Healthy Diets in Eight West African Countries: Access and Preferences
| dc.contributor.author | Gilbert, Rachel | |
| dc.contributor.author | Guene, Herve | |
| dc.contributor.author | Kazianga, Harounan | |
| dc.contributor.author | Harounan, William | |
| dc.contributor.author | Nana, Mohamed | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-11-26T13:24:05Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-11-26T13:24:05Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This policy brief describes findings from a study on the role of income and preferences in the consumption of healthy diets in eight West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo). Applying the Exact Affine Stone Index (EASI) demand system to data from nationally representative household surveys collected in 2018 and 2021, we find that greater affordability of healthy diets, either from higher income or lower prices, generally leads to improved nutritional quality of foods actually consumed. However, increased income is spread over many household needs, so that only a fraction of income growth is spent on improved nutrition. Meanwhile, lower prices for nutritious foods have both income and substitution effects, so price reductions lead to larger improvements in diet quality than would income gains of the same monetary value. These patterns arise partly due to changes in nonfood spending and partly due to changes in food spending that meet household goals other than health, such as convenience, taste, and aspirations. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://publication.aercafricalibrary.org/handle/123456789/4005 | |
| dc.publisher | AERC | |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | PASHFARM-PB-001 | |
| dc.title | Healthy Diets in Eight West African Countries: Access and Preferences |