The impact of irrigated agriculture on child nutrition outcomes in southern Ghana
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Date
2021
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Water Resources and Economics
Abstract
In this study, we investigated whether irrigated agriculture results in improved child nutrition
outcomes among farm households in southern Ghana. Using panel data collected between 2014
and 2015, this study seeks to add to the growing body of literature on the determinants of irri gated agriculture adoption, its effects on child nutrition, and the potential pathways through
which irrigation can affect child nutrition outcomes. The results from the inverse probability
weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) estimator suggest that children living in irrigating
households have, on average, 0.23 standard deviations of weight-for-age and 0.27 standard de viations of weight-for-height higher than their counterparts; with males and under-five children
gaining substantial improvements. Disaggregating irrigation by types, the results indicate that
households planting on riverbeds or riverbanks had improved child nutrition. In contrast, chil dren living with households lifting water from water sources had higher height-for-age and
weight-for-age. Further analysis of the underlying pathways suggests that an increase in health
care financing and improvement in environmental quality rather than decreases in illness inci dence may be the crucial channels. Altogether, the findings show the importance of investments
in agricultural development, particularly in small-scale irrigated agriculture technologies, to
reduce childhood undernutrition.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Irrigated agriculture, Child nutrition, Intrahousehold allocation