Estimation of Food Demand in Tobacco and Sugarcane Production Zones in Migori County, Kenya

Abstract

This study estimated food demand in tobacco and sugarcane production zones in Migori county on 8 aggregated foods using an online data kit with a pre-loaded structured questionnaire and Stata was used in data analysis. Results revealed all eight food categories analyzed were elastic in nature and livestock products had the highest elasticity while cereals had the least elasticity amongst all the food groups with each one of them classified as normal goods. Marshallian elasticities of all aggregated foods were negative and equally price elasticities on all food groups was unit elastic with livestock products lowest at -0.834 and cereals highest -0.856. The county government should prevent monopolistic actions to ensure competitive prices by promoting transparency in quality and pricing across food groups through Migori county food committee to avoid distortion on consumer choices.