The effect of food–price movements on African households
Journal article, 2012
In this paper, we aim to assess households' vulnerability to food–price increases in four countries in sub–Saharan Africa. We use two established indicators of sensitivity to food price changes - one measuring the share of income spent on food, the other measuring net sales of food compared to total expenditures. In contrast to earlier studies, we look at all food items and not just one or a few staple foods and find that the exclusion of non–staple foods has a significant impact on the results. We find that the shares of the populations spending more than half of their income on food lie in the range 62% to 81% in rural areas and 26% to 67% in urban areas. Further, we find that in all countries/regions studied, most households (74% to 99%) in rural areas are net buyers of food and stand to lose in the short term from higher food prices.
food production
poverty
sub–Saharan Africa
Ghana
urban areas
food net sales
household survey
food price movements
staple crops
Tanzania
rural areas
food price changes
South Africa
Malawi
food consumption
food price increases
household income
food prices
vulnerability indicators
Author
David Bryngelsson
Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory
Anders Åhlén
Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory
Martin Persson
University of Gothenburg
Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory
Christian Azar
Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory
International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology
1462-4605 (ISSN)
Vol. 9 3-4 121-146Driving Forces
Sustainable development
Subject Categories
Globalization Studies
Other Agricultural Sciences not elsewhere specified
Economics and Business
DOI
10.1504/IJARGE.2012.050326