Food Consumption Patterns in Rural as a Result of Price Changes

Recently, food prices have risen to levels that threaten many countries in the world, especially developing countries, including Egypt, and according to the most important indicators of income, expenditure and consumption research for 2020, it was found that food expenditure on essential commodities constitutes more than 60% of total household expenditure, and that studying food consumption expenditure and studying changes in total expenditure on major food commodity groups in urban and rural Egypt represent an essential tool on which policy and decision makers rely to identify food  needs, and that Egyptian rural has the highest percentage of urban poverty rates, as urban poverty rates recorded about 22.9% in 2020, and in rural areas about 34.78%. Therefore, in this study, focus on the rural, importance research is due to study the impact of continuous rise and changes in prices of food commodities on household expenditure and food pattern, and benefit from them and guide them in developing future economic policies, and preparing appropriate awareness programs to face the challenges posed by increase in food commodities prices. Research aimed study economic analysis of impact of high prices on food pattern of rural families, and compare food expenditure pattern of commodities in study sample during study periods in 2022 and 2023, and study relationship between expenditure on food commodities by studying quantitative and expenditure elasticity, and studying difference between elasticities as a result of high prices during two periods. The research relied on achieving on case study approach and the comparative approach, conducted on a field sample in two different periods in the rural of Sharkia Governorate, in order to determine the extent of variation in pattern of food consumption according to difference in time period, which reflects impact of price changes. The results of study showed a decrease in the per capita quantities consumed for all study commodities and an increase in expenditure on most of them as a result of the increase in the prices of food commodities in 2023 compared to 2022 for study sample. Also the results of study showed that the quantitative elasticity of most commodities was less than the correct one, which indicates that these commodities are considered necessary commodities for the consumer in the study sample, where the quantitative elasticity reached about 0.314 for wheat, 0.270 for corn, 0.196 for rice, 0.263 for pasta, 0.316 beans, 0.229 for sugar for 2022, and with the rise in prices, the elasticity figures for those commodities mentioned in 2023 decreased to become more necessary, as a result of decrease in real income per capita resulting from high prices. While cheese is considered semi-luxury commodity eggs and oil are necessary commodities for the study sample, the value of its quantitative elasticity coefficient in 2022 was about 0.922, about 0.679, and about 0.647, respectively, the value of those coefficients increased for some of them and decreased for others in 2023, the value of quantitative elasticity coefficient in 2023 was about 0.808, 0.950, 0.531 for cheese, eggs and oil, respectively. Meat, poultry and fish are considered luxury commodities, as quantitative elasticity coefficient reached 2.33, 1.66, and 1.38 for the three commodities, respectively, in 2022, and increased to 2.90, 1.88, and 1.52, respectively,  in 2023. The qualitative elasticity of most commodities approached zero to indicate that the consumer doesn't care about quality of goods in light of the lack of access to the required quantity.