Hábitos de consumo e comportamento do consumidor: estudo de caso da Ilha de Santiago

Mestrado em Produção Agrícola Tropical - Instituto Superior de Agronomia

Food/nutrition is considered, nowadays, inseperatable from development issues, especially in countries such as Cape Verde with deficient food supply to a growing population. Food/nutrition (Food security) in the country is a major concern in political terms. This situation reflects the concern on food needs supply very dependent from imports to satisfy its needs. The present essay´s goal is the study of food habits and behaviour of consumers in Cape Verde (island of Santiago). This country has reached the second level of development (Medium Development) but continues with a large percentage of its population living in poverty conditions, which has reflection on the levels of access to nourishment and nutritional consumption of the population. The essay was based on data (referred to in various bibliographic entries), supported by different sources and with the use of inquiries and interviews to obtain comparative data. The results obtained reveal the changing food habits, and consumer behaviour shortage and nutritional problems. Through the antropomethric analyses and the results obtained, one concludes the existence of nutritional problems. The bigger the household, the more vulnerable it is. This study has also allowed to point out problems in children. Obesity affects around 11% of children and mal-nutrition arround 5 %. Using econometric models, it is proved that nourishment (caloric intake) is proportional to income and that the level of education of the members of the household is extremely important in the family consumption patterns. One concludes that there are traditional products (corn and rice) which consumption will tend to decrease with the raise of the available income growth. This improvement on available income is reflected in a more diverse diet and changes on consumption patterns. Food is still an important component on family budget. The models show that education is the most important variable to explain food patterns consumption and also show the possibilities tto improve food consumption choices to achieve a better quality of life.