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Healthy diets, costs and food policies in the Sahel and West Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Yan Bai
  • Jill Bouscarat
  • Kristina Sokourenko
  • Philipp Heinrigs
  • Koffi Zougbédé

Abstract

The Sahel and West Africa region is facing a serious food and nutrition security crisis with high rates of acute malnutrition, combined with high rates of malnourishment and over-nourishment – the “triple burden of malnutrition”. Poor-quality diets are the root of all forms of malnutrition, as well as common non-communicable diseases, and are responsible for an estimated one in five adult deaths globally. The high cost of food is a key barrier to accessing a healthy diet. Even before the recent global inflation in food prices, West Africa’s food prices were 30%-40% higher than other regions in the world of comparable income levels. The paper analyses the costs of healthy diets in 17 countries in the Sahel and West Africa and which food groups drive up costs. The observed high cross-country variability in costs and cost composition points to a need for more targeted and nutrition-sensitive food system policies as well as the need to invest in better food price data and monitoring capacities.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan Bai & Jill Bouscarat & Kristina Sokourenko & Philipp Heinrigs & Koffi Zougbédé, 2023. "Healthy diets, costs and food policies in the Sahel and West Africa," West African Papers 39, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:swacaa:39-en
    DOI: 10.1787/2ac5e663-en
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cost of diet; Food prices; Food systems; Healthy diets; West Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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