Income Elasticities of Food Demand in Africa: A Meta-Analysis

Patricia Melo, Yakubu Adbul-Salam, Deborah Roberts, Alana Roberts, Robin Matthews, Liesbeth Colen and Sergio Gomez Y Paloma
Additional contact information
Yakubu Adbul-Salam: James Hutton Institute
Deborah Roberts: James Hutton Institute
Alana Roberts: James Hutton Institute
Robin Matthews: James Hutton Institute

No JRC98812, JRC Research Reports from Joint Research Centre

Abstract: In order to combat malnutrition, economists and policymakers need to understand how food demand will change, as the continent further develops. Especially, a better understanding of, first, the factors underlying the relation between income and food demand, and, second, how this relation is changing according to the income level and/or characteristics of the country under study, may help improve the design and implementation of nutrition policies. There are a number of studies that have estimated the relation between income growth and food demand in Africa, but the resulting estimates are highly heterogeneous. This report provides a systematic review of the existing literature on income elasticities of food demand in Africa. Using a meta-analysis approach, this report identifies the factors determining the relation between food demand and income. Further research could usefully explore in greater detail some of the patterns identified and, in doing so, contribute to the design of policies aimed at addressing malnutrition.

Keywords: Food demand; elasticity; Sub-Saharan Africa; malnutrition; food security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 74 pages
Date: 2015-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc98812

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