Demand for food safety in emerging and developing countries: A research agenda for Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

Food safety in emerging and developing regions is receiving increased attention from economists, researchers and policymakers. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature on the economics of food safety in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Of interest are studies exploring consumer demand and producer behavior regarding food safety. Particular attention is given to areas in need of additional research. The studies’ common implications for future research are discussed.

Two English language searches were conducted in the summer of 2013 to identify relevant studies on the economics of food safety, one each in Google Scholar and Web of Science. The authors carefully reviewed the abstracts of these studies for content, and select papers were identified that capture overarching themes found in the literature. Findings are presented by region.

Consumers in developing countries will become increasingly aware of food safety issues as urbanization proceeds and incomes continue to rise at robust rates. However, assuring food safety in modernizing food systems involves significant costs, and current incomes in developing SSA are far lower than in Asia. The authors find that overall consumer awareness of food safety problems in SSA is low relative to Asia. Moreover, knowledge of producer behavior and consumer demand for food safety in developing countries is very limited.

Limitations include a lack of information available on domestic food safety issues and overall knowledge of how food safety affects developing agrifood systems.

The findings from this review contribute to a better understanding of the economics of food safety in emerging and developing regions.