Food vs economic growth: Strange coincidences?

We never used to hear of Brazilian restaurants like Fogo Gaucho. We now have several Chinese restaurants and South Africa-based restaurants, like Spurs, in Kenya. Among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, only Russian restaurants are missing in Kenya, though their Vodka is around with many variations. I am told until recently alcohol was classified as food in Russia.

Java closely mimics the American Starbucks (not the one in Karatina town). US-based KFC, Cold Stone and Subway are around, too. Some cranks have argued that the best indicator of Kenya’s economic status will not be a 10 per cent growth rate, but the arrival of McDonalds.

We also have Lebanese restaurants around. Interestingly, Britons seem not to have left a lasting impression on food, except tea. British music is also rare in Kenya.

Is there a connection between food and economic growth, or is it just a coincidence? Why are we noticing food from newly industrialised countries in Kenya?

Closer home, you can now buy muthokoi or githeri in supermarkets. Restaurants such as Wanjugunas and Kosewes are famous for traditional foods, though they are yet to rival Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Indian restaurants.

Even our famed ugali cannot be declared a national food; it is everywhere in Africa, with some variations like fufu in West Africa. What’s really Kenya’s national meal?

Our neighbours may be doing slightly better. Uganda is famous for matoke. Tanzania I’m not sure, but the most memorable meal I took there was chips mayai. We now host an Eritrean and several Ethiopian restaurants. Their injera is very delicious, accompanied by scented coffee.

Better known

It seems that economic progress and food are closely related. As a country grows economically, it becomes better known for its food. This might not be accidental. Economic progress means a better national identity — the feel-good effect.

One source of identity is the food you eat and, I would say in a whisper, beer you drink. By the way, what does President Uhuru Kenyatta eat when he travels outside the country? Ugali, mukimo or the host country’s food?

With an assured group of loyalists eating a certain meal in a country, it becomes easier to introduce it to others.

Further, economic progress means that food that was once for commoners is promoted and gains a higher status. Sushi would not be on the world stage without Japan’s economic progress.

We cannot rule out medical reasons as one of the drivers of the popularity of a country’s food. Food we once frowned upon can become popular for health reasons.

Why are the Maasai so lean despite eating a lot of meat? Our traditional foods are now considered more nutritious. No wonder in five-star hotels, sweet potatoes, arrowroot and boiled maize are delicacies; they are no longer foods for the hoi polloi.

Economic progress means more travel and trade, which spreads the food culture. If you have no economic clout, more travel might not lead to the spread of your food to other parts of the world.

Though Kenyans have been travelling to the US and Japan for years, no one has taken our ugali or mukimo as a serious food. Even the mwiko is rare in the US.

Eating food from another country or community is often exciting and leads to consumption of its other products and services. If you eat omena, you are likely to try other types of food and other activities from that community; some say you are even more likely to marry from there.

Economists argue that food’s elasticity of demand is low — that is, an increase in food prices rarely makes us eat less. This also applies to addictions like drugs, beer and cigarettes.

This means that the food business is very profitable because consumers will keep eating. As a country’s economy grows, entrepreneurs probably realise this and ride on food to make more money, and introduce more products and services.

Meaning and purpose

This observation follows Engel’s law, which says that as income rises, the proportion of income spent on food falls, even if actual expenditure on food rises. Perhaps this allows people to try more exotic foods, from prawns to salmon.

The connection between economic growth and the popularity of a country’s food could further be explained by media, which popularises the food.

So, could we one day use the popularity of a country’s food as a proxy measure of economic growth instead of GDP? This could be a more accurate measure because food is eaten by everyone.

It could also be that as a country develops economically, its citizens, find meaning and purpose, not in great infrastructure like roads and highways, but in the small things of life like food.

In the same way, successful people, after reaching the highest stage of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs — self-actualisation — regress and start foundations and philanthropies to take care of basic human needs like food.

Maybe the focus on food as a country develops is a sign that we are all the same, driven by human needs and instincts. This should teach us a great lesson: that we are all the same and have the same destiny. After all, we chew the same way, swallow the same way and go to the toilet the same way.

Our leaders need to understand the simple fact that great things in life, from exotic holidays to leading the nation, can be reduced to the lowest denominator: biological processes, from eating to sleeping.

After all, you cannot demand to be woken up at midnight to go and sleep in another house because you own more than one home. Once asleep, no one realises if he or she is sleeping on the floor or on a Sh1 million bed. This is the paradox of life that defies even the most hard-nosed economists.

Food is not about eating; it signifies the economic status of a country. Have you noticed how your diet has changed as your economic situation has improved?

The writer is senior lecturer, University of Nairobi School of Business. [email protected]