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Abstract
This paper provides evidence of the effect of agricultural diversification and commercialization
on the health of preschool children. We specifically look at the impact of diversification and
commercialization on stunting, wasting and underweight by using a nationally representative
sample of households taken from the Tanzania National Panel Survey (TNPS). We find that
engaging in contract farming for producing food crops has a negative effect on stunting and
wasting. Diversification only has a positive effect on stunting of children at the bottom of the
nutritional distribution while commercialization effects vary according to the type of crop that
the household sells and the position of children in the nutritional distribution. The results
provide insight into the effects of policies that pursue agricultural diversification and commercialization
on the household well-being.