The Impact of Changes in Nutritional Policy on the Determinants of Child Stunting: The Case of Rural and Urban Zambia
Date
2023-07
Authors
Bwalya, Richard
Kalinda, Thomson
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
This paper evaluates the impact of changes in nutritional policies on the underlying determinants of child stunting in Zambia using data from the 2010 and 2015 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey (LCMS). Regression results show that although there are commonalities across rural and urban areas as well as between 2010 and 2015 in terms of the determinants of child stunting, significant differences between the regions and periods exist, which may have implications for the design of interventions. Decomposition results show that differences in the levels of endowment account for the majority of the observed differences in stunting between rural and urban areas for both periods, implying that interventions aimed at overcoming rural-urban disparities in child nutrition outcomes need to focus principally on bridging gaps in socioeconomic endowments.