From Table 2, we see that malaria and loss of off‐farm income were the most prevalent shocks. While households faced a relatively similar probability for experiencing the malaria shock across regions, they experienced different probabilities for experiencing the off‐farm income shock, as well as rainfall and price shocks. Northern and Central faced 8‐10% deviations from long‐term mean rainfall, whereas Southern faced 15% deviations. Price deviations were smallest in Northern at around 7%, and higher in Southern and Central at 10% and 11% respectively. The probability of an off‐farm employment income loss shock was similar in Central and Southern at 13% and 15% respectively, and highest in Northern at 19%.

Table 2 also includes long‐term measures of riskiness that are hypothesized to shape peoples’ expectations ex ante, which may in turn affect their choices of risk management and risk coping strategies. The coefficient of variation for malaria and employment shocks are spatial variations, whereas those for maize prices and rainfall are generated from the time series data. Consistent with information on actual rainfall shocks realized, households in Southern face higher rainfall variability than households in Central and Northern. On the other hand, maize price variability is highest in Northern, followed by Southern, and lowest in Central. The differences in rainfall and price variability between regions are all statistically significant. Households in Northern face greater variability of malaria incidence, followed by Southern and then Central. Households in Central face the greatest risks in terms of off‐farm employment income loss, followed by Northern and Southern with relatively similar and lower levels of risk.

**Table 2. Descriptive Statistics**

||**Mal**|**awi**|**Nort**|**hern**|**Cen**|**tral**|**Sou**|**thern**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Mean|SD|Mean|SD|Mean|SD|Mean|SD|
|**Welfare Measures(2013 values)**|||||||||
|HH Consumption (2013 USD/person)|396|316|352|225|403|331|400|321|
|HH Food Consumption (2013 USD/person)|241|176|228|138|243|174|241|186|
|HH Gross Income (2013 USD/person)|188|491|174|250|194|376|170|421|
|HH Maize Harvest (kg/person)|187|562|188|250|254|830|127|159|
|**Shocks (2013 values)**|||||||||
|Rainfall shock|0.119|0.080|0.079|0.050|0.096|0.063|0.150|0.087|
|Maize price shock|0.096|0.097|0.070|0.088|0.107|0.092|0.091|0.101|
|Malaria shock|0.271|0.445|0.274|0.446|0.277|0.448|0.266|0.442|
|Employment loss shock|0.145|0.352|0.189|0.392|0.132|0.338|0.147|0.354|
|**Risk Exposure**|||||||||
|CoV ‐ Dec‐Jan Rainfall, 1983/84‐2014/15|0.258|0.046|0.239|0.025|0.222|0.024|0.296|0.035|
|CoV ‐ Jan‐Mar Real Maize Price, 2005‐2013|1.918|0.291|2.423|0.292|1.759|0.188|1.940|0.208|
|CoV ‐ HH Incidence of Malaria|1.665|0.546|1.845|0.546|1.562|0.407|1.715|0.633|
|CoV ‐ HH Incidence of off‐farm employment|3.173|1.734|3.161|1.771|3.592|1.562|2.792|1.787|
|**HH characteristics (2010 values)**|||||||||
|Adult equivalents in HH|4.28|1.97|4.56|2.26|4.60|2.01|3.92|1.79|
|HH dependency ratio|1.330|1.022|1.299|1.022|1.346|0.995|1.323|1.046|
|Age of HH Head|44.1|16.4|45.7|16.4|44.3|16.3|43.6|16.5|
|HH Head is Female|0.252|0.434|0.189|0.392|0.224|0.417|0.294|0.456|
|HH Head is Chewa|0.583|0.493|0.034|0.181|0.830|0.376|0.492|0.500|
|HH Head is Tumbuka|0.070|0.255|0.586|0.493|0.008|0.090|0.001|0.024|
|HH Head is Muslim|0.160|0.367|0.007|0.086|0.090|0.286|0.261|0.439|

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