This report was prepared to help the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals set
research priorities for ESA. A clearer understanding of consumer demand for sorghum and
millets is required so that the priorities for crop improvement and value chain development
are based on market demand.
This report summarizes current information on consumer demand for sorghum and millets in
ESA, with particular reference to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. The analysis is
based primarily on data from nationally representative household expenditure surveys for
these four countries conducted between 2005 and 2012. The original data was obtained and
re-analysed to determine the drivers of consumer demand for sorghum and millets. Results
showed that the consumption estimates from these surveys were inconsistent with the data
on the production and availability of sorghum and millets reported in national statistics.
Consequently, we adjusted the results from the household expenditure surveys to match the
production and population estimates for each country to allow comparisons across the four
countries for 2013. Information on price and income elasticities was obtained from
secondary literature, while information on prices were gathered from the World Bank and
FAO data sets on commodity markets and prices
Consumer demand for sorghum and millets in ESA is driven by population growth,
urbanisation, income and price. Below, we summarise the findings for cereals in general,
then separately for sorghum and millets.