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Nutrition, religion, and widowhood in Nigeria

Author

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  • Milazzo,Annamaria
  • Van De Walle,Dominique

Abstract

It is known that Muslim women in Nigeria have significantly worse nutritional status than their Christian counterparts. The paper first shows that this difference is explained by covariates including geographic location, ethnicity, household wealth, and women?s education. However, on accounting for observable characteristics, Muslim widows enjoy a higher nutritional status than Christian widows, particularly in rural areas. The patterns are robust to including village fixed effects and are confirmed for mixed religion ethnic groups. The data are consistent with more favorable processes following widowhood among Muslims, namely inheritance practices and remarriage options. Data on inheritance and violence patterns by religion confirm that Muslim widows are significantly less likely to be dispossessed of their late husband's property or to be mistreated upon widowhood by in-laws. Muslim women are more likely to be chronically undernourished but less nutritionally vulnerable to this marital shock.

Suggested Citation

  • Milazzo,Annamaria & Van De Walle,Dominique, 2018. "Nutrition, religion, and widowhood in Nigeria," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8549, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8549
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    Cited by:

    1. Genicot, Garance & Hernandez-de-Benito, Maria, 2022. "Women’s land rights and village institutions in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Dongqin Wang, 2022. "How does religion affect health in the gold mining industry? Evidence from Nigeria," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 2218-2250, November.
    3. Edeh, Hyacinth O. & Mavrotas, George & Balana, Bedru B., 2022. "Land tenure security and preferences to dispute resolution pathways among landholders in Nigeria," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Djuikom, Marie Albertine & van de Walle, Dominique, 2022. "Marital status and women’s nutrition in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

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