Shelter from the Storm? Household-Level Impacts of, and Responses to, the 2015 Floods in Malawi

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

From Poverty to Disaster and Back: a Review of the Literature

“…However, effects are often complex, and the sometimes disasters affect the food basket composition, more than the total calories amount. For instance, McCarthy et al (2018) analyze the impacts of the floods that occurred during the 2014/15 growing season in Malawi, and find that while maize yields were lower for all households, drops in food consumption expenditures were less dramatic, and calories per capita were higher. But dietary diversity was significantly lower, suggesting that households adjust their consumption basket to maintain total intake at a lower cost (but at the expense of micronutrients).…”

Eyes in the Sky, Boots on the Ground: Assessing Satellite‐ and Ground‐Based Approaches to Crop Yield Measurement and Analysis

“…Accurate measurements of crop production, cultivated area, and yield are at the heart of official agricultural statistics and are key to monitoring progress towards national and international development goals, including SDG 2. Further, the survey data underlying these outcomes are frequently used by agricultural economists to investigate a vast array of policy‐relevant research topics, including ( a ) the scale‐productivity relationship (Larson et al 2014; Julien et al 2019); ( b ) agricultural productivity impacts of fertilizer use (Harou et al 2017), soil quality (Berazneva et al 2018), land misallocation (Restuccia and Santaeulalia‐Llopis 2017), and sustainable land management practices (Arslan et al 2015); ( c ) farm‐ and household‐level impacts of exposure to extreme weather events (Wineman et al 2017; McCarthy et al 2018); ( d ) the extent and cost of gender differences in agricultural productivity (O'Sullivan et al 2014; Kilic et al ); ( e ) the relationships between agricultural and welfare outcomes at the household‐ and/or individual‐level (Carletto, Corral, and Guelfi 2017; Darko et al 2018); and ( f ) the comparative effects of agricultural versus non‐agricultural growth on poverty reduction (Dorosh and Thurlow 2018; Ivanic and Martin 2018).…”