ENVIRONMENTAL AND NUTRITION OUTCOMES - Food Security, Food Prices and Climate Variability - page 173

NDVI is significantly associated with a reduction in wasting in both Mali surveys (11
percent reduction in 2001 and 7 percent reduction in 2006). Aside from age, NDVI was the
only other important variable in the model in Mali 2001. In Mali 2006, children whose
mothers were engaged in non-agricultural employment were significantly less likely than
children of agricultural workers to be wasted. Children living in households in the wealthiest
quintile were also significantly less likely to be wasted in Mali 2006. In all other countries, age
was the most important determinant of severe wasting (Johnson and Brown, 2013).
The impacts of environmental variability will differ depending on national and regional
responses. In this analysis, we see that the two driest countries, Burkina Faso and Mali, show
the strongest response to changes in NDVI. In Burkina and in Mali 2001, increased NDVI
reduces the probability of mortality, and in Mali, increased NDVI is also associated with
decreasedoddsofbeingseverelywasted;however,BurkinaFasodidnotshowanyrelation-
ship between NDVI and wasting. These differences highlight the differences in the social,
political and economic situation of the two countries (Johnson and Brown, 2013).
The results show the net effect of all the different programs, projects and activities that
impact communities over time. Thus the different results seen in Mali in 2001 and in 2006
may be due to improved access to resources to support child nutrition, reduced food prices
or an improved local economy that contributed significantly to household well-being. Exactly
which of these contributed to the decline over time, or if the results are spurious, is unclear.
The variability across countries in the association between NDVI and the outcome vari-
ables in this analysis requires further investigation into the pathways between NDVI (and,
presumably, agricultural production) and child nutritional and survival outcomes. Other areas
of interest for further analysis include looking at the association between NDVI over the
course of several years and women's anthropometry. The DHS dataset would also be useful
for exploring issues of urban childhood nutrition and the impact of local, regional and global
environmental variability and the price of food in the market (Johnson and Brown, 2013).
Summary
This chapter focused on the outcome of food insecurity in households on nutrition outcomes.
Analysis of the causes of malnutrition was examined and the likely conceptual relationships
between environmental dynamics and human health outcomes. Analysis was presented that
provided insight into the impact of climate variability on stunting, wasting and mortality in
children under five in West Africa, and the likely impact of changing ecosystem services on
diet and diarrheal disease in Malawi. These studies show the complexity of the impacts of
climate variability and the multiple dimensions, but do not diminish the importance of mea-
suring food security, climate variability and local food prices.
References
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Barrett, C. (2010) Measuring food insecurity. Science , 327, 825-828.
Berry, N., Utila, H., Clunas, C., Viergever, K. and Tipper, R. A. (2009) Avoiding unplanned mosaic
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