Remoteness, Welfare and Nutrition:Evidence from Rural Ethiopia
David StifelLafayette College
15 June 2015Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
How does remoteness (accessibility to markets) affect…
• Household well-being?• Nutrition?
• Outcomes – mother & child anthropometrics• Dietary diversity• Food security
Data – Ethiopia Rural Transport Survey 2011
• Survey of 851 households in northwestern Amhara• Sample area selected purposefully
• Without a passable road• Land quality similar throughout• Households use the same major market
• Remoteness defined relative to this market town• Households’ circumstances differ because of differences in transport costs… …not because of land characteristics.• Technical purpose: Quasi-experimental setting addresses issue of endogeneity
and facilitates a causal interpretation of results
Ethiopia Rural Transport Survey 2011
HOUSEHOLD WELFARE & REMOTENESS
Household Per Capita Consumption & Transport Costs
050
010
0015
0020
0025
00B
irr /
pers
on
0 20 40 60 80Transport Cost (Birr/kg)
Per Capita Household Consumption FoodNon-Food
Household Food Consumption & Transport Costs
050
010
0015
0020
0025
00B
irr /
pers
on
0 20 40 60 80Transport Cost (Birr/kg)
Per Capita Food Consumption PurchasedOwn-Consumption
NUTRITION & REMOTENESS
Outcomes: Mothers’ BMI
• Mean BMI = 19.2• Percent underweight = 34.2• Statistically not different by
remoteness
1015
2025
30B
MI (
we
ight
/sq
uare
d-h
eigh
t)
0 20 40 60 80Transport Cost (Birr/Quintal
bandwidth = .8
Note: Underweight is BMI < 18.5
Outcomes: Child Stunting
• 36 percent stunted• Statistically not different by
remoteness
-6-2
02
6H
eig
ht-f
or-
Age
Z-s
core
0 20 40 60 80Transport Costs (Birr/Quintal)
bandwidth = .8
Stunting: HAZ < -2
Outcomes: Child Wasting
• 17 percent wasted• Statistically not different by
remoteness
-6-2
02
6W
eig
ht-f
or-
He
ight
Z-s
core
0 20 40 60 80Transport Costs (Birr/Quintal)
bandwidth = .8
Wasting: WHZ < -2
Dietary Diversity
020
4060
8010
0P
erce
nt
Least Remote Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Most Remote
Percent of Households Consuming Particular Food Items
Oil Milk Meat Fruit
01
23
45
6A
vera
ge N
umb
er o
f Fo
od G
rou
ps
0 20 40 60 80Transport Cost (Birr/kg)
All Household Members Chldren under age 5
Average Number of Food Groups in Household Diet
Food Security
0.1
.2.3
Per
cent
of H
ous
eho
lds
Least Remote Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Most Remote
Worry Not Enough Food in Past 30 Days
1-2 Times 3-10 Times10+ Times
Food Security
0.1
.2.3
Per
cent
of H
ous
eho
lds
Least Remote Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Most Remote
Ate Smaller Meals in Past 30 Days
1-2 Times 3-10 Times10+ Times
0.1
.2.3
Per
cent
of H
ous
eho
lds
Least Remote Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Most Remote
Ate Fewer Meals in Past 30 Days
1-2 Times 3-10 Times10+ Times
IN SUMMARY
Remoteness in our survey area…
• Negatively affects household consumption• Lower production – less own consumption• Lower marketed surplus – less purchased
• Has no discernable effect on nutrition outcomes• Mothers’ BMI• Child stunting and wasting
• Negatively affects…• Dietary diversity• Food security
Tension in the results…
• Remoteness• Negatively affects
• Food consumption• Dietary diversity• Food securty
• No discernable effect on nutrition outcomes
• Why no effect on nutrition outcomes?• Low access to sanitation & healthcare throughout the survey area?• Threshold effects – Food consumption & dietary diversity levels too low?• Your thoughts?