Weather Shocks, Coping Strategies and Household Well-being: Evidence from Rural Mauritania
利用毛里塔尼亚家庭调查与气候数据，比较2008年和2014年干旱对农村家庭福利的影响，发现2014年更严重的干旱导致人均消费下降11.9%、贫困概率上升8.9%，而家庭通过出售资产（尤其是牲畜）来维持消费，并转向更耐旱的牲畜品种。
In this study, we analyse geo-coded climate data matched with two rounds of household surveys from Mauritania to compare the impact of the 2008 and 2014 droughts on rural households’ welfare and the adaptation strategies they employed. The 2008 and 2014 droughts differ sharply in intensity. The 2008 drought was localised with about 45% rural households reporting loss of livestock. In contrast, the 2014 drought was the worst in a decade and affected nearly all parts of the country. We find that households living in the districts where the 2014 drought was at least one standard deviation more intense relative to the district’s long-term precipitation average have an 11.9% lower per capita consumption and 8.9% higher likelihood of falling below the poverty line compared to households which faced less-intense drought. We observe no such welfare losses during the 2008 drought. Change in household asset portfolio sheds light on these findings: Household wealth fell during both periods of drought, implying that farm households attempted to maintain consumption by liquidating assets, especially livestock. However, ownership of small ruminants grew, suggesting a greater reliance on more drought-resistant livestock species.