Food demand in urban and rural Samoa

In order to meet the food and nutrition needs of its citizens and strengthen its balance of payments, Samoa needs to transform its agricultural production system and to develop sound food policy. This article analyses household consumption patterns and estimates price and expenditure elasticities for seven food groups for urban and rural households in Samoa. A combined food-health policy that leads to improvements in agriculture, nutritional awareness and marketing may be useful both economically and nutritionally.