[Food consumption patterns in the urban milieu of Bamako]

Food consumption patterns in urban environments are changing and diversifying. This longitudinal study of individual food consumption took into account the coexistence of two types of food consumption: within the home and outside the home. This article presents a summary of qualitative and quantitative research carried out in Bamako, Mali in 1995 and 1996 among 74 families from different socio-economic groups. It provides a comprehensive analysis of their food strategies (at the family and individual level) and their nutritional intake. In the home, similarities are found: three meals a day, and a single dish with a "base" ingredient and sauce at each meal. Heterogeneity is expressed in the number of dishes prepared each day, the type of "base", and ingredients in the sauce. Almost all individuals, no matter what their age or socio-economic status, consume food outside the home. This does not substitute meals at home. Street food accounts for 19-27% of food expenses and provides 134-417 Kcal per day per person. It offers a market for local products not often consumed at home and provides a necessary nutritional supplement to people from families of intermediate or low socio-economic status, especially for children. For people from higher socio-economic levels, street food provides mainly gustative and symbolic satisfaction. Following the devaluation of the CFA franc, the most disadvantaged populations seem to have reached a limit in their capacity for adaptation, which includes not only the quality of consumed products but also quantities. In order to ensure food security in urban areas, food and nutritional policies must take into account all the factors that influence food consumption behaviours of different groups of individuals, in particular the behaviours inside and outside the home. The latter is too often overshadowed.