Cows, missing milk markets and nutrition in rural Ethiopia
This paper finds that cow ownership raises children’s milk consumption and reduces stunting
Abstract
In rural economies encumbered by significant market imperfections, farming decisions may partly be motivated by nutritional considerations, in addition to income and risk factors. These imperfections create the potential for farm assets to have direct dietary impacts on nutrition in addition to any indirect effects via income.
The authors test this hypothesis for the dairy sector in rural Ethiopia, finding that cow ownership raises children’s milk consumption, increases linear growth, and reduces stunting. They also find that household cow ownership is less important where there is good access to local markets, suggesting that market development can substitute for household cow ownership.
This research is supported by the Department for International Development’s Transform Nutrition Programme which is led by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Citation
John Hoddinott, Derek Headey, Mekdim Dereje. Cows, Missing Milk Markets, and Nutrition in Rural Ethiopia. The Journal of Development Studies Vol. 51, Issue 8, 2015 DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2015.1018903