The Influence of Climatic Variations on Child Survival in Burkina Faso

Sabine J.F. Henry, Université de Montréal
Stéphanie Dos Santos, Université de Montréal

Independently of the classical determinants of child survival, ecological factors can have a strong influence on child survival in rural subsistence societies, particularly by their impact on malnutrition and on the reduction of income. Persistence of unfavorable climatic conditions could lead to a sharp reduction of the food production and children under five are particularly sensitive to food shortage. This study combines exceptional reliable multi-source data in multilevel event-history models to understand how climatic variations may influence child survival in Burkina Faso. This country experiences high levels of child mortality and high rainfall disparities within the country. Child survival chance is expected to be higher in semi-urban areas in case of climatic events than in the villages because households have probably more strategies to cope in period of drought. The unweaned infants are expected to be less vulnerable to climatic variations than 1-5 children, thanks to the protection by breastfeeding.