The Cost of Healthy Diets.

For many households, eating healthy is no longer simply a matter of knowing what is good for the body, it is increasingly a question of what the family can afford. Fruits, vegetables, quality protein, legumes and other nutrient-rich foods can compete for space in the shopping basket with cheaper staples and highly processed foods that provide calories at a lower price.

The scale of the problem is global. The 2026 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, published by five UN agencies, estimates that 2.69 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2025. Africa remains the hardest-hit region, with about 66 per cent of its population unable to afford a healthy diet.

The FAO and World Bank Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet (CoAHD) measure defines a healthy diet using the least expensive locally available foods needed to meet nutritional requirements and national dietary guidelines.

The problem is not only the price of food. Production costs, transport, storage, climate shocks, food supply chains and household incomes all influence what ends up on the plate. FAO research also shows that people living in remote rural areas are disproportionately likely to be unable to afford healthy diets.

For people living with diabetes, the advice is often straightforward: eat more vegetables, whole grains, legumes and other nutrient-rich foods, while limiting sugar and highly processed foods. But following that advice consistently can become a financial challenge.

Beavon Mugoshi, a diabetes advocate from Kenya, says the cost of maintaining a healthy diet can be as difficult to manage as the condition itself.

“For me, one of the biggest challenges is the cost of eating healthy consistently. When you are living with diabetes, you have to be careful about what you eat,” Mugoshi says, noting that sometimes the healthier options are more expensive than the cheaper foods available.

According to him, he tries to eat vegetables, beans, eggs, whole grains and controlled portions of fruit to help manage his blood sugar. But foods such as fish, lean meat, nuts and some fruits can stretch the household budget, particularly when they have to be bought regularly.

“Sometimes you end up choosing what you can afford rather than what you know is best for your health,” he says.

The financial pressure does not stop at food, Mugoshi says; people living with diabetes may also have to meet the costs of insulin, glucose monitoring and other diabetes-related needs.

For him, healthy food should be affordable and accessible to everyone, rather than becoming a privilege determined by income.

The high cost of nutritious food is shaping what many families put on their plates, with consequences that extend beyond hunger to obesity, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases.

Kepha Nyanumba, a consultant nutritionist at Crystal Health Medical Center, says when healthy foods become unaffordable, households often turn to cheaper and more filling alternatives. Many of these foods are highly processed and loaded with sugar, salt and saturated fats, while providing little fibre and other protective nutrients.

“When healthy foods become expensive, people often prioritise foods that are cheaper and more filling,” Nyanumba says.

He warns that prolonged inability to afford balanced diets can have serious health and economic consequences. Adults may suffer nutrient deficiencies, reduced productivity and an increased risk of obesity and chronic diseases, while children who lack essential nutrients may experience impaired growth and development, weakened immunity and poor school performance.

Nyanumba says the solution requires action at both household and policy levels. Families need practical nutrition education on meal planning, budgeting and preparing affordable, nutritious meals using locally available foods.

At policy level, he recommends strengthening school feeding, food assistance and cash-transfer programs, while investing in smallholder farmers, irrigation, storage and transport to improve the supply and affordability of nutritious foods.

But the high price of healthy food is not simply a matter of consumer demand. Eustace Gachanja, an agricultural economist, says the cost begins much earlier in the food chain, from production to transportation and storage.

“Healthy foods are becoming more expensive because they are more difficult and costlier to produce, transport and keep fresh than staple foods like maize and rice,” Gachanja says.

Fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs and fish are highly perishable, meaning farmers and traders can lose a significant share of their produce before it reaches consumers. Rising production costs, unpredictable weather and cheap imports have also made farming riskier.

Gachanja says government support has traditionally focused more heavily on staple crops through interventions such as fertiliser subsidies and strategic grain reserves, helping to stabilise their prices.

“As a result, many Kenyan families can still afford enough calories, but they struggle to afford enough nutrition,” he says.

Climate change, post-harvest losses and transport costs further compound the problem. According to figures cited by Gachanja from the FAO and Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya loses an estimated 30–50 per cent of fruits, 20–50 per cent of vegetables, 10–25 per cent of milk and dairy products, and 20–40 per cent of fish.

He argues that investing in cold storage, better rural roads, collection centers and climate-smart farming could reduce waste and lower prices without undermining farmers’ incomes.

“The solution is not cheaper food for farmers, it is a more efficient food system that reduces waste and lowers costs for everyone,” he says.