Satoru Okonogi
Assistant Professor, Empirical Development Economics
Keywords: Development Economics, Agricultural Economics, Applied Microeconometrics
Lab webpage

Degree

PhD in Agriculture (The University of Tokyo)

Current research topics

• The roles of the food market for improving child nutrition in Ghana
• The roles of mothers’ perception for improving child nutrition in Ghana
• The effects of free distribution of the baby food on mothers’ purchasing behavior in Ghana

Selected publications

• The relationship between dietary micronutrients intake and cognition test performance among school-aged children in government-owned primary schools in Kumasi metropolis, Ghana. Food Science & Nutrition, 7(9), pp. 3042-3051 (2019) (with R.A. Annan, C. Apprey, O. Asamoah-Boakye, T. Yamauchi, and T. Sakurai)

• Relationship between breakfast consumption, BMI status and physical fitness of Ghanaian school-aged children. BMC Nutrition, 6:19 (2020) (with R.A. Annan, S.A. Sowah, C. Apprey, N.A.F. Agyapong, T. Yamauchi, and T. Sakurai)

• The Effects of Information Provision about Infants’ Nutrition: Experimental Evidence in Ghana. Agricultural and Resource Economics Working Paper, No.20-F-02 (2021) (with R.A. Annan and T. Sakurai)

• Improving Infant Nutrition through the Market: Experimental Evidence in Ghana. SSRN Working Paper (2021) (with R.A. Annan and T. Sakurai)

Research

Undernutrition during early childhood negatively influences the physical and cognitive growth of children. It is an important development goal to improve child nutrition in developing countries. However, since children under two years old have many restrictions on what they can eat, improving their nutrition by weaning is difficult. Therefore, I study the role of processed baby foods as an easier way to improve child nutrition, focusing on maternal decision-making in nutritional inputs for children. My research is based on econometric analysis using microdata obtained from field surveys and experimental methods such as a randomized controlled trial. My current research topics are the role of mothers’ perception for improving child nutrition and the effects of free distribution of baby food on mothers’ purchasing behavior.