Preliminary study of the social and demographic profile of street food in Côte d'Ivoire: Eaters of garba.

Abstract

The study aims to establish the sociodemographic profile of consumers of garba (a street food sold in Côte d'Ivoire), understand its frequency of consumption, and develop a typology of its consumers. We interviewed 547 consumers at 10 points of sale. A factorial analysis of the data collected was performed and a decision tree produced for the social and demographic variables, followed by a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and then a hierarchical ascending clustering (HAC). Garba is consumed more by men (70.6%), students (42%), and single people (68.2%). The consumers are mainly Christian (51.7%) or Muslims (35.8%). The principal deciding factors explaining the frequency of individual consumption are age, occupation, and marital status. Four classes of consumers are defined according to the socioprofessional category of the individuals. Garba is highly consumed in 47% of cases, moderately consumed in 35.1% of cases and poorly consumed in 17.9%. Garba is frequently consumed by all sociodemographic levels. Its consumers can be divided into four classes. In view of its high frequency of consumption, a study of its nutritional quality is necessary to ensure guarantee consumer health.