Washington, June 20 : A Senior Research Fellow in the New Delhi office of the International Food Policy Research Institute says that “cheap food” is not actually cheap for poor countries.
Bart Minten came to this conclusion after studying the food retail revolution in the Africal island nation of Madagascar.
The economist said that supermarket chains, though were praised for bringing low-priced goods to the developing world, had actually failed to attract the poor.
At the heart of the problem is a classic cost-benefit analysis by the consumer, he said.
During the course of study, Minten showed pictures taken of various items (rice, meat, tomatoes) from the newer supermarket chains to a sample of Malagasy shoppers.