Income and Price Elasticities of Food Demand and Nutrient Consumption in Malawi

Olivier Ecker and Matin Qaim

No 6349, 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida from American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association)

Abstract: Widespread malnutrition in developing countries calls for appropriate interventions, presupposing good knowledge about the nutritional impacts of policies. Little previous work has been carried out in this direction. We present a comprehensive analytical framework, which we apply for Malawi. Using household data and a demand systems approach, we estimate income and price elasticities of food, calorie, and micronutrient consumption. These estimates are used for policy simulations. Given multiple nutrient deficiencies, income-related policies are better suited than price policies to improve nutrition. While consumer subsidies for maize increase calorie and mineral consumption, they contribute to a higher prevalence of vitamin deficiencies.

Keywords: quadratic almost ideal demand system; food security; micronutrient malnutrition; calorie elasticities; nutrient elasticities; Malawi; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
Date: 2008
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