Food Consumption Patterns in Developing Countries

Matin Qaim, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Abstract 1
Introduction 1
Food Consumption and the Role of Income 1
Rising Meat and Dairy Consumption 2
Food Demand Elasticities 3
Sources of Food and Seasonality 3
Nutrition Transition 4
Data Needs 5
References 5

Abstract

Malnutrition is directly related to unsuitable diets. This article provides an overview of food consumption patterns in developing
countries and related trends. Poor people’s diets are dominated by starchy staple foods, which are cheap sources of calories. When
income rises, higher-value and more nutritious foods are gradually gaining in importance. In addition to this dietary diversification,
changing lifestyles are also leading to consumption shifts towards more processed foods with high sugar and fat contents. This
nutrition transition contributes to rising rates of overweight and obesity. Data needs to analyze food consumption patterns and
emerging dietary challenges are also discussed.

Introduction

Around 800 million people are chronically hungry, meaning that they do not have sufficient access to food calories. More than 2
billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition, mainly due to insufficient intakes of vitamins and minerals (FAO, 2017).
Calorie and micronutrient deficiencies contribute to major health problems, including child mortality, susceptibility to infectious
diseases, and impaired physical and cognitive development. Most of these problems occur in developing countries, especially in
Africa and Asia, where they are closely associated with poverty (Gödecke et al., 2018). However, another nutritional problem is
also gaining ground in developing countries, namely the problem of overconsumption of food calories, leading to overweight
and obesity. Obesity is associated with various non-communicable diseases – such as diabetes, hypertension, and some forms
of cancer. While obesity has been a problem for long in many industrialized countries, prevalence rates in developing countries
are rapidly catching up. Of the estimated 2 billion overweight and obese adults worldwide, about two-thirds already live in
developing countries with a further rising trend (IFPRI, 2017).
The different forms of malnutrition are directly related to unsuitable diets and food consumption patterns of households and
individuals. Hence, it is important to understand the diets and food consumption patterns and the main influencing factors. It is
also important to understand how food consumption patterns change over time and how they can be influenced towards more
healthy nutrition through appropriate policy interventions. This article provides an overview of food consumption patterns and
trends in developing countries with a focus on economic and social influencing factors.

Food Consumption and the Role of Income

Food is one of the basic needs, which is also the main reason why poor people spend a large fraction of their income on food.
People with severe income constraints cannot afford the consumption of unnecessary luxury goods, but a minimum consumption
of food is required for mere survival. It is quite typical that poor people in developing countries spend 50% or more of their total
available income on food. Rich people spend more on food than poor people in absolute terms, but the fraction of total income
spent on food decreases with rising income. This negative relationship between income and the food budget share is known as
Engel’s law (Leathers and Fosters, 2016). Rich consumers sometimes only spend 10% or less of their total income on food.
Beyond the question of food quantities consumed and food budget shares, people’s income also has a major effect on the types
of foods consumed. If the body is deprived of food energy, an unpleasant and sometimes painful feeling of hunger occurs. To avoid
this feeling of hunger, poor people try to fill their stomach with food as cheaply as possible. Hence, the diets of the poor are
dominated by starchy staple foods – such as cereals, roots, and tubers – as these are generally the cheapest sources of calories. Recent

1
2 Food Consumption Patterns in Developing Countries

100%
90%
80%
70% Animal products

60% Fruits and vegetables

50% Legumes

40% Sugar and sweets

30% Oils and fats
20% Starchy staples
10%
0%
Nairobi Kampala
Figure 1 Contribution of different food groups to total calorie consumption of poor urban households in Eastern Africa. Author’s presentation
based on own household survey data collected in 2016/17.

data from Eastern Africa show that poor urban households obtain about 60% of their total calories from starchy staples (Fig. 1).
This is very similar to the staple food shares of poor people in other regions of the world (Pingali, 2015).
Starchy staples are cheap sources of calories, but they typically do not contain large amounts of vitamins and minerals. The
dietary focus on staple foods is also the main reason why poor people face a high risk of suffering from micronutrient deficiencies.
Micronutrient deficiencies can have severe health consequences, but – unlike calorie deficiency – they are not associated with
a feeling of hunger. This is why the term “hidden hunger” is often used in connection with micronutrient malnutrition (Gödecke
et al., 2018).
The poorest of the poor often suffer from calorie and micronutrient deficiencies simultaneously (IFPRI, 2017); they are not even
able to afford a sufficient quantity of staple foods. With rising incomes, people tend to increase their overall consumption of food,
and they also change their dietary patterns. While per capita consumption of staple foods usually increases until a certain saturation
level of calorie intake is reached, the consumption of higher-value and more nutritious foods – such as fruits, vegetables, and animal
products – increases over-proportionally. Hence, the relative share of starchy staples in people’s diets tends to decrease with rising
incomes, while dietary diversity increases. This general phenomenon is widely known as Bennett’s law (Leathers and Fosters, 2016).
These observed associations between income, food consumption, and changing dietary patterns can explain why measures of
dietary diversity have become popular proxies of food security and dietary quality (Ruel, 2003; Headey and Ecker, 2013). Dietary
diversity scores (DDS) simply count the number of food groups consumed by individuals or households over a certain period of
time. Because people tend to diversify their diet only when they have a certain minimum access to calories, a higher DDS is an
indication of higher calorie consumption and of higher micronutrient consumption as well. The advantage is that the calculation
of DDS requires much less data than the calculation of calorie or micronutrient consumption levels.
Of course, the exact types of food items consumed vary geographically, depending on agricultural production conditions, food
preferences, and other sociocultural factors. In some countries and regions, cereals – such as rice, wheat, or maize – are the main
staple foods, whereas elsewhere roots and tubers – such as cassava, potatoes, or sweetpotatoes – play a larger role. Also the exact
types of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and animal products consumed differ by region. However, the general principles of Engel’s
law and Bennett’s law hold true regardless of the cultural context, as is confirmed by a large number of studies in different parts
of the world (Leathers and Fosters, 2016).

Rising Meat and Dairy Consumption

One notable trend observed in almost all developing countries is a large increase over time in the consumption of animal-sourced
foods, such as meat and dairy products. In China, per capita consumption of meat increased 2.5-fold during the last 25 years,
whereas milk consumption even increased more than 5-fold (Fig. 2). In other emerging countries, similar developments were
observed, whereas in low-income countries notable increases are expected in the future, when average incomes rise. While animal
products can improve dietary quality and help reduce protein and micronutrient malnutrition, the positive marginal effects for
nutrition decrease at higher levels of consumption. Beyond a certain limit, the over-consumption of meat can also have negative
health implications. Moreover, the production of animal-based foods requires much more natural resources and is more
climate-intensive than the production of plant-based foods. Hence, the strong observed growth in the consumption of animal
products constitutes a serious challenge for sustainable development. From a nutrition perspective, it is inappropriate to condemn
meat consumption in general, but awareness-building towards avoiding over-consumption of animal products is important,
especially in countries where average consumption levels are already high.
 Food Consumption Patterns in Developing Countries 3

A Consumption of meat B Consumption of milk

120 160
140
100
120
80
100

kg/capita
kg/capita

60 1990 80 1990
2013 60 2013
40
40
20
20
0 0
China Brazil South Indonesia Nigeria China Brazil South Indonesia Nigeria
Africa Africa
Figure 2 Annual per capita consumption of animal products in selected countries (1990 and 2013). Author’s presentation based on data from FAO
(2018).

Food Demand Elasticities

Economists like to express the quantitative relationship between a dependent and an independent variable in terms of so-called
“elasticities”. For instance, the income elasticity of food demand describes by how much food demand changes when income
increases or decreases by 1%. The value of the income elasticity for food is generally positive, even though it typically varies between
different types of food items. The income elasticity for staple food demand tends to be relatively small. For instance, a value of 0.2
for rice in a particular country would imply that a 1% rise in income would increase rice consumption by 0.2%. In rare cases, the
income elasticity can also be negative. This happens for food items that are cheap but not particularly favored by consumers, so that
these items are gradually replaced by more preferred items when income rises. Foods with a negative income elasticity of demand
are referred to as “inferior goods”. In some countries, roots and tubers are inferior goods, which are replaced by more preferred
cereals when income rises, even though this much depends on the particular context. Higher-value foods generally have higher
income elasticities of demand than starchy staple foods, which is consistent with Bennett’s law (Sadoulet and de Janvry, 1995;
Leathers and Fosters, 2016).
Income elasticities also tend to vary between people at different income levels. For most types of foods, income elasticities are
larger for poorer than for richer people. The reason is that poor and undernourished people increase their food consumption more
with rising income than rich people who may further increase their demand for food quality, but not necessarily food quantity.
In addition to income elasticities, price elasticities are often calculated and used by economists. The own-price elasticity of food
demand describes by how much food demand changes when the price of food increases or decreases by 1%. The value of the
own-price elasticity of demand is usually negative, because a higher price leads to lower demand and consumption. Again, the
concrete values typically vary between food items. The demand for staple foods tends to be less price-responsive (smaller absolute
value of the own-price elasticity of demand) than the demand for higher-value foods.
Income and price elasticities are very useful for policy analysis and for predictions of changes in food consumption over time
(Sadoulet and de Janvry, 1995). With suitable data, one can also go beyond food quantities and calculate income and price
elasticities of calorie and nutrient consumption. Such calorie and nutrient elasticities can be helpful to evaluate the effects of
food price policies and income transfers on food security and nutrition. In order to reduce hunger and improve calorie consump-
tion, some governments subsidize the price of particular staple foods. Knowing the own-price elasticity of calorie consumption can
help to predict the food security effects of such policies for different types of households. Empirical research shows that staple food
subsidies generally increase the consumption of calories, even though the effects on micronutrient consumption can be ambiguous.
In Malawi, it was shown that a maize price subsidy reduced the consumption of vitamin A in certain population groups due to
unexpected substitution effects resulting from the change in relative prices (Ecker and Qaim, 2011). Such negative side-effects could
be prevented if the government budget allocated to the price subsidy were used instead for an income transfer. Unlike price
subsidies, income transfers avoid the distortion of relative prices.

Sources of Food and Seasonality

Many poor households in developing countries live in rural areas, where they depend on the agricultural sector as a source of
income and employment. Most rural households are smallholder farmers themselves, producing food for home consumption
and for local markets. Hence, a sizeable share of the food that these households consume is produced locally. This is also the reason
why significant seasonal variation in the diets of rural households occurs (Hirvonen et al., 2015). Seasonal variation is observed in
terms of the quantity of food consumption, with higher consumption levels in the harvest and post-harvest season, when the stocks
4 Food Consumption Patterns in Developing Countries

Purchased Subsistence
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
Cereals Fruits Vegetables Eggs Meat
Figure 3 Sources of food consumption in rural Ethiopian households. Author’s presentation based on data from Sibhatu and Qaim (2017).

are full and prices are low, and lower consumption in the lean season, when the stocks are empty and market prices increase.
Seasonal variation also occurs in terms of dietary quality, as the types of foods consumed depend on seasonal availability. Especially
the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables varies seasonally, as these are perishable products that cannot be stored for longer
periods of time. Such seasonality in food consumption is usually stronger in rural than in urban areas. While urban areas also
depend on the food supplies coming from rural areas, especially in large cities food is often procured from several regions and
also imported from abroad.
Given that smallholder farmers consume much of the food they produce at home, it is often assumed that most of the food
consumption in smallholder farm households is actually sourced from subsistence production. Based on this assumption, more
diverse on-farm production is sometimes claimed to be a promising strategy to increase dietary diversity in smallholder households
(Jones et al., 2014). However, especially for more nutritious foods subsistence production is not always the most important source.
While much of the staple food consumption in smallholder households comes from subsistence production, more nutritious foods
are often sourced from the market (Fig. 3).
Small farms are typically quite diversified in terms of what they produce, but some of the commodities produced are primarily
for sale. Increasing the number of food groups produced for subsistence would not necessarily be a good strategy for improving
nutrition, as this might mean foregoing existing market opportunities. In many situations, strengthening market linkages through
improved infrastructure and institutions would be a more promising avenue to improve diets and nutrition in smallholder
households (Sibhatu and Qaim, 2018). However, local conditions vary, which needs to be taken into account when designing
appropriate policy strategies.

Nutrition Transition

As discussed, income growth entails changing diets. Poor people usually derive a large share of their calories from staple foods.
When income rises, diets are being diversified with higher-value and more nutritious foods gaining in importance. This type of
dietary shift is nutritionally desirable. However, another type of dietary shift often occurs in parallel. Economic development,
urbanization, and globalization contribute to evolving lifestyles, involving changing consumer preferences, purchase habits,
food environments, and a shift towards western-style diets (Qaim, 2017). Traditional food components are increasingly replaced
by processed foods and convenience products that tend to be low in fiber but high in fat, sugar, and salt content. This shift is
nutritionally less desirable. High fat and sugar intakes combined with decreasing levels of physical activity during work and leisure
time entail rising rates of overweight and obesity and a resulting surge in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (Popkin, 2017).
This so-called “nutrition transition”, with rising rates of obesity and NCDs, can be observed in all parts of the world. In
industrialized countries, it started much earlier and unfolded gradually over a period of several decades. In many developing
countries, the nutrition transition is now observed at accelerated pace. Over-consumption of calories is rapidly rising at a time
when undernutrition is still prevalent in the same countries, and sometimes even in the same households (Qaim, 2017). The
coexistence of calorie undernutrition and overweight/obesity in the same setting is often referred to as the “double burden of
malnutrition”. Adding the problem of micronutrient deficiencies results in what is called the “triple burden of malnutrition”
(Pinstrup-Andersen, 2007). The increasing overlap of different forms of malnutrition makes the design of suitable nutrition policies
much more complex. For instance, subsidizing certain foods may help to reduce undernutrition, but may be counterproductive to
control overweight and obesity.
The shift towards the consumption of more processed and less healthy foods is influenced by many factors. One literature strain
has looked into the role of transforming food value chains and the modernization of the retail sector (Gómez and Ricketts, 2013).
Food retailing in many developing countries is still dominated by wet markets and traditional shops. However, with economic
growth and globalization, modern retailers – such as supermarkets and hypermarkets – are rapidly gaining ground (Reardon
 Food Consumption Patterns in Developing Countries 5

and Timmer, 2012). The rise of supermarkets, at the expense of more traditional grocery outlets, is associated with many changes,
not only in terms of the place of purchase, but also with respect to food prices, types of foods offered, levels of processing, and
shopping atmosphere (Hawkes, 2008). This may have far-reaching implications for food consumption and nutrition.
Research in selected developing countries has shown that consumers that use supermarkets for their food purchases eat more
processed food items, have a higher body mass index (BMI), and are more likely to be overweight and obese than consumers
that obtain all of their food from more traditional sources (Qaim, 2017). Causal inference is difficult, because one needs to control
for many possible confounding factors. However, a recent study with panel data from Kenya suggests that shopping in supermarkets
indeed contributes to rising BMI, even after controlling for many of the confounding factors (Demmler et al., 2018). More research
is needed to better understand the multifaceted interactions between changing food environments, consumption patterns, and the
nutrition transition in developing countries.

Data Needs

Understanding food consumption patterns and how they are influenced by various factors is important for the design of food
policies aimed at improving diets and nutrition. Such understanding builds on the availability of suitable data. General food
consumption patterns and comparisons between countries and over time can be made with national-level data, such as the
Food Balance Sheets put together by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). However, national-
level data cannot differentiate between different population groups within countries. This requires household-level or
individual-level data. Representative household-level data on food consumption are usually collected as part of the household
living standard measurement surveys (LSMS). These surveys are conducted by the national statistical offices with support from
the World Bank. While LSMS surveys are not carried out in all developing countries on a regular basis, data availability has clearly
improved over the last 20 years.
In spite of recent improvements in the availability of household-level food consumption data, most existing data sets have
certain drawbacks when it come to the analysis of diet and nutrition details. First, household-level data conceal possible issues
of intra-household food distribution. From a nutrition perspective, the diets of small children and of women of reproductive
age are of particular interest, but household-level data do not allow meaningful statements on the diets of individuals within
the household. While individual-level data can also be collected, this is usually not done in standard LSMS surveys. Second,
food consumption data are important to analyze diets but insufficient to draw conclusions about nutritional status. Analysis of
nutritional status requires anthropometric data, which are rarely included in LSMS surveys. Third, most surveys provide details
on food consumption at a certain point in time, without capturing seasonality. The analysis of seasonality requires data collection
with higher frequency at different times of the year. Fourth, existing surveys are often quite detailed in terms of the consumption of
unprocessed food items, but much less detailed when it comes to processed foods, even though the consumption of processed foods
is high and further increasing, especially in urban areas. Fifth, surveys sometimes differentiate between the consumption of home-
produced and purchased foods, but not between foods purchased in different types of retail outlets. Knowing food sources more
specifically could be very useful to analyze interactions between changing food environments and the nutrition transition. More
research with better data is needed in order to address the emerging issues on the food policy agenda.

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