Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy

Can maize price stabilization reduce malnutrition and save lives? The case of the Zambia Food Reserve Agency

December 22, 2019 - Author: Daye Kwon, Robert J. Myers, and Nicole M. Mason

Tweet Print Email

Daye Kwon, Robert J. Myers, and Nicole M. Mason, 2019. Can maize price stabilization reduce malnutrition and save lives? The case of the Zambia Food Reserve Agency, FSP Research Brief 107, East Lansing: Michigan State University.

Key Findings

• Economic research has found that FRA policies in Zambia have stabilized maize prices around higher average levels, benefiting large surplus maize producers, imposing costs on poor maize deficit households, and imposing substantial costs on the Zambian treasury.
• However, maize price fluctuations may have additional effects besides those taken into account in the traditional price stabilization welfare analysis framework—effects on malnutrition and on the survival probability of the poor. We currently know very little about these malnutrition and survival probability effects.
• We highlight the need to include these malnutrition and survival probability effects into the policy analysis framework and suggest some way to begin this task.

DOWNLOAD FILE

Tags: agrifood system transformation, c1-c2, food security group, fsg policy brief, fsp policy brief, input use and market development, nutrition, zambia

Authors

Robert Myers
myersr@msu.edu

Nicole Mason-Wardell
masonn@msu.edu

For more information visit:

Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy
Food Security Group

You Might Also Be Interested In

Land and Opportunity Access: Migration Drivers for Youth and Young Adults in Rural Zambia

Smallholder maize market participation and choice of marketing channel in the presence of liquidity constraints: Evidence from Zambia

Climate-Smart Agriculture, Cropland Expansion, and Deforestation in Zambia: Linkages, Processes, and Drivers

Agricultural Productivity and Rural Household Incomes: Micro-level Evidence from Zambia

Can Agricultural Productivity Growth Shape the Development of the Non-Farm Rural Economy? Geographically Localized Evidence from Zambia

Reducing Post-Harvest Losses in Tomatoes

Accessibility Questions:

For questions about accessibility and/or if you need additional accommodations for a specific document, please send an email to ANR Communications & Marketing at anrcommunications@anr.msu.edu.