Research Brief #6: Aflatoxin
This brief explains the sources of aflatoxin, its importance in nutrition-related research, and its effects on humans, animals, and economics
This brief explains the sources of aflatoxin, its importance in nutrition-related research, and its effects on humans, animals, and economics
This article investigates empirical connections between agriculture and child nutrition in Nepal. We augment the standard approach to explaining child nutrition outcomes by including information about household level agricultural production characteristics, including indicators of agricultural diversity. Data from the 2010/2011 Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) are used in a series of regression models to explain stunting outcomes and variation in height-for-age Z-scores among 1,769 children 0–59 months of age.
Data from the 2011 Nepal Demographic Health Survey are combined with satellite remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data to evaluate whether interannual variability in weather is associated with child health. For stunting, we focus on children older than 24 months of age. NDVI anomaly averages during cropping months are evaluated during the year before birth, the year of birth, and the second year after birth. For wasting, we assess children under 59 months of age and relate growth to NDVI averages for the current and most recent growing periods.
Nepal faces multiple development challenges, including chronic and wide spread food insecurity and adult and child malnutrition. Due to population growth, agricultural stagnation and a range of institutional failures, the threat of a serious food crisis in Nepal is substantial. The recent scaling back of WFP assistance means that food security conditions in some parts of Nepal will undoubtedly worsen in the near future. This paper presents a brief review of topics and available evidence regarding food security, malnutrition and related subjects in Nepal.
We combine three distinct datasets to study the connections between agriculture and child health in Nepal. Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 2006 are merged on the basis of common GIS data points with satellite remote sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) composites. Using these data we explore the association between the NDVI, a monthly proxy for agricultural production, and nutrition outcomes in children under age 5.