Urbanization as a driver of changing food demand. Evidence from rural-urban migration in Tanzania

Ensuring food and nutrition security in Africa in a context of uncertain agricultural growth and a rapidly growing population remains an enormous challenge. While much of the attention has been focused on supply-side issues, the need for improved understanding of the demand side has been largely ignored. Factors as income, urbanization, education and female labour participation have important implications on food and nutrition security outcomes, through their role in shaping the patterns of food demand. Most research on food demand has investigated the role of income growth on the amount and composition of food consumption. Also the role of education and nutrition knowledge on food diets has received considerable attention. Yet, while it is widely acknowledged that the rapid urbanization of Sub-Saharan Africa is playing an important role in observed changes in food demand, our understanding of the impact of urbanization is very limited.