Analyzing nutritional impacts of policies: An empirical study for Malawi

Widespread malnutrition in developing countries calls for appropriate strategies, presupposing good knowledge about nutritional impacts of policies. Little previous work has been carried out in this direction, especially with respect to micronutrients. We use representative household data from Malaw...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ecker, Olivier, Qaim, Matin
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/152681
Description
Summary:Widespread malnutrition in developing countries calls for appropriate strategies, presupposing good knowledge about nutritional impacts of policies. Little previous work has been carried out in this direction, especially with respect to micronutrients. We use representative household data from Malawi and develop a demand systems approach to estimate income and price elasticities of food demand and nutrient consumption. These estimates are applied for policy simulations. Given multiple nutritional deficiencies, income-related policies are better suited than price policies to improve nutrition. Although consumer price subsidies for maize improve calorie and mineral consumption, they can worsen vitamin consumption in urban areas.