Economic Growth in Ghana and the Effects of Mother's Sector of Employment on Trends in Childhood Malnutrition

Roland Pongou, Brown University
Jemima A. Frimpong, University of Pennsylvania
Orly Clerge, Brown University

Studies have documented increasing economic inequalities during periods of economic growth, the benefits of growth accruing more to the rich. We study trends in prevalence of malnutrition among children born to mothers engaged in the agricultural sector and those born to mothers engaged in the non-agricultural sector during economic growth of the 1980s and 1990s in Ghana. Malnutrition was significantly higher in the former group in 1988, but the gap substantially decreased during the period of macroeconomic improvement, indicating that policies implemented during this period were directed toward improving the conditions of the poor. This finding is contrary to expectations that richer households experience greater benefits of economic growth.