Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42401651›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2026

Continental-scale assessment of spatial food market accessibility in Africa using open geospatial data.

Robert Benassai-Dalmau, Vasiliki Voukelatou, Rossano Schifanella, Stefania Fiandrino, Daniela Paolotti, Kyriaki Kalimeri

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Robert Benassai-DalmauISI Foundation, Via della Rocca, 20, Turin, 10123, Italy. rbenassai@uoc.edu.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6829-3778
Vasiliki VoukelatouForecasting and Early Warning Unit, United Nations World Food Programme, Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Rome, 00148, Italy. vasiliki.voukelatou@wfp.org.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2445-5248
Rossano SchifanellaISI Foundation, Via della Rocca, 20, Turin, 10123, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3745-5792
Stefania FiandrinoISI Foundation, Via della Rocca, 20, Turin, 10123, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4513-3988
Daniela PaolottiISI Foundation, Via della Rocca, 20, Turin, 10123, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1356-3470
Kyriaki KalimeriISI Foundation, Via della Rocca, 20, Turin, 10123, Italy. kyriaki.kalimeri@isi.it.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8068-5916

Funding

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation INV-037325Gates Foundation INV-037325
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Food market accessibility is a critical yet underexplored dimension of food systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In this paper, we present a continent-wide assessment of spatial food market accessibility in Africa, integrating open geospatial data from OpenStreetMap and the World Food Programme. We compare three complementary metrics: travel time to the nearest market, market availability within a 30-minute threshold, and an entropy-based measure of spatial distribution, to quantify accessibility across diverse settings. We find pronounced disparities in accessibility: rural and economically disadvantaged populations face substantially longer travel times and reduced market availability, with some areas requiring several hours of travel. These accessibility patterns align with socioeconomic stratification, as measured by the Relative Wealth Index, and moderately correlate with food insecurity levels, assessed using the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. Overall, results suggest that access to food markets reflects broader geographic and economic inequalities and plays a relevant role in shaping food security outcomes. Despite limitations related to incomplete and spatially heterogeneous market data coverage, this framework provides a scalable, data-driven approach for identifying relative structural market accessibility gaps, supporting equitable infrastructure planning and spatially informed food security analyses across diverse African contexts.

Indexed as

AccessibilityData science for social goodFoodGISInequalitiesMarkets

Identifiers

PMID42401651
PMCPMC13634922

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.