TY - JOUR
T1 - Buy as you need
T2 - Nutrition and food storage imperfections
AU - Gross, Jeremie
AU - Guirkinger, Catherine
AU - Platteau, Jean Philippe
N1 - Funding Information:
This study would not have been possible without the logistical and financial support of SOS Faim. We acknowledge funding by the European Union under the 7th Research Framework Programme (theme SSH ) - Grant agreement nr 290752 (Nopoor project). Catherine Guirkinger acknowledges funding from the European Research Council under the H2020 research and innovation programme / ERC grant agreement n° 759294 . Our gratitude also extends to participants in various seminars or conferences organized by NEUDC (2016), CSAE (2016), UCDavis, Cornell University, the Catholic University of Louvain, the Free University of Brussels (ULB), the New Economic School (Moscow), the University of Frankfurt, and the University of Goettingen. Special thanks are due to Jean-Marie Baland, François Bourguignon, Angus Deaton, Kalle Hirvonen, Serguei Izmalkov, Stephan Klasen, Dilip Mookherjee and William Pariente who has commented upon several successive versions of this paper.
Funding Information:
This study would not have been possible without the logistical and financial support of SOS Faim. We acknowledge funding by the European Union under the 7th Research Framework Programme (theme SSH) - Grant agreement nr 290752 (Nopoor project). Catherine Guirkinger acknowledges funding from the European Research Council under the H2020 research and innovation programme / ERC grant agreement n? 759294. Our gratitude also extends to participants in various seminars or conferences organized by NEUDC (2016), CSAE (2016), UCDavis, Cornell University, the Catholic University of Louvain, the Free University of Brussels (ULB), the New Economic School (Moscow), the University of Frankfurt, and the University of Goettingen. Special thanks are due to Jean-Marie Baland, Fran?ois Bourguignon, Angus Deaton, Kalle Hirvonen, Serguei Izmalkov, Stephan Klasen, Dilip Mookherjee and William Pariente who has commented upon several successive versions of this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/5
Y1 - 2020/5
N2 - In this paper, we investigate whether and how a more steady supply of foodgrain in local markets impacts the nutritional status (measured with body-mass-indexes) of both children and adults, in a context characterized by large seasonal fluctuations in the price and availability of foodgrain. Taking advantage of the random scaling-up of a program of Food Security Granaries in Burkina Faso, we reach three conclusions. First, especially in remote areas where local markets are thin, the program considerably dampens nutritional stress. The effect is strongest among children, and young children in particular, for whom deficient nutrition has devastating long-term consequences. Second we argue that it is a change in the timing of food purchases, translated into a change in the timing of consumption, that drives the nutritional improvement. A simple two-period model shows that, once we account for various forms of storage costs, an increase in nutrition does not necessarily require larger quantity of food purchases or even consumption. Our last and unexpected conclusion is that the losses associated with foodgrain storage do not stem from physical losses in household granaries but rather from inefficient seasonal bodymass fluctuations. One plausible mechanism behind this particular storage imperfection rests on the households’ urge to consume readily available foodgrain.
AB - In this paper, we investigate whether and how a more steady supply of foodgrain in local markets impacts the nutritional status (measured with body-mass-indexes) of both children and adults, in a context characterized by large seasonal fluctuations in the price and availability of foodgrain. Taking advantage of the random scaling-up of a program of Food Security Granaries in Burkina Faso, we reach three conclusions. First, especially in remote areas where local markets are thin, the program considerably dampens nutritional stress. The effect is strongest among children, and young children in particular, for whom deficient nutrition has devastating long-term consequences. Second we argue that it is a change in the timing of food purchases, translated into a change in the timing of consumption, that drives the nutritional improvement. A simple two-period model shows that, once we account for various forms of storage costs, an increase in nutrition does not necessarily require larger quantity of food purchases or even consumption. Our last and unexpected conclusion is that the losses associated with foodgrain storage do not stem from physical losses in household granaries but rather from inefficient seasonal bodymass fluctuations. One plausible mechanism behind this particular storage imperfection rests on the households’ urge to consume readily available foodgrain.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082868086&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102444
DO - 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102444
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85082868086
SN - 0304-3878
VL - 144
JO - Journal of Development Economics
JF - Journal of Development Economics
M1 - 102444
ER -