Publication: Assessing the Impact of Migration on Food and Nutrition Security
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Date
2011
ISSN
03069192
Published
2011
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Abstract
Migration has become a key component in the livelihood strategies of an increasing number of households across the developing world and remittances have expanded dramatically in the last decade. This has come at a time when an increased emphasis has been placed on reducing malnutrition to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. While this is the case, there has been little attention on the interface between migration and nutrition even though migration can influence nutrition through a number of channels. The objective of this special issue is to present state-of-the-art analyses of the link between migration and nutrition in developing countries. In this paper, an overview of the conceptual and empirical issues in identifying the link between migration and nutrition are considered. Further, the results from seven country case studies are synthesized and policy implications are drawn.
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Publication The Impact of Migration on Food Consumption Patterns : The Case of Vietnam(2011)This paper explores the relationship between migration and consumption patterns using panel data from the 2004 and 2006 Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys. Employing an instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity of migration, our results indicate that short-term migration has a positive effect on overall per capita food expenditures, per capita calorie consumption and food diversity. Long-term migration also appears to be positively related to consumption, but impacts are often insignificant and of a lesser magnitude than short-term migration. The results provide no evidence of negative effects of migration, and support the view that short-term migration is a mechanism by which households maintain food security. The results suggest that to improve food security the Vietnamese government should enact policies that facilitate short-term migration flows as well as the transferring of remittances.Publication The Vanishing Farms? The Impact of International Migration on Albanian Family Farming(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-09)This paper investigates the impact of international migration on technical efficiency, resource allocation and income from agricultural production of family farming in Albania. The results suggest that migration is used by rural households as a pathway out of agriculture: migration is negatively associated with the allocation of both labor and non-labor inputs in agriculture, while no significant differences can be detected in terms of farm technical efficiency or agricultural income. Whether the rapid demographic changes in rural areas triggered by massive migration, possibly combined with propitious land and rural development policies, will ultimately produce the conditions for more viable, high-return agriculture attracting larger investments remains to be seen.Publication Migration and Child Growth in Rural Guatemala(2011)This paper examines the relationship between migration and child growth in the rural highlands of Guatemala, a region with substantial international migration outflows, significant remittance inflows, and some of the highest rates of child undernutrition in the world. Using cross-sectional survey data, a double-difference approach based on child growth patterns that controls for the selectivity of migration is used to assess the impact of migration to the US on Height-for-Age Z (HAZ) scores and stunting prevalence of children. HAZ scores for children in households with a migrant to the US are conservatively estimated to be 0.5 standard deviations higher and the prevalence of stunting is approximately 6 percentage points lower. Descriptive evidence suggests the possible channels through which migration may operate are improved food security and reduced morbidity.Publication Patterns of Rural Development: A Cross-Country Comparison Using Microeconomic Data(2010)This article proposes a general pattern of rural development in which increases in per capita income are associated with a decline in the importance of agricultural production and a rise in the importance of non-agricultural income sources. Following the approach to examining Engel's Law, we use data from 15 developing countries and a merged dataset to test whether such a pattern emerges. The analysis shows a strong, positive relationship between per capita income and the share of income earned from rural non-agricultural wage employment and a negative relationship between per capita income and agricultural production.Publication Investing Back Home : Return Migration and Business Ownership in Albania(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-09)In view of its increasing importance, and the dearth of information on return migration and its impacts on source households, this study uses data from the 2005 Albania Living Standards Measurement Study survey and assesses the impact of past migration experience of Albanian households on non-farm business ownership through instrumental variables regression techniques. Moreover, considering the differences in earning potentials and opportunities for skill acquisition in different destination countries, the impact of household past migration experience is differentiated by main migrant destinations, namely Greece and Italy. The study also tests for the hypothesis of the existence of migration cycles, by differentiating the time spent abroad based on the year of return. The empirical results indicate that household past migration experience exerts a positive impact on the probability of owning a non-farm business. While one additional year in Greece increases the probability of household business ownership by roughly 7 percent, a similar experience in Italy or further destinations raises the probability by over 30 percent. Although past migration experience for the period 1990-2000 is positively associated with the likelihood of owning a household enterprise, a similar impact does not materialize for the period 2001-2004. The latter finding seems suggestive of the fact that more recent migrants are yet to attain a target level of required savings and skills in order to successfully establish a new business upon return.
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