EuroEconomica, Vol 35, No 2 (2016)

Abstract

This study aims at explaining the urban-rural household real food expenditure differentials in Cameroon. Specifically, the paper assesses the determinants of household real food consumption expenditure across percentiles for 2001 and 2007; evaluates the direction of change of the expenditure elasticity and the urban-rural household food expenditure gap between the two periods across percentiles and investigates the role of access to endowments and returns to endowments in explaining urban-rural household real food analysis of household real food functions using the quantile regression and the Quantile- expenditure gap for 2001 and 2007across percentiles. To achieve the set objectives, use is made of a micro-econometric Oaxaca-Blinder based decomposition to decompose the urban-rural food expenditure gap across percentiles for 2001 and 2007. Results show that the expenditure elasticity and urban-rural food expenditure gap declined significantly between 2001 and 2007across the quantiles considered; real total expenditure predominantly explains real food expenditureand the urban-rural food expenditure gap; and returns to endowments overwhelmingly account for the urban-rural food expenditure gap for both periods and across quantiles under review. These results show that well-being marginally improved between 2001 and 2007. These findings are important and have implications for household buffering food crisis in rural household and developing mechanisms to fight against issues related to food insecurity in Cameroon.