 20-30.
    4. Brugh, Kristen & Angeles, Gustavo & Mvula, Peter & Tsoka, Maxton & Handa, Sudhanshu, 2018. "Impacts of the Malawi social cash transfer program on household food and nutrition security," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 19-32.
    5. Maria Sassi, 2015. "Seasonality and Trends in Child Malnutrition: Time-Series Analysis of Health Clinic Data from the Dowa District of Malawi," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(12), pages 1667-1682, December.
    6. Chimaliro, Aubrey Victor, 2018. "Analysis of main determinants of soya bean price volatility in Malawi," Research Theses 334743, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    7. Alfani, Federica & Dabalen, Andrew & Fisker, Peter & Molini, Vasco, 2019. "Vulnerability to stunting in the West African Sahel," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 39-47.
    8. repec:rac:ecchap:2017-13 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa & Bruno Martorano & Giovanni Andrea Cornia, "undated". "The Dynamics of Income Inequality in a Dualistic Economy: Malawi over 1990-2011," UNDP Africa Policy Notes 2017-13, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa.
    10. Sassi, Maria, 2015. "The welfare cost of maize price volatility in Malawi," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-24, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benson, Todd & Minot, Nicholas & Pender, John & Robles, Miguel & von Braun, Joachim, 2013. "Information to guide policy responses to higher global food prices: The data and analyses required," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 47-58.
    2. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea & Deotti, Laura & Sassi, Maria, 2016. "Sources of food price volatility and child malnutrition in Niger and Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 20-30.
    3. Derek Headey & Shenggen Fan, 2008. "Anatomy of a crisis: the causes and consequences of surging food prices," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(s1), pages 375-391, November.
    4. José Cuesta & Suzanne Duryea & Fidel Jaramillo & Marcos Robles, 2010. "Distributive impacts of the food price crisis in the Andean region," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 846-865.
    5. Todd Benson & Samuel Mugarura & Kelly Wanda, 2008. "Impacts in Uganda of rising global food prices: the role of diversified staples and limited price transmission," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(s1), pages 513-524, November.
    6. Van Campenhout, Bjorn & Lecoutere, Els & D'Exelle, Ben, 2011. "Trading in turbulent times: Smallholder maize marketing in the southern highlands, Tanzania," IFPRI discussion papers 1099, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Delphine Boutin, 2011. "D'une crise à l'autre : mesurer l'impact des prix alimentaires sur la pauvreté," Working Papers hal-00637608, HAL.
    8. Ole Boysen, 2013. "High food prices and their implications for poverty in Uganda - From demand system estimation to simulation," EcoMod2013 5438, EcoMod.
    9. Nora Lustig, 2009. "Coping with Rising Food Prices: Policy Dilemmas in the Developing World," Working Papers 0907, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    10. Syud Amer Ahmed & Noah S. Diffenbaugh & Thomas W. Hertel & William J. Martin, 2012. "Agriculture and Trade Opportunities for Tanzania: Past Volatility and Future Climate Change," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 429-447, August.
    11. Syud Amer Ahmed & Noah S. Diffenbaugh & Thomas W. Hertel & William J. Martin, 2012. "Agriculture and Trade Opportunities for Tanzania: Past Volatility and Future Climate Change," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 429-447, August.
    12. Mirzabaev, Alisher & Tsegai, Daniel W., 2012. "Effects of weather shocks on agricultural commodity prices in Central Asia," Discussion Papers 140769, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    13. Headey, Derek, 2011. "Was the global food crisis really a crisis?: Simulations versus self-reporting," IFPRI discussion papers 1087, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    14. Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E. & Mason, Nicole M. & Jayne, Thomas S. & Darko, Francis Addeah & Tembo, Solomon, 2013. "What are the effects of input subsidy programs on equilibrium maize prices? Evidence from Malawi and Zambia," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149259, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Ellis, Frank & Manda, Elizabeth, 2012. "Seasonal Food Crises and Policy Responses: A Narrative Account of Three Food Security Crises in Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1407-1417.
    16. Jonathan Brooks & Alan Matthews, 2015. "Trade Dimensions of Food Security," OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers 77, OECD Publishing.
    17. Juhee Singh Verma & Pritee Sharma, 2021. "Vulnerability of Small Farmers to High Food Prices – A Case Study of Indian Farmers," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 74-88.
    18. Vincent H. Smith & Joseph W. Glauber, 2020. "Trade, policy, and food security," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(1), pages 159-171, January.
    19. Dorosh, Paul A. & Kennedy, Adam & Torero, Máximo, 2016. "El Niño and cereal production shortfalls: Policies for resilience and food security in 2016 and beyond:," Policy briefs 978-089629-988-7, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Skjeflo , Sofie Waage & Holden , Stein, 2014. "Economy-wide effects of input subsidies in Malawi: Market imperfections and household heterogeneity," CLTS Working Papers 7/14, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Food prices; Famines; Seasonality; Food Policy; Child malnutrition; Niger; Malawi;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2012_04.rdf. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Giorgio Ricchiuti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/defirit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.