Examining the association of temperature and rainfall variables with household food security and under-five children’s nutritional status in Malawi

Abstract

Addressing the effects of climatic variability on human population is one of the major development challenges facing the world today. This is more critical in the sub-Saharan African region where many people rely on climatic conditions for livelihood strategies such as farming. Among other factors, climatic variables such as rainfall, light intensity and temperature facilitate crop growth and yield which provide food for the population in the region.Studies report that climate variation influence occurrence of floods and droughts that wash out and dries up crops respectively. Such events lower crop yield, resulting in food insufficiency and in extreme cases food scarcity among populations. Despite the foregoing, not much is known in the country, and scarcely in the sub-Saharan African region as regards how variation in cropping season temperature and rainfall variables associate with crop yield, households’ food security and nutritional status of the members, especially under-five children. This knowledge gap exists amid high burden of disease and poor socio-economic conditions among people in sub-Saharan African countries. For Malawi, climatic variation presents a human survival and development concern, as it is located in a region experiencing frequent and severe climatic conditions with wider socio-economic impacts.Using station-based cropping season temperature and rainfall data from Malawi’s meteorological office, and demographic, socioeconomic data from the 2010 Malawi Integrated Household Survey, multi-level logistic regression models were fit to assess climatic and household level factors associated with food security and under-five children’s nutritional status. Results showed that controlling for household level demographic and socioeconomic variables, a shorter cropping season rainfall duration and below the season’s average rainfall were associated with higher odds of households’ food insecurity, stunting, wasting and underweight among under-five children. A higher amount of variation in household food security status and under-five children’s nutritional conditions was explained by household level factors. These results highlight climatic and socioeconomic factors which ought to be considered indesign and implementation of programs addressing food insecurity and childmalnutrition in Malawi, in the context of variable climatic conditions