Project title: Drivers of demand for animal-source foods in low-income informal settlements in Dagoretti Sub-county, Nairobi, Kenya

The overall aim of this research is to identify the drivers of animal-source foods (ASFs) consumption choice of nutritionally vulnerable urban household members in Nairobi and establish their relative importance in order to contribute to the implementation of sustainable food systems interventions. The project has the following objectives:

1. Estimate the effect of supply side characteristics (ASF availability, packaging and price) on ASF household purchase by collecting information from the retailers from whom households purchase;
2. Investigate the effect of demand side factors on ASF consumption, including household (income, education, ethnicity, religion) and household members’ characteristics (age, gender, taste, beliefs, preferences, decision-making power)
3. Measure spouses’ bargaining power and determine and model preferences for ASF of spouses in the lab;
4. Assess whether choice drivers and determinants of consumption of different ASF are associated with dietary and nutrition outcomes in regression models;
5. Complement quantitative analyses with focus group discussions (FGD) and Key informant interviews (KII) to understand the how and why behind the ASF consumption drivers, including traditional norms and beliefs and intra-household dynamics;
6. Design intervention targeting households and/or livestock value chains to optimize ASF consumption by the poorest on the basis of these findings and secure further funding to measure the cost-effectiveness of the intervention in future research.