The impact of drought on household vulnerability: The case of rural Malawi

Makoka, Donald (2008): The impact of drought on household vulnerability: The case of rural Malawi.

Abstract

Vulnerability to poverty in Malawi is highly associated with risk. Households face multiple shocks, most of which threaten their livelihoods and impact negatively on their welfare. Among the important risks that rural households face is drought, which is exacerbated by environmental change. This study analyzes the impact of drought on household’s vulnerability using a two-period panel dataset of 259 rural households in Malawi. In the framework of vulnerability as expected poverty, the study employs the methodology proposed by Christiaensen and Subbarao (2004). The results show that recurrent drought makes households more vulnerable to the extent that households that were affected by drought in both periods were twice as vulnerable as those who experienced drought in only one period. Policies that are aimed at building poor households’ resilience to recurrent drought hold more promise of enabling the households cope with this livelihood-threatening hazard.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Drought; vulnerability; poverty; rural Malawi
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B2 - History of Economic Thought since 1925 > B21 - Microeconomics

References

Alderman, H.J., and Haque, T. (2007). Insurance against Covariate Shocks: The Role of Index-Based Insurance in Social Protection in Low-Income Countries of Africa, World Bank Working Paper No. 95, Washington, D.C.

Alderman, H.J., Hoddinott, J. and Kinsey, B. (2004). Long-term Consequences of Early Childhood Malnutrition, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, D.C.

Chaudhuri, S., Jalan, J., and Suryahadi, A. (2002). Assessing vulnerability to poverty from cross-sectional data: A methodology and estimates from Indonesia, Columbia University, Department of Economics, Discussion Paper No. 0102-52.

Christiaensen, L., and Sarris, A. (2007) (Ed.). Rural Household Vulnerability and Insurance against Commodity Risks: Evidence from the United Republic of Tanzania, FAO CTTP10, Rome.

Christiaensen, L., and Subbarao, K. (2004). Towards An Understanding Of Household Vulnerability In Rural Kenya, Journal of African Economies 14(4):520-558.

Dercon, S. (2001). Assessing Vulnerability to Poverty, Paper prepared for DFID, http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/members/stefan.dercon (accessed 15.06.2007)

Dercon, S. (2000). Income Risk, Coping Strategies and Safety Nets: Background Paper to World Development Report 2000/1. WPS/2000.26.

Dercon, S., Hoddinott, J., and Woldehanna, T. (2005). Vulnerability and Shocks in 15 Ethiopian Villages, 1999-2004, BASIS CRPS, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dercon, S., and Krishnan, P. (2000). Vulnerability, Seasonality, and Poverty in Ethiopia, Journal of Development Studies, 36(5):25-53.

Devereux, S., Baulch, B., Maccauslan, I., Phiri, A., and Sabates-Wheeler, R.(2007). Vulnerability and Social Protection in Malawi, Institute of Development Studies, IDS Discussion Paper No. 387, Brighton.

Harrower, S., and Hoddinott, J. (2004). Consumption Smoothing and Vulnerability in the Zone Lacustre, Mali. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), FCND Discussion Paper No. 175.Washington, D.C.

Hoddinott, J. and Kinsey, B. (2001). Child Growth in the Time of Drought, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 63 (3): 409-436.

Imperial College London, Wadonda Consult, Michigan State University, and Overseas Development Institute (2007). Evaluation of the 2006/7 Agricultural Input Supply Programme, Malawi: Interim Report, March 2007.

Malawi Government and World Bank (2006). Malawi Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment: Investing in our Future, June 2006, Lilongwe.

Malawi Government (2004). Malawi Economic Growth Strategy Volume II: Main Report, Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, Lilongwe.

Quisumbing, A.R. (2007) Poverty Transitions, Shocks, and Consumption in Rural Bangladesh: Preliminary Results from a Longitudinal Household Survey. CPRC Working Paper No. 105, IFPRI, Washington, D.C.

Tesliuc, E.D., and Lindert, K. (2004). Risk and Vulnerability in Guatemala: A Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment, World Bank Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 0404, Washington, D.C.

Tiba, Z. (2005). A New Type of Famine with Traditional Response: The Case of Malawi, 2001-2003, unpublished PhD thesis, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London.