Analysis of long-term prices of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods in developing countries
Abstract The continued price increase in food commodities has long been a concern to academia and policymakers because of its substantial impact on poor consumers. Existing literature has concentrated on the cost of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods and the price rise in different commodi...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Agricultural and Food Economics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-022-00232-9 |
| _version_ | 1818024803140894720 |
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| author | Richard Alioma Manfred Zeller Yee Khor Ling |
| author_facet | Richard Alioma Manfred Zeller Yee Khor Ling |
| author_sort | Richard Alioma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The continued price increase in food commodities has long been a concern to academia and policymakers because of its substantial impact on poor consumers. Existing literature has concentrated on the cost of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods and the price rise in different commodities. Yet, the long-term price growth of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods and the price growth gap between micronutrient-dense foods and starchy staple foods have not been given much attention. The paper aimed to estimate the long-term trends in prices and volatility of micronutrient-dense and starchy staples and identify factors that have sustained the growth in prices of food commodities in developing countries. We have used the autoregressive and panel autoregressive distributed lag models to analyse the trends in relative prices and the effects of income growth. The results showed that micronutrient-dense food prices in real terms grew on average by 0.03% per month more than starchy staple food prices, with the expectation of a 12% growth gap in the next 30 years. The volatility of micronutrient-dense food items exceeds starchy staple foods in most domestic markets. Also, the prices of micronutrient-dense foods were more volatile in international markets than in most developing countries. Income growth in developing countries was one of the factors that contributed to the declining relative price of micronutrient-dense food commodities. Other factors, such as the high production of staple foods and their price stabilization policies, may have caused price trends to persist. Policies that enhance price stabilization for micronutrient-dense foods, supplementation, fortification, dietary diversity, and nutrition-sensitive interventions such as biofortification may be adopted in developing countries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:06:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-75347852abf34119927abacdb7354ac3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2193-7532 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:06:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agricultural and Food Economics |
| spelling | doaj.art-75347852abf34119927abacdb7354ac32022-12-22T02:02:51ZengSpringerOpenAgricultural and Food Economics2193-75322022-10-0110112110.1186/s40100-022-00232-9Analysis of long-term prices of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods in developing countriesRichard Alioma0Manfred Zeller1Yee Khor Ling2Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), University of HohenheimInstitute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), University of HohenheimInstitute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), University of HohenheimAbstract The continued price increase in food commodities has long been a concern to academia and policymakers because of its substantial impact on poor consumers. Existing literature has concentrated on the cost of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods and the price rise in different commodities. Yet, the long-term price growth of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods and the price growth gap between micronutrient-dense foods and starchy staple foods have not been given much attention. The paper aimed to estimate the long-term trends in prices and volatility of micronutrient-dense and starchy staples and identify factors that have sustained the growth in prices of food commodities in developing countries. We have used the autoregressive and panel autoregressive distributed lag models to analyse the trends in relative prices and the effects of income growth. The results showed that micronutrient-dense food prices in real terms grew on average by 0.03% per month more than starchy staple food prices, with the expectation of a 12% growth gap in the next 30 years. The volatility of micronutrient-dense food items exceeds starchy staple foods in most domestic markets. Also, the prices of micronutrient-dense foods were more volatile in international markets than in most developing countries. Income growth in developing countries was one of the factors that contributed to the declining relative price of micronutrient-dense food commodities. Other factors, such as the high production of staple foods and their price stabilization policies, may have caused price trends to persist. Policies that enhance price stabilization for micronutrient-dense foods, supplementation, fortification, dietary diversity, and nutrition-sensitive interventions such as biofortification may be adopted in developing countries.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-022-00232-9Food priceMicronutrient-dense and starchy staple foodsPrice trendPrice volatility |
| spellingShingle | Richard Alioma Manfred Zeller Yee Khor Ling Analysis of long-term prices of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods in developing countries Agricultural and Food Economics Food price Micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods Price trend Price volatility |
| title | Analysis of long-term prices of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods in developing countries |
| title_full | Analysis of long-term prices of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods in developing countries |
| title_fullStr | Analysis of long-term prices of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods in developing countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysis of long-term prices of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods in developing countries |
| title_short | Analysis of long-term prices of micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods in developing countries |
| title_sort | analysis of long term prices of micronutrient dense and starchy staple foods in developing countries |
| topic | Food price Micronutrient-dense and starchy staple foods Price trend Price volatility |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40100-022-00232-9 |
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