The Power of Markets: Impact of Desert Locust Invasions on Child Health

Bruno Conte, Lavinia Piemontese and Augustin Tapsola

No 9130, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: This paper investigates the consequences of a locust plague that occurred in Mali in 2004. We argue that in agricultural economies with a single harvest per year, this type of shock can affect households through two channels: first, a speculative/anticipatory effect that kicks in during the growing season, followed by a local crop failure effect after harvest. We show that, in terms of health setbacks, children exposed in utero only to the former suffered as much as those exposed to the latter. We also document a substantial impact of the plague on crop price inflation before the harvest, as well as a stronger crop failure effect for children born in isolated areas.

Keywords: desert locust swarms; agricultural shocks; local markets; child health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 O12 Q12 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The power of markets: Impact of desert locust invasions on child health (2023)
Working Paper: The power of markets: Impact of desert locust invasions on child health (2023)
Working Paper: The Power of Markets: Impact of Desert Locust Invasions on Child Health (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9130

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