Impact of Ethiopia’s 2015 drought on child undernutrition

In 2015, Ethiopia experienced one of its worst droughts in decades. Using nationally representative data from before and after this event, we find that this drought did not lead to widespread increases in chronic or acute child undernutrition rates in the country. However, chronic undernutrition rates increased due to the drought in areas characterized by limited road network. Moreover, the share of households receiving humanitarian aid doubled in drought-affected areas. Together, these findings highlight the role of road infrastructure in contributing to resilience as well as the efficiency of the humanitarian system in delivering and targeting aid in the country.