Using Agriculture to Improve Child Health: Promoting Orange Sweet Potatoes Reduces Diarrhea

Kelly Jones and Alan de Brauw

World Development, 2015, vol. 74, issue C, 15-24

Abstract: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is prevalent throughout the developing world, and causes night blindness and increases child morbidity and mortality. We studied the health benefits of biofortification in reducing VAD, using a cluster-randomized impact evaluation in 36 villages in northern Mozambique. Based on a sample of 1,321 observations of children under the age 5, biofortification reduced diarrhea prevalence by 11.4 percentage points (95% CI 2.0–20.8), and by 18.9 percentage points in children under the age three (95% CI 6.6–68.3). Diarrhea duration was also reduced. This is promising evidence that child health can be improved through agricultural interventions such as biofortification.

Keywords: nutrition; child health; morbidity; micronutrients; vitamin A; diarrhea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:15-24

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.04.007

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