A Nutritional Analysis of the Food Basket in BIH: A Linear Programming Approach

This paper presents linear and goal programming optimization models for determining and analyzing the food basket in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in terms of adequate nutritional needs according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards and World Bank (WB) recommendations. A linear programming (LP) model and goal linear programming model (GLP) are adequate since price and nutrient contents are linearly related to food weight. The LP model provides information about the minimal value and the structure of the food basket for an average person in BiH based on nutrient needs. GLP models are designed to give us information on minimal deviations from nutrient needs if the budget is fixed. Based on these results, poverty analysis can be performed. The data used for the models consisted of 158 food items from the general consumption of the population of BiH according to COICOP classifications, with average prices in 2015 for these products.