Priority Areas: Water Access & Nutrition

Priority areas are identified using local coefficients estimated through Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), which measures the spatially varying relationship between access to piped water and four nutrition indicators among children under five: stunting, wasting, severe wasting, and underweight.

The tool highlights locations where the local association between piped water access and the selected nutrition indicator is both negative and statistically significant. In this application, priority areas are further restricted to locations where piped water access is below 80%, ensuring that the results remain relevant for policy intervention.

The identified areas are classified as having strong, moderate, or mild associations according to the magnitude of the local GWR coefficient. This classification helps users determine the appropriate intensity of intervention. The spatially varying coefficients therefore allow users to identify areas where limited piped water access is most strongly associated with poorer nutritional outcomes among children under five, supporting targeted interventions, programme planning, and place-based development strategies.