Impact of Agricultural Input Subsidy on Nutritional Outcomes in Malawi
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Date
2021-11-15
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.