Resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee-hosting community in Cameroon: A quasi-experimental study
Refugees may be perceived as a burden to their host communities, and nutrition insecurity is a critical area of contention. We explored the relationship between refugee presence and a host community’s resilience in nutrition outcomes in Cameroon. We also tested an analytical framework for evaluating...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022-12-01
|
| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022033849 |
| _version_ | 1797960899711991808 |
|---|---|
| author | Lambed Tatah Tharcisse Nkunzimana Louise Foley Alan de Brauw Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Llanes |
| author_facet | Lambed Tatah Tharcisse Nkunzimana Louise Foley Alan de Brauw Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Llanes |
| author_sort | Lambed Tatah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Refugees may be perceived as a burden to their host communities, and nutrition insecurity is a critical area of contention. We explored the relationship between refugee presence and a host community’s resilience in nutrition outcomes in Cameroon. We also tested an analytical framework for evaluating community resilience during shocks. We used data from repeated cross-sectional Demographic and Health Surveys in Cameroon (2004 and 2011), data on refugee movement, and data on extreme climatic events, epidemics, and conflicts from multiple sources. Outcome variables were maternal underweight, maternal anaemia, and child underweight, anaemia, stunting and wasting. The exposure variable was residence within an area in which refugees settled. We used a genetic matching algorithm to select controls from the rest of the country after excluding areas experiencing concurrent shocks. We used a difference-in-differences analysis to compare outcomes between the exposed and control areas. The 2004 survey comprised 10,656 women and 8,125 children, while the 2011 survey comprised 15,426 women and 11,732 children. Apart from anaemia which showed a decreasing trend in both the refugee-hosting community and the rest of the country, all other indicators (wasting, underweight and stunting) showed increasing trends in the refugee-hosting community but decreasing trends in the rest of the country. The matched control group showed a similar trend of decreasing trend for all the indicators. Controlled comparisons showed no evidence of an association between changes in nutrition outcomes and the presence of refugees. These findings contest a common perception that refugees negatively impact hosting communities. The difference-in-differences analysis and an improved matching technique offer a method for exploring the resilience of communities to shocks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:52:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7b03e354c22947baa5d68fe08e8e9660 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:52:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-7b03e354c22947baa5d68fe08e8e96602023-01-05T08:38:35ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402022-12-01812e12096Resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee-hosting community in Cameroon: A quasi-experimental studyLambed Tatah0Tharcisse Nkunzimana1Louise Foley2Alan de Brauw3Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Llanes4MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Corresponding author.Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Niger, Niamey, NigerMRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UKInternational Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, USAEuropean Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, ItalyRefugees may be perceived as a burden to their host communities, and nutrition insecurity is a critical area of contention. We explored the relationship between refugee presence and a host community’s resilience in nutrition outcomes in Cameroon. We also tested an analytical framework for evaluating community resilience during shocks. We used data from repeated cross-sectional Demographic and Health Surveys in Cameroon (2004 and 2011), data on refugee movement, and data on extreme climatic events, epidemics, and conflicts from multiple sources. Outcome variables were maternal underweight, maternal anaemia, and child underweight, anaemia, stunting and wasting. The exposure variable was residence within an area in which refugees settled. We used a genetic matching algorithm to select controls from the rest of the country after excluding areas experiencing concurrent shocks. We used a difference-in-differences analysis to compare outcomes between the exposed and control areas. The 2004 survey comprised 10,656 women and 8,125 children, while the 2011 survey comprised 15,426 women and 11,732 children. Apart from anaemia which showed a decreasing trend in both the refugee-hosting community and the rest of the country, all other indicators (wasting, underweight and stunting) showed increasing trends in the refugee-hosting community but decreasing trends in the rest of the country. The matched control group showed a similar trend of decreasing trend for all the indicators. Controlled comparisons showed no evidence of an association between changes in nutrition outcomes and the presence of refugees. These findings contest a common perception that refugees negatively impact hosting communities. The difference-in-differences analysis and an improved matching technique offer a method for exploring the resilience of communities to shocks.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022033849ResilienceNutrition outcomesRefugee-hosting communityCameroon |
| spellingShingle | Lambed Tatah Tharcisse Nkunzimana Louise Foley Alan de Brauw Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Llanes Resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee-hosting community in Cameroon: A quasi-experimental study Heliyon Resilience Nutrition outcomes Refugee-hosting community Cameroon |
| title | Resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee-hosting community in Cameroon: A quasi-experimental study |
| title_full | Resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee-hosting community in Cameroon: A quasi-experimental study |
| title_fullStr | Resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee-hosting community in Cameroon: A quasi-experimental study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee-hosting community in Cameroon: A quasi-experimental study |
| title_short | Resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee-hosting community in Cameroon: A quasi-experimental study |
| title_sort | resilience in maternal and child nutrition outcomes in a refugee hosting community in cameroon a quasi experimental study |
| topic | Resilience Nutrition outcomes Refugee-hosting community Cameroon |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022033849 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lambedtatah resilienceinmaternalandchildnutritionoutcomesinarefugeehostingcommunityincameroonaquasiexperimentalstudy AT tharcissenkunzimana resilienceinmaternalandchildnutritionoutcomesinarefugeehostingcommunityincameroonaquasiexperimentalstudy AT louisefoley resilienceinmaternalandchildnutritionoutcomesinarefugeehostingcommunityincameroonaquasiexperimentalstudy AT alandebrauw resilienceinmaternalandchildnutritionoutcomesinarefugeehostingcommunityincameroonaquasiexperimentalstudy AT josemanuelrodriguezllanes resilienceinmaternalandchildnutritionoutcomesinarefugeehostingcommunityincameroonaquasiexperimentalstudy |