This paper analyzes the time required for recovery from a shock and the factors affecting the speed of recovery, because existing literature on consumption smoothing has not paid much attention to the recovery of consumption. Using household monthly panel data collected in Southern Province of Zambia, this paper estimates consumption growth functions and examines the impact of heavy rainfall shock that took place in December 2007. It is found that households with more livestock assets recovered consumption in the long-rum (i.e. after one and a half year) or they are resilient, while those with less livestock assets did not recover.
