Urbanization, Markets, and Malnutrition in Rural Farm Households

Abstract

Agricultural productivity growth accelerates urbanization by supplying food and labor to urban areas. Towns and cities may also grow for separate reasons, pulling food and resources out of rural areas. Whether pushed or pulled, urbanization and market development creates new opportunities for rural agricultural households. This study tests whether household proximity to more established towns and cities has improved or worsened malnutrition among over 400,000 children and their mothers across 43,850 survey clusters in 46 low‐ and middle‐income countries between 1986 and 2011. Using an extensive database of 83 Demographic and Health Surveys combined with geographic and national accounts data, I examine the relationship between urbanization and nutrition in rural farm households using non‐parametric and instrumental variables methods, while controlling for region and birth cohort fixed‐effects. I find that rural children living in areas with a longer history of urbanization are heavier and taller at a wide range of income levels. I also find heavier mothers in rural farm households where urbanization has continued the longest. The prevalence of stunting and wasting among rural farm children is negatively associated with nearby urbanization, and the prevalence of child and maternal overweight in rural farm families is positively associated with nearby urbanization. Results suggest that access to urban markets has improved rural child heights and weights, and potentially increased the risks of overweight and obesity later in life. These findings indicate that there is ample opportunity to guide market development in ways that promote improved nutrition while limiting the rise of diet‐related disease. This study was supported by a U.S. Borlaug Fellowship in Global Food Security.