Wednesday, December 12, 2018, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
IFPRI Malawi Office
Area 14/205, Lilongwe
For directions to our office please click here.
IFPRI Malawi invites you to a Brown Bag Research Seminar presentation by Mirriam Matita, LUANAR.
Topic
Has the provision of legume seeds subsidies affected dietary diversity? Evidence from Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme
Abstract
Using Integrated Household Panel Surveys, this study investigates whether inclusion of legume seeds in Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP) package affects dietary diversity. Poor dietary diversity has consequences on health of the population for a country like Malawi whose 37% of under-five children are stunted and other nutrition indicators remain below globally recommended standards. Inclusion of legumes in a maize dominated smallholder farming is a precursor for increase in types of foods available for consumption apart from likely use of incomes from crop sales and savings from low maize prices for food and health expenditures. Legume production has over the years increased though the legume component of FISP has been falling from 3,000 MT in 2014/15 to 1,000 MT in 2017/18. Results from estimated panel Poisson regressions shows that while receipt of any subsidy coupon does not influence dietary diversity; redemption of legume seeds is positive significant. In conformity with previous studies, we also find significant positive influence of wealth [livestock ownership, poverty, assets] and market participation for dietary diversity. Our results account for seasonality effect on dietary diversity with households consuming less diverse foods during lean seasons. Results point to the importance of crop specific interventions for increased diet diversification
