The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea

Rainfall fluctuations can significantly reduce welfare for poor rural households in low- and middle-income countries dependent on rainfed agriculture for consumption, and in some contexts these adverse effects may be borne disproportionately by vulnerable household members, particularly children an...

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Autores principales: Leight, Jessica, Mukerjee, Rishabh, Schmidt, Emily
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176517
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author Leight, Jessica
Mukerjee, Rishabh
Schmidt, Emily
author_browse Leight, Jessica
Mukerjee, Rishabh
Schmidt, Emily
author_facet Leight, Jessica
Mukerjee, Rishabh
Schmidt, Emily
author_sort Leight, Jessica
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Rainfall fluctuations can significantly reduce welfare for poor rural households in low- and middle-income countries dependent on rainfed agriculture for consumption, and in some contexts these adverse effects may be borne disproportionately by vulnerable household members, particularly children and girls. We present new evidence around the effects of rainfall fluctuations on child anthropometric status in Papua New Guinea, an understudied context characterized by some of the highest stunting rates in the world. We show that negative fluctuations in rainfall within a 12-month period are associated with reduced household consumption (driven by reduced consumption of own-produced food). Moreover, when these fluctuations are observed in the first year of a child’s life, they lead to a reduction in height forage and weight-for-age (though no shift in stunting), but this effect is observed only for girls: boys seem to be protected from the adverse effects of rainfall fluctuations experienced in infancy.
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spelling CGSpace1765172026-01-06T20:41:30Z The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea Leight, Jessica Mukerjee, Rishabh Schmidt, Emily anthropometry children households less favoured areas rainfall patterns child stunting food security nutrition Rainfall fluctuations can significantly reduce welfare for poor rural households in low- and middle-income countries dependent on rainfed agriculture for consumption, and in some contexts these adverse effects may be borne disproportionately by vulnerable household members, particularly children and girls. We present new evidence around the effects of rainfall fluctuations on child anthropometric status in Papua New Guinea, an understudied context characterized by some of the highest stunting rates in the world. We show that negative fluctuations in rainfall within a 12-month period are associated with reduced household consumption (driven by reduced consumption of own-produced food). Moreover, when these fluctuations are observed in the first year of a child’s life, they lead to a reduction in height forage and weight-for-age (though no shift in stunting), but this effect is observed only for girls: boys seem to be protected from the adverse effects of rainfall fluctuations experienced in infancy. 2025-09-16 2025-09-16T18:36:04Z 2025-09-16T18:36:04Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176517 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140437 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173408 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/174108 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140989 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Leight, Jessica; Mukerjee, Rishabh; and Schmidt, Emily. 2025. The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2358. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176517
spellingShingle anthropometry
children
households
less favoured areas
rainfall patterns
child stunting
food security
nutrition
Leight, Jessica
Mukerjee, Rishabh
Schmidt, Emily
The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea
title The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea
title_full The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea
title_fullStr The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea
title_full_unstemmed The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea
title_short The gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition: Evidence from Papua New Guinea
title_sort gendered effects of rainfall on early childhood nutrition evidence from papua new guinea
topic anthropometry
children
households
less favoured areas
rainfall patterns
child stunting
food security
nutrition
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176517
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