HOUSEHOLD FOOD DEMAND IN SOUTH WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Food is the most basic necessity for the existence of man. The increasing demand for food due to rapid rates of population growth and soaring food prices reduces demand for food and escalates food insecurity problem among households. However, information on comparative analysis of food demand among Rural Households (RH) and Urban Households (UH) is scanty. Therefore, household food demand in rural and urban South West Nigeria (SWN) was investigated. A four-stage sampling procedure was adopted for the study. Ondo and Osun States were randomly selected from the six states in SWN. Thirty three percent Local government areas (LGA) were selected from each state: Ondo (6) and Osun (9). A total of 350 households comprising of one rural and one urban community were selected from each LGA. Data were collected from randomly selected 187 UH (Ondo=94; Osun=93) and 163 RH (Ondo=84; Osun=79), using a structured questionnaire. Data on socioeconomic characteristics (age, household size, years of education and main occupation) and Household demands(HD),(expenditures on food and quantities of food purchased) were collected. Foods were grouped into Roots and Tubers (RT), cereals, legumes, Fruits and Vegetables (FV), Animal Protein Foods (APF), Fats and Oil (FO) and Other Foods (OF). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System at α0.05. Most RH (79.5%) and UH (84.6%) were male-headed with Household Size (HS) of 6.4±4.0 and 5.1±2.7 persons, respectively. Age of RH and UH heads were 49.8±15.6 and 47.6±13.0 years with corresponding monthly expenditure of ₦45,025.20±32,816.81 and ₦47,594.22±38,677.80 on food, respectively. RT constituted the highest (27.1% and 22.2%) expenditure share, while OF constituted the least (2.4% and 3.1%) in RH and UH, respectively. Rural households spent more (59.1%) on food than UHs (32.9%). The own-prices of RT (δ=0.1218), cereals (δ=0.2984), legumes (δ=0.0377), FV (δ=0.0175), APF (δ =0.0305), FO (δ =0.2653) influenced the Household Demand (HD) for them. Age influenced HD for RT (δ=-0.0002), cereals (δ=0.0001), legumes (δ=-0.0000), FO (δ=0.0001) and HS influenced HD for RT (δ=-0.0004), APF (δ=0.0004) and FO (δ= 0.0003). Years of education influenced HD for cereals (δ=0.0002) and legumes (δ=0.0001) and main occupation influenced HD for legumes (δ=-0.0013) and FV (δ=0.0014). Income elasticities of demand for RH were RT (β=1.22), cereals (β=0.80), legumes (β=1.19), FV (β=1.35), APF (β=1.14), and FO (β=0.76). All food groups were greater than one for RT (β=1.13), legumes (β=1.18), FV (β=1.25), APF (β=1.12) and FO (β=1.02) except cereals (β=0.42) for UH. Own-price elasticities for RH were RT (γ=-0.75), cereals (γ=-0.39), legumes (γ=-0. 68), FV (γ=-0.75), APF (γ=-0.88) and FO (γ=-0.14) while those for UH were RT (γ=-0.39), cereals (γ=-0.50), legumes (γ=-0.63), FV (γ=-0.74), APF (γ=-0.84) and FO (γ=-0.60). Roots and tubers, legumes, fruits and vegetables and animal protein foods were luxuries and demandelastic for rural and urban households. Cereals and fats and oil were necessities and demand in-elastic for rural households while cereals alone were a necessity and demand in-elastic for Urban Households.

Keywords: Rural and urban households, Food demand, Food groups, Quadratic almost ideal demand system

Word Count: 483 words