A comparative analysis of the affordability of healthy diets across Türkiye and BRICS countries Using CoCoSo and MARCOS methods

Authors : Semin Topaloğlu Paksoy, Roya Karamat

Pages : 419-431

Doi:10.24181/tarekoder.1732007

View : 119 | Download : 639

Publication Date : 2025-12-19

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Purpose: This study aims to provide a comparative evaluation of the affordability of healthy diets in Türkiye and BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates) during the years 2017 and 2021. The study focuses on understanding the evolution of diet-related economic challenges and the structural disparities affecting food affordability in emerging economies. Design/Methodology/Approach: A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework is used incorporating the Statistical Variance (SV) method for objective weighting of criteria and two decisionmaking techniques — CoCoSo and MARCOS—for ranking country performances. Data for the analysis are obtained from FAOSTAT and other international databases, covering key nutrition cost indicators such as Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD), Cost of Starchy Staples (CoSS), and Number of Unaffordable (NUA). Findings: Results show that NUA was the most significant indicator in both years, reflecting its dominant role in healthy diet access. The importance of CoSS increased significantly in 2021, likely due to postpandemic market disruptions. Türkiye, Russian Federation, and UAE ranked highest in affordability across both years. On the other hand, countries such as India and Egypt experienced persistent challenges. MARCOS and CoCoSo methods provided consistent and complementary rankings, validating the robustness of the integrated MCDM approach. Originality/Value: This research is among the first to apply a combined SV–CoCoSo–MARCOS approach to compare the affordability of healthy diets over time across Türkiye and BRICS countries. The integration of dynamic MCDM methods with updated cross-country nutrition data provides a valuable contribution to the literature on nutrition economics and food policy.
Keywords : CoCoSo Yöntemi, sağlıklı beslenmenin karşılanabilirliği, MARCOS Yöntemi, Çok Kriterli Karar Verme, istatistiksel varyans

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