Natural Resources and Undernourishment in Developing Countries? Is There a Curse?

Food security is a crucial issue for developing countries, with many populations suffering from undernourishment. While numerous factors contribute to this issue, the role of natural resources has been neglected. This paper, therefore, examines for the first time how natural resource dependence affects the prevalence of undernourishment in developing countries. Accounting for the effects of total rents and point resources, the results show that natural resource dependence explains the prevalence of undernourishment (including stunting and low birth weight) ceteris paribus. Appraising the natural resources-undernourishment nexus by geographical location suggests that the effect is more pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and low- and lower-middle-income countries. Among the mechanisms to explain this result, we identify control of corruption, democracy, internal conflicts, income inequality, and agricultural investments as potential transmission channels through which natural resources influence undernourishment.