The Mitigating Impact of Land Tenure Security on Drought-Induced Food Insecurity: Evidence from Rural Malawi
Date
2021-07-12
Authors
Ajefu, Joseph B.
Abiona, Olukorede
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
This paper investigates the interaction between land tenure security and food
security in agriculture-dependent households. We explore household variation in
land tenure security and drought shocks across villages to investigate the extent to
which land tenure systems affect the capacity of agricultural households in Malawi
to cope with adverse impacts of weather shocks. Our findings reveal that land
tenure security cushions the effect of drought regimes on food security. Further, we
establish irrigation practice as the underlying channel that mediates the impact of
drought shocks on food insecurity. The results of this study reinforce the growing
consensus that property rights through land tenure security are associated with
agricultural productivity and, consequently, household food security