Factors Influencing the Allocation of Households’ Food Budgets in Tanzania

Abstract

The on-going transition to middle income country in Tanzania resulting from rapid social and economic changes has induced changes in food expenditure and consumption patterns that are not well-understood. The paper assessed whether food expenditure shares vary across households in Tanzania based on their sex, age, marital status, education level, income status and residential areas. The analysis was done using nationally representative data where fractional multinomial logit model was adopted to model the relationship. Results show significant variation in food expenditure across the factors. Income-poor consumers are predicted to spend more on foods thereby raising concerns with respect to their ability to meet food requirements. The analysis has also revealed higher expenditure shares on foods other than animal-based protein among female- than male-headed households thereby echoing gender related nutritional concerns taking into account that men are principally the main decision makers in the African context and they have greater control over households’ income than women. The study found significant spatial differences in expenditure shares where rural consumers spend less on foods other than animal-based protein when compared to consumers in urban areas. Efforts to enhance food and nutritional security should focus on identifying gaps in consumers’ nutritional knowledge. It is also important to recognize the factors identified to influence expenditure patterns in this study and contextualise their impact for more effective policy interventions. Future studies should attempt to identify effects of own-produced food on food expenditure and interaction effects of factors including those analysed in this paper.