Urbanisation, malnutrition des enfants et sexe au Burkina Faso : une analyse économétrique spatiale

Abstract

In Burkina Faso, the analysis of the impact of the regional urbanization in terms of child malnutrition of less than 5 years, based on a spatial econometrics approach according to the administrative division of the 30 provinces, using the demographic and health surveys of 1992-93 and 1998-99, arrives at three conclusions. Firstly, the urbanization is accompanied, on the one hand, with a reduction of the levels of underweight and stunting-a doubling of the rate of regional urbanization generates a reduction from 5.2 to 5.4% of the rate of child malnutrition of less than 5 years-and, on the other hand, of a rise in the inequality of child malnutrition, expressed by the relations weight for age and height for age-a doubling of the rate of regional urbanization implies a rise of about 30% in the inequality indicators of child malnutrition. In addition, if the level of stunting increased between 1992-93 and 1998-99, the econometric estimates do not confirm the aggravation of the inequality of child malnutrition during the same period, as opposed to what seem to suggest the descriptive statistics. Secondly, the econometric analysis with spatial regimes shows that there is no significant difference in terms of gender in the relation between, on the one hand, the level or the inequality of stunting and, on the other hand, the rate of provincial urbanization. Moreover, only the level of stunting of the girls significantly increased between 1992-93 and 1998-99, contrary to the inequality. Thirdly, these results, inherent to structural changes and to movements of population, reduce the chances of a more equalitarian development, even if in 2030, only a third of the Burkinabe population is likely to reside in urban centres.