Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture No. 3/13
Determinants of Household Demand for
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable in Nigeria:
A Double Hurdle Approach
Kolawole Ogundari
Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Sadiat Funmilayo Arifalo
The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
Abstract
The study investigates separately demand characteristics of consuming healthy food
such as fresh fruit and vegetable (FV) based on the 2003/2004 Nigeria Living Standard
Survey (NLSS) data. It uses the double-hurdle model that allows the analysis of both
the decisions to consume and the demand for FV to differ. The empirical results show
that an average household in the sample considered the demand for FV to be luxury
good. But a closer look at the results across income groups show that households in the
low and high-income groups considered the demand for fresh fruit to be necessity and
luxury goods, respectively, while all households irrespective of which income groups
they belong considered the demand for fresh vegetable to be luxury good in the study.
Our results also imply that the demand for FV is higher among households with
younger members, compared to households with older members. Regional differences
in the demand for FV are also evident in the study.
Keywords: fruits, vegetable, double hurdle model, income elasticity, income groups, Nigeria
JEL: Q50, D11, D12, Q18
Vol. 52 (2013), No. 3: 199-216