Kinship Matters: When Farm Input Subsidies Help—or Harm—Children

Mike Ken Kamanga and Martin Limbikani Mwale

Agricultural Economics, 2026, vol. 57, issue 2

Abstract: Agricultural subsidies are crucial for improving the economic well‐being of rural households, especially in developing countries where access to agricultural inputs is limited. These subsidies reduce costs for essential inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, and equipment, alleviating financial pressure on farmers. While their positive effects on productivity and household income are well documented, less attention has been paid to their unintended consequences, such as their influence on child labor (CL) and educational outcomes, and more so to how these unintended effects manifest under opposing kinship traditions. This issue is particularly relevant in Malawi, where CL remains prevalent in rural areas, important, since kinship norms could offer differential protection to children. This study investigates the effects of the Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP) on CL and its secondary effects on school attendance in two opposing patrilineal and matrilineal kinship systems in Malawi. Using data from the 2020 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), the study uses the Instrumental Variables approach (IV), with political clientelism as an instrument for the distribution of subsidy vouchers. We found that FISP increases CL for children in matrilineal kinship. However, the program had no similar impacts on patrilineal kinship. The results also reveal that FISP significantly increases school attendance, but only in matrilineal kinship.

Date: 2026
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