Consumption Patterns of Dairy products in Kenya's Urban Centers: Report from an Urban Household Survey

Abstract

Introduction:

Tegemeo has been involved in analysis to support agricultural policy making in Kenya for the last 17 years. Over that time the major focus has been on the analysis of agriculture as a rural sector. However analysis of a number of apparently primarily rural sectors has led to an appreciation of the need for information about marketing patterns, international and regional trade and consumer markets. Over the last 8 years one of Tegemeo’s main products has been a rural household survey. In 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 Tegemeo undertook surveys of the same 1540 households spread in nine agro-regional zones around the country. That rich database as contributed to policy debate on a range of issues in the agricultural economy. However a gap remained in our knowledge and in the types of information we could bring to the policy table. This paper describes an urban survey undertaken in Nairobi and its environs in 2003. Information from that survey is used in this paper to analyze the consumption of dairy products. Separate papers use the survey information to analyze consumption patterns for maize and other staples, fruit and vegetables, and meat.