Weather variability and food consumption: Evidence from rural Uganda

This study examines the impact of weather variations on food consumption in rural Uganda. The paper relies on two-period panel data (2005/06-2009/10) combined with data on rainfall, number of rainy days and maximum and minimum temperatures. We find that higher temperatures have an adverse effect on food consumption. In contrast, food consumption is not substantially affected by rainfall variations. While evidence from qualitative interviews and trends in agricultural production suggest that households are adopting mitigation measures, the conclusion from the evidence assembled in this paper is that higher temperatures are associated with a decline in crop yields and food consumption.