Estimation of rural households’ demand for selected staple foods in Enugu State

Abstract

Estimation of household food demand patterns and elasticity is often conceived as an important prerequisite for designing, predicting and analysing agricultural policy impacts. Based on this fact, this study sets out to estimate the food demand of rural households in the study area with a view to identifying its determinants and responsiveness to price and household food expenditure. The study employed a multi-stage sampling technique in the selection 254 rural households in Enugu state and the primary data collected were analysed using Descriptive statistics and Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) model. The result of the descriptive statistics showed that the mean age, household size, and years of education of the sampled rural households were 49. 7±13.30, 7.0 ± 3.02, and 13.96±3.96. The result of the QUAIDS model revealed that all the expenditure elasticity for the selected staple food items were positive and hence, regarded as normal goods and In terms of magnitude, all the staple food items except rice and yam have expenditure elasticity less than one and are therefore, regarded as necessities. Own price elasticity were all negative as expected in both uncompensated and compensated price elasticity estimates. The Marshallian cross price elasticity estimates also revealed that almost all the selected staple food items have positive cross-price elasticity values indicating that they are net substitutes while the Hicksian/compensated cross price elasticity revealed that majority of the selected staple food items have negative cross-price elasticity values indicating that they are complements. However, the study further revealed that price, total food expenditure, sex, age, marital status, years of education, household size and household head income were the key determinants of the rural household demand for the selected staple food items in the study area. Based on the foregoing, the result of this study should inform the design of food security related policies aimed at improving the nutritional status of the poor and vulnerable households in the country.