In Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), non-communicable disease (NCDs) were responsible for 37% of deaths in 2019, rising from 24% in 2000. Unhealthy diets are among the main risk factors associated with NCDs. There is an increasing emphasis on health-harming industries, such as ultraprocessed foods (UPF), in driving the incidence of diet-related diseases. However, the absence of consolidated methods required to provide a comprehensive investigation of the commercial determinants of UPF accessibility and consumption is a major limitation at present.

The Political Economy Analysis of Food Industry (PEAFI) is a novel toolkit to unpack the influence of the UPF industry in food systems and nutrition analysis in SSA, where the number of people living with diabetes, for example, is expected to reach 47 million by 2045, up from 19 million in 2019. PEAFI complements previously funded research investigating UPFs consumption by integrating the macro and meso levels of analysis critically needed to understand, not only what, but also why and how the consumption of UPFs is increasing so dramatically in the region. 

The project’s overarching objective is to improve the understanding of the political economy of UPFs’ complex processes and rules that influence consumption among adolescents in Ghana. Anchored in political economy, human geography and public health nutrition analysis, PEAFI provides a suit of methodological guidelines, data analysis plans, interview guides, frameworks to classify power and engagement protocols with diverse stakeholders.