Households demand for food commodities: evidence from Kurunegala divisional secretarial division, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction

In Sri Lanka, as like in many of the world’s poorest and developing countries one of the prime components of the final demand for food is household consumption. The food ratio which presents the total food expenditure as a percentage of total food and non-food expenditure was 42.3% of the total household expenditure in 2009/10 (Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) – 2009/10, 2010/11). Changing prices, income, and other socio-economic factors have many implications on the demand of food commodities at household and country levels. Planning of food production or fixing of import targets necessitates an estimate of the prospective final demand for food commodities, which will generate requirements for increased supply through production or by imports. Hence, an analysis of household’s consumption of food commodities on the basis of demand functions becomes necessary and useful.

A considerable number of empirical studies has been done in the field of consumer demand for food commodities, both in Sri Lanka and other countries (Ray, 1982; Cox and Wohlgenaut, 1986; Nirmali and Edirisinghe, 2010). However, literatures at micro-level which primarily focus on households demand for food commodities are not widely covered in the existing literatures. Hence, this study provides a useful inside information and knowledge that can be used by policy makers to set policies or design strategies related to food commodities. Complementing the existing studies, the present study will fill the gap by investigating the empirical realities of the households demand for food commodities in the Kurunegala Divisional Secretarial (D.S) Division of the Kurunagala District in Sri Lanka.