Impact of Agricultural Input Subsidy on Nutritional Outcomes in Malawi
Date
2021-11-12
Authors
Novignon, Jacob
Chirwa, Gowokani Chijere
Frempong, Raymond Boadi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
The study examined the effect of agricultural input subsidy on nutrition in Malawi.
The aim was to find out how Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) affects
nutrition. Household panel data from the Malawi Integrated Household Panel Surveys
for the years 2010 and 2013 was used. To answer the research question, we estimated
Poisson and Two-Stage Least Square (2SLS) regressions using instrumental variables.
The results suggest a generally positive impact of the FISP on household nutritional
status. A gender-disaggregated analysis indicates that while there was no difference
in the direction of impact, the magnitude was higher for female-headed households
relative to male-headed households. There was also evidence of a positive impact of
food price fluctuations on nutritional outcomes. The findings emphasize the relevance
of farm input subsidy programmes in reshaping agricultural and nutritional outcomes
in developing countries.
Description
Keywords
Farm input subsidy, , Food price shock, , Nutrition, , Malawi