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Session: Child Health
Room: Main Hall
Time: Fri 16:00-17:15

Presenter: Martine Audibert (CERDI. Auvergne University)

Abstract

Increased access to energy services is considered as a means for reducing rural poverty. In that sense, a multifunctional platform concept has been developed in several African countries with support from the UNDP. Burkina Faso was one upon the pioneer countries where platforms have been implementing there since mid-1990. In 2009, we counted about 300 in Burkina Faso.
The platform provides two kinds of energies: mechanic through cereal mill, husker and electric through battery charger and spot welder. Multifunctional platforms are expected to improve social status and income of women in many ways. They free women from burdensome and exhausting tasks such as grinding cereals thus offering them income-generating opportunities. Platforms may also directly contribute to increase women’s income when they are involved in the management of the platform. Another positive impact of platforms on girl’s education and child’s health is also expected since new income opportunities should allow mothers to take more care of their children.
The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of the mechanic energy on child’s health, through its nutritional status, in Burkina Faso.
Method: Data come from original household surveys, undertaken in Burkina Faso, in 2009. A sample of 200 villages and 12 households per village was randomly drawn. Villages selection took into account the date of platforms implementation in order to conduct a pipeline analysis. For each year, treated villages can be compared to villages treated during the following years. As some data were gathered in a retrospective way, villages where platforms have been implemented before 2002 were excluded from the study. The questionnaires were administrated at household and village levels. Data at household level concern household demographic and cultural characteristics, household durables, housing conditions, education and revenue of mothers. Child health is measured through anthropometric information. Prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight in 0-10 years children are presented using z-scores based on the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)/WHO international reference population. Data at village level concern platform characteristics and village development level such as social village cohesion.
Results: About 2,400 households were interviewed. The mean household size is around 8-9 persons in both countries and this size does not differ between villages with and without platforms. The alphabetisation rate is around 35% for men and 24% for women, and for both sexes, the rate is higher in the platform villages than in no platform villages. We observed the same tendency for education rates. Results on child malnutrition show a relatively high chronic nutrition-related problem as stunting affects up to 39% of children under 5 years of age, while wasting is less important and affects less than 6% of children as observed elsewhere. Malnutrition was higher in villages without platforms than in villages with platforms.

Key Terms

Determinants of child malnutrition, gender, impact analysis, multifunctional platform, Burkina Faso

Authors:

Catherine Araujo-Bonjean (CERDI. Auvergne University) , Martine Audibert (CERDI. Auvergne University) , Victor Béguerie (CERDI. Auvergne University) and Driss Belamine (CERDI. Auvergne University)

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