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Links between maternal employment and child nutrition in rural Tanzania

Author

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  • Debela, Bethelhem Legesse
  • Gehrke, Esther
  • Qaim, Matin

Abstract

Child undernutrition remains a widespread problem in many developing countries. The empowerment of women, and mothers in particular, was shown to improve child nutrition in various geographical contexts. One important avenue to empower women is fostering female employment. However, maternal employment can influence child nutrition through different mechanisms; it is not clear under what conditions the overall effect will be positive. We develop a theoretical model to show that maternal employment can affect child nutrition through changes in (i) income, (ii) intra-household bargaining power, and (iii) time available for childcare. The links are empirically analyzed using panel data from rural Tanzania and regression models with maternal fixed effects. Maternal employment has non-linear effects on child height-for-age z-scores (HAZ), the standard indicator of longterm child nutritional status. Off-farm employment reduces child HAZ at low levels of labor supply. The effect turns positive at higher levels of off-farm labor supply and negative again at very high levels. The child nutrition effects of maternal time allocation to agricultural work on the own family farm are weaker than those of off-farm employment and statistically insignificant. These findings can help to better design development interventions that foster synergies and avoid potential tradeoffs between female empowerment and child nutrition goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Debela, Bethelhem Legesse & Gehrke, Esther & Qaim, Matin, 2019. "Links between maternal employment and child nutrition in rural Tanzania," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 291358, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:gagfdp:291358
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.291358
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    Cited by:

    1. Melaku, Astewale Bimr & Qaim, Matin & Debela, Bethelhem Legesse, 2024. "Maternal employment in high-value agriculture and child nutrition: Evidence from the Ethiopian cut-flower industry," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Homma, Kirara & Md. Saiful Islam, Abu Hayat & Matsuura-Kannari, Masanori & Debela, Bethelhem Legesse, 2025. "Weather shocks and child nutritional status in rural Bangladesh: Does labor allocation have a role to play?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    3. repec:ags:aaea22:335848 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Mutsami, Chrispinus & Parlasca, Martin C. & Qaim, Matin, 2024. "The evolving role of farm and off-farm jobs in rural Africa," Discussion Papers 343385, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    5. Efobi, Uchenna & Adejumo, Oluwabunmi & Nnadozie, Obianuju & Omoju, Oluwasola & Ekisola, Adeniyi, 2024. "From subsidies to nutrition: Investigating effects among cohort children from the Subsidy Reinvestment programme in Nigeria," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 362(C).
    6. Chrisendo, Daniel & Siregar, Hermanto & Qaim, Matin, 2022. "Oil palm cultivation improves living standards and human capital formation in smallholder farm households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    7. Jean de Dieu Habimana & Aline Uwase & Noel Korukire & Sara Jewett & Maryse Umugwaneza & Lawrence Rugema & Cyprien Munyanshongore, 2023. "Prevalence and Correlates of Stunting among Children Aged 6–23 Months from Poor Households in Rwanda," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-12, February.
    8. Starkweather, Kathrine & Keith, Monica & Zohora, Fatema tuz & Alam, Nurul, 2024. "Impacts of women's work and childcare on child illness among Bangladeshi Shodagor communities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    9. Christoph Kubitza & Sarah Hackfort & Arnold Opiyo & Cornelia Rauh & Caroline S. Stokes & Susanne Huyskens-Keil, 2024. "The effects of market-oriented farming on living standards, nutrition, and informal sharing arrangements of smallholder farmers: the case of African indigenous vegetables in Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 16(6), pages 1363-1379, December.
    10. Pieper, Theresa & Nguyen, Thanh-Tung & Qaim, Matin, 2025. "Access to electricity and gendered labor allocation: Insights from Ethiopia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    11. Feiruz Yimer Mohammed & Makaiko G. Khonje & Matin Qaim, 2025. "Women’s roles in decision-making and nutrition-sensitive agriculture," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 17(5), pages 1301-1315, October.
    12. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma & Yanzhi Guo, 2023. "Does nutrition knowledge training improve dietary diversity and nutrition intake? Insights from rural China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(S1), pages 1417-1436, December.
    13. Ezebuihe, Jessy Amarachi & Parlasca, Martin & Qaim, Matin, 2024. "Links between rural electrification and gendered off-farm employment in sub-Saharan Africa," Discussion Papers 348434, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    14. Namulondo, Racheal & Bashaasha, Bernard, . "Labour-saving technologies mitigate the effect of women’s agriculture time-use constraints on stunting in rural Uganda," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 17(3).
    15. Mutsami, Chrispinus & Parlasca, Martin C. & Qaim, Matin, "undated". "Women’s off-farm employment and dietary quality in rural Africa," Discussion Papers 355423, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    16. Melaku, Astewale Bimr & Debela, Bethelhem Legesse & Qaim, Matin, 2023. "Women’s employment in high-value agriculture and child nutrition: Evidence from the Ethiopian cut-flower industry," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335848, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Khonje, Makaiko G. & Nyondo, Christone & Mangisoni, Julius H. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Burke, William J. & Chadza, William & Muyanga, Milu, 2022. "Does subsidizing legume seeds improve farm productivity and nutrition in Malawi?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    18. Cuicui Ding & Khatib Ahmad Khan & Hauwah K. K. AbdulKareem & Siddharth Kumar & Leon Moise Minani & Shujaat Abbas, 2024. "Towards a healthier future for the achievement of SDGs: unveiling the effects of agricultural financing, energy poverty, human capital, and corruption on malnutrition," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    19. Mehraban, Nadjia & Debela, Bethelhem Legesse & Kalsum, Ummi & Qaim, Matin, 2022. "What about her? Oil palm cultivation and intra-household gender roles," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    20. Elizabeth Mkandawire & Melody Mentz-Coetzee & Margaret Najjingo Mangheni & Eleonora Barusi, 2021. "Enhancing the Glopan Food Systems Framework by Integrating Gender: Relevance for Women in African Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-21, July.
    21. Hongyun Zheng & Yuwen Zhou & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2023. "Smartphone use, off‐farm employment, and women's decision‐making power: Evidence from rural China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1327-1353, August.
    22. Adediran, Olanrewaju Adewole, 2024. "The effect of women's decision-making on child nutritional outcomes in South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

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