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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FOOD PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION VARIABILITY: POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Author(s) -
Sahn David E.,
Braun Joachim
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.157
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1477-9552
pISSN - 0021-857X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-9552.1987.tb01050.x
Subject(s) - consumption (sociology) , production (economics) , economics , agricultural economics , agriculture , agricultural productivity , food processing , demographic economics , geography , macroeconomics , food science , social science , chemistry , archaeology , sociology
This paper examines whether there is increased inter‐year instability in food consumption at the national level, and to what extent this is attributable to increased instability of food production in the wake of adoption of modern agricultural technology. The data analysed indicates that increased production instability does translate into increased fluctuations in consumption. Nevertheless, year‐to‐year consumption variability among the sample of 38 countries has declined during the past 25 years. This is attributed to improved stocking operations and trade practices which accompany economic growth. Nevertheless, food insecurity, as measured in terms of fluctuations around trend levels of consumption, does remain a problem, especially among the poor. Therefore, policy options to reduce consumption instability are outlined.