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Nutritional impacts of rising food prices in African countries: a review

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaohua Yu

    (University of Gӧttingen)

  • Satoru Shimokawa

    (Waseda University)

Abstract

This paper investigates the influences of food price spikes on nutritional outcomes in six African countries: DR Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. Drawing on the estimates of food demand elasticity with respect to food prices in previous studies, we constructed the elasticity of calorie and protein consumption with respect to food prices. We find that, while increasing cereal prices has the largest negative influences on both calorie and protein consumption in all the countries, the magnitude of the influences may differ by regions and the country’s dietary patterns. The negative influences are particularly large in rural areas and in the countries whose diets highly depend on a single staple cereal while small in the countries whose diets have alternative staple foods. Our findings highlight the importance of stabilizing cereal prices to reduce calorie deficiency while it may not be enough to improve protein deficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaohua Yu & Satoru Shimokawa, 2016. "Nutritional impacts of rising food prices in African countries: a review," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(5), pages 985-997, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:8:y:2016:i:5:d:10.1007_s12571-016-0605-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-016-0605-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Xu Tian & Xiaohua Yu, 2019. "Crop yield gap and yield convergence in African countries," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(6), pages 1305-1319, December.
    3. Massimo Peri, 2017. "Climate variability and the volatility of global maize and soybean prices," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(4), pages 673-683, August.
    4. Muhammed A. Usman & Mekbib G. Haile, 2017. "Producer to retailer price transmission in cereal markets of Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(4), pages 815-829, August.
    5. Lilia Bliznashka & Simone Passarelli & Chelsey R. Canavan & Amare Worku Tadesse & Yemane Berhane & Wafaie W. Fawzi, 2021. "Changes and challenges in markets for animal source foods: a qualitative study among market vendors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(3), pages 583-595, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rising food prices; Nutritional impacts; Calories; Protein; African countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices

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