AID grant no. PDC-0082-G-SS-6213-00 to Harvard University to provide support for Harvard"s program in determining the impact of commercialization of agriculture in Malawi

The study will involve two poor rural communities, one of which grows primarily tobacco and one which grows primarily maize. The research design has three components. (1) A stratified random sample survey will gather baseline and socioeconomic data on household assets, human resources, and demographics; anthropometric data on morbidity and food consumption; agro- economic data on land use, labor inputs, yields, income from sales, wages, other sources; and information on household food supply, population, and health. (2) A subsample of the random sample will be surveyed on 24-hour food recall, food expenditure, and health indicators of children and pregnant or lactating women. (3) A non-random sample will be selected to study inter-household and intra-household transfers of income, food, services, and access to land and labor; beliefs, statements, and practices regarding food preferences, proscriptions, and prescriptions; and special topics, e.g., pregnancy and diet, feeding of pre-school children, and weaning patterns.