The Impact of Rainfall on Early Child Health∗

The high mortality rate of children under five in developing countries has received considerable attention. In this paper, I use the variation in rainfall within and across years at a detailed geographic level in West Africa to estimate how rainfall shocks impact early child health. Rainfall generates variation in income through its effect on agricultural output and more income usually reduces child mortality. However, rainfall also affects the opportunity cost of time of parents and may thus have a negative impact on child welfare. I find that variations in rainfall affect the timing of birth such that women are more likely to have children in drier than average seasons. Further, rainfall shocks have an adverse effect on the survival of young children born in the rainy season. This result may be partly attributable to the finding that rainfall shocks significantly reduce the time mothers breastfeed their children, which is likely due to a trade-off with work. Breastfeeding provides not only essential nutrients but also effective protection against various diseases, which account for a substantial share of child mortality in this region. Finally, no gender-bias selection appears to occur in response to these shocks in West Africa. Results are robust to maternal level unobservables and driven by children in rural areas where households are more vulnerable to shocks.