Food and Nutrition Lens (food consumption/demand)

Human diets can be broadly categorized by food crop types and their associated products (cereals; roots, tubers & bananas (RTB); legumes; and other crops) and animal/fish-based food products. For simplicity we focus here on the energy and protein shares. Perhaps not surprisingly, cereals provide half of the energy intake in human diets in the Global South. RTBs provide 7% of energy and legumes 5%, with animal/fish-based foods 13% and other crops the remaining quarter. Perhaps less known, cereals also provide 46% of protein intake in the Global South; followed by 32% for animal/fish based. Other crops and RTB provide markedly less protein than their energy shares, whereas legumes provide relatively more. The relative importance of specific crops within each type shifts somewhat between their energy and protein contribution. Within cereals though, rice, wheat and maize retain their dominance.

Table 1: intake per person per day based on national average consumption patterns at country level.