foodaidandchildnutritioninruralethiopia.doc

FOOD AID AND CHILD NUTRITION IN RURAL ETHIOPIA Agnes R. Quisumbing Food Consumption and Nutrition Division International Food Policy Research Institute 2033 K Street, N.W. Washington DC 20006 a.quisumbing@cgiar.org October 2002 Paper prepared for the conference Crises and Disasters: Measurement and Mitigation of their Human Costs sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C., November 13-14, 2001. Funding for collection of the fourth round of panel data came from Grant No. FAO-0100-G-00-5020-00, on Strengthening Development Policy through Gender Analysis: An Integrated Multicountry Research Program, from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Women in Development. I am grateful to Addis Ababa University and the Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford, for access to the earlier rounds of the Ethiopia Rural Household Survey. I would like to thank Stuart Gillespie, Markus Goldstein, Robin Jackson, Marie Ruel, Emmanuel Skoufias, Lisa Smith, Takashi Yamano, and seminar participants at the IDB and IFPRI for helpful comments and suggestions, and Lourdes Hinayon for help in finalizing the document. The usual disclaimers apply. ABSTRACT This paper uses a unique panel data set from Ethiopia to examine the determinants of participation in and receipts of food aid through free distribution (FD) and food-for-work (FFW). Results show that aggregate rainfall and livestock shocks increase household participation in both FD and FFW. FFW also seems well-targeted to asset-poor households. The probability of receiving FD does not appear to be targeted based on household wealth, but FD receipts are lower for wealthier households. The effects of FD and FFW on child nutritional status differ depending on the modality of food aid and the gender of the child. Both FFW and FD have a positive direct impact on weight for height. Households invest p