Persistence of Child Undernutrition in West Africa: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis of Population-Level Trends, 1999–2022

Speaker: James Oehmke, Rutgers University

Abstract: Undernutrition remains a leading cause of child morbidity and mortality globally, particularly in sub-
Saharan Africa. While interventions to treat acute undernutrition are often effective at the individual level, our study provides rigorous empirical evidence that undernutrition functions as a persistent, chronic condition at the population level in West Africa—persisting for decades even after a modest shock. Using a dynamic panel data model applied to six Feed the Future countries over a 23-year period, we demonstrate that child undernutrition is statistically self-reinforcing and strongly influenced by environmental and structural factors such as climate-related disasters. Addressing these issues requires a much more comprehensive set of interventions than is currently recommended.

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