DEMAND FOR MAJOR FOOD ITEMS IN NIGERIA

Food has many dimensions. The quantitative dimension is obvious; insufficiency leads progressively from mild discomfort to severe hunger, emaciation and ultimately to death. There is also a qualitative aspect. Unbalanced diets lead to malnutrition, obesity or disease. Food thus affects health, lifespan, physical fitness, body size and the mental development of human beings. Per capita food intake is of special importance. It has direct influence on human welfare. It has an indirect effect on output through its influence on the capability of man to perform work and the attitude of man towards the work. Many factors affect the availability of food to individual consumers and these effects differ in magnitude and mode of manifestation. This book modeled the demand for the major food items consumed in Nigeria using three distinctly different methodologies to determine congruencies across various food and non-food items. The analyses, and the ensuing findings, will be of utmost interest to nutrition economists and food policy analysts, and any other person seeking to understand food demand interrelationships in an African nation