Exploring food consumption patterns across the rural-urban continuum in West Africa

Diets are a significant contributor to malnutrition in all its forms. Moreover, changes in food consumption create opportunities and challenges for agrifood systems. An improved understanding of diets is therefore crucial to design appropriate food, agricultural, and nutrition policies. Urbanization is commonly put forward as a determinant of changing diets. Yet, research on this relationship has been challenged by the lack of a unified definition of what constitutes an "urban" area. In addition, a simple rural-urban dichotomy has resulted in a focus on the "rural-urban divide" that disregards the interconnectedness between various types of population agglomerations and masks differences within rural and urban zones. In this study, we combine household survey data on food consumption with satellite data capturing the urbanisation gradient following the harmonized definition of the Degree or Urbanisation. While there are important differences across countries, several patterns emerge clearly including a shift away from traditional staples, towards more conveniently consumed and prepared foods. While the effects are often strongest cities, we find significant differences in food consumption at much lower levels of urbanization. This confirms the importance of moving beyond a simple rural-urban dichotomy and taking into account the great diversity among both rural and urban environments.