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Food system transformation in Mozambique: An assessment of changing diet quality in the context of a rising middle class

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  • Smart, Jenny
  • Tschirley, David
  • Smart, Francis

Abstract

Robust income growth combined with the highest urban population growth in the world is driving rapid changes in the food system of Sub-Saharan Africa. Demand is increasing for higher quality foods, including fresh produce, meat and dairy products as well as more processed foods, with poorer nutritional value. The overweight and obesity epidemic that first began among developed nations is also threatening the expanding middle classes within developing countries, leading to a double burden of over and under nourished populations. As rapidly expanding towns and cities proliferate across Sub-Saharan Africa, urban areas can also become deserts for fresh or less-processed nutritious foods. Urban farming has been one way that the food desert challenge in urban areas is ameliorated, and in Mozambique, even in the largest city center of Maputo, one in ten households owns their own farm land. In the context of rapid urbanization and income growth in Mozambique, this paper finds that both growing incomes and the consumption of processed foods are associated with a worsening of negative factors in the diet. Furthermore, urbanization, controlling for income, is associated more strongly with a worsening of negative factors than with an improvement in positive factors in the diet. However, the effect on nutrition of owning one’s own farm, controlling for the share of others in the household’s area that have a farm, is positive and significant for urban households, primarily driven by these households purchasing fewer unhealthy foods. These findings have important implications concerning the role of urban farming for improving dietary quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Smart, Jenny & Tschirley, David & Smart, Francis, 2018. "Food system transformation in Mozambique: An assessment of changing diet quality in the context of a rising middle class," IFPRI discussion papers 1769, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  • Handle: RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1769
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Maxwell, Daniel G., 1995. "Alternative food security strategy: A household analysis of urban agriculture in Kampala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(10), pages 1669-1681, October.
    2. Rashid, Dewan Arif & Smith, Lisa C. & Rahman, Tauhidur, 2011. "Determinants of Dietary Quality: Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2221-2231.
    3. Zezza, Alberto & Tasciotti, Luca, 2010. "Urban agriculture, poverty, and food security: Empirical evidence from a sample of developing countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 265-273, August.
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