An Assessment of the Demand for Meat in Rural and Peri-urban Areas of Central Kenya

Abstract

This study examines the consumption patterns of four meat types in rural and peri-urban Central Kenya. The study used cross-sectional data gathered from a household consumption survey of 447 households conducted between June and August 2012 in three towns of central Kenya namely Mwea, Njabini and Ol-kalou. The Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model was employed to estimate the demand elasticities. All estimated own-price elasticities were negative to satisfy the law of demand. The cross-price Hicksian effects for the meats indicated that beef and chicken, beef and pork, shoats and chicken, as well as chicken and pork are gross-substitutes to one another. The expenditure elasticities were all positive implying that all the four meats are normal goods in the country. The expenditure elasticities characterized three of the meats (beef, shoats and pork) as luxury commodities in the country where as only chicken turned out to be a necessity. Moreover, socio-economic factors such as age of the household head, his/her education level, gender, household size and off-farm income were found to be important factors in explaining perceived variations in the consumption patterns of meat in the country. Moreover, the estimated demand system fulfilled all the demand regularity conditions. It could therefore be recommended that any mechanism that enhances the incomes of the rural Kenyan households, and reduces meat prices would be desirable since it will boost their relative purchasing power hence increased meat consumptions.