Motivation for nutritional improvement among consumers in rural Madagascar

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K15922
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 41010:Agricultural and food economics-related
• Research Institution: Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Shiratori Sakiko 国立研究開発法人国際農林水産業研究センター, 情報広報室, 主任研究員 (60746486)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 栄養改善 / 消費者行動 / マダガスカル / 食生活 / モチベーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In Madagascar, the diet is biased towards rice. Diversifying the diet is critical for nutritional improvement of people in Madagascar; however, little change has been observed. We analyzed the factors that make it difficult to change eating habits, mainly from the perspective of consumer behavior. The results showed that they already had some knowledge about nutrition. Nevertheless, in addition to the high cost of nutritious foods, their tendency to subjectively evaluate their own health conditions favorably, avoid risks, and underestimate future value were considered to be among the factors that hinder motivation to improve nutrition.

Free Research Field

農業経済学、食料消費、栄養、消費者行動

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

栄養不良の要因解明や栄養改善活動には多くの調査や介入が行われているが、それが実際に消費者の食事行動の変化につながるかを調べた研究は少ない。本研究では、年3回農家にインタビュー調査を行って構築したパネルデータより把握できる実際の食事内容や世帯の特徴に加え、仮想的な質問から推測される消費者嗜好やフォーカスグループディスカッションで得られた情報を活用し、また分析には行動経済学の手法なども応用することで、より実効性があり学術的にも貢献できる研究となるよう努めた。