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Is There Persistence in the Impact of Emergency Food Aid? Evidence on Consumption, Food Security, and Assets in Rural Ethiopia
Author(s) -
Gilligan Daniel O.,
Hoddinott John
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8276.2007.00992.x
Subject(s) - food security , consumption (sociology) , food aid , welfare , food consumption , work (physics) , persistence (discontinuity) , agricultural economics , economics , business , agriculture , geography , engineering , mechanical engineering , social science , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , sociology , market economy
We identify the impact of emergency food aid programs after the 2002 drought in rural Ethiopia on future welfare. Based on a difference‐in‐differences matching estimator, participation in food‐for‐work increases growth in total consumption and food consumption eighteen months after the drought. Separately, receiving free food raises growth in food consumption, but, surprisingly, negatively impacts food security. Food‐for‐work benefited households in the middle and upper tail of the consumption distribution, while the better‐targeted free food program benefited the poorest. Evidence suggests these impacts demonstrate accumulated and persistent effects of food aid received in the first twelve months after the drought.