The success of biofortified staple crops depends on whether they are accepted and consumed by target populations. In the past 8 years, several studies were undertaken to understand consumers' acceptance of foods made with biofortified staple crops. Consumer acceptance is measured in terms of their sensory evaluation and economic valuation of biofortified varieties vis-à-vis conventional ones. These studies apply expert sensory panel and hedonic trait analyses methods adopted from food sciences literature, as well as various preference elicitation methods (including experimental auctions, revealed choice experiments, and stated choice experiments) adopted from experimental economics literature. These studies also test the impact of various levers on consumers' evaluation and valuation for biofortified foods. These levers include (i) nutrition information and the media through which such information is conveyed; (ii) the length and content of nutrition information; (iii) different branding options; (iv) the nature (national or international) of the branding/ certification agency that is endorsing the biofortified staple food; and (v) the nature (national or international) of the agency that is delivering the biofortified staple food. This paper brings together evidence on consumer acceptance of biofortified crops on 5 crops across 7 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The results of these studies are expected to aid in the development of biofortified crops that consumers like, as well as in the development of appropriate marketing and consumer awareness or information campaigns to encourage the switch in consumption from traditional staples to biofortified ones.
In this article, we use the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism to estimate consumer demand for biofortified yellow cassava varieties in two states of Nigeria: Imo in the southeast and Oyo in the southwest. These two states exhibit distinct habitual product color preferences for staple food made with cassava. We estimate the effect of nutrition information campaigns and nature of planting material delivery institutions on consumer demand. Willingness to pay estimations account for the effect of product endowment, censoring in bids and nonpayment. In Oyo, consumers are willing to pay a premium for light yellow cassava variety even in the absence of nutrition information. The article finds that nutrition information results in a large and significant price premium for biofortified cassava in both states, and the nature of delivery institution has no significant effect. JEL classifications: C35, C93, D12, D83, Q18
Biofortified vitamin A "yellow" cassava can help address the adverse health effects of vitamin A deficiency. By 2016, HarvestPlus and its partners had successfully developed and delivered vitamin A cassava varieties to more than one million farming households in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). HarvestPlus has established the proof of concept that vitamin A cassava varieties can be developed without compromising yield levels and that these varieties are widely accepted. The delivery program has shown that farmers are willing to grow vitamin A cassava varieties and consumers are willing to buy and eat vitamin A cassava products. This paper summarizes the country, nutritional and consumer background, the crop development and release of biofortified vitamin A cassava varieties in Nigeria, progress in monitoring and evaluation of results, and synthesizes lessons learned and future challenges.
Biofortification is the process of increasing the density of vitamins and minerals in a crop through plant breeding-using either conventional methods or genetic engineering-or through agronomic practices. Over the past 15 years, conventional breeding efforts have resulted in the development of varieties of several staple food crops with significant levels of the three micronutrients most limiting in diets: zinc, iron, and vitamin A. More than 15 million people in developing countries now grow and consume biofortified crops. Evidence from nutrition research shows that biofortified varieties provide considerable amounts of bioavailable micronutrients, and consumption of these varieties can improve micronutrient deficiency status among target populations. Farmer adoption and consumer acceptance research shows that farmers and consumers like the various production and consumption characteristics of biofortified varieties, as much as (if not more than) popular conventional varieties, even in the absence of nutritional information. Further development and delivery of these micronutrient-rich varieties can potentially reduce hidden hunger, especially in rural populations whose diets rely on staple food crops. Future work includes strengthening the supply of and the demand for biofortified staple food crops and facilitating targeted investment to those crop-country combinations that have the highest potential nutritional impact.
Iron deficiency is a public health problem in many developing countries. Iron-biofortified varieties of commonly consumed staple crops have the potential to contribute to the daily iron requirements in diets. This paper examines consumer acceptance and willingness to pay (WTP) for two iron bean varieties in Rwanda: red iron bean (RIB) and white iron bean (WIB
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.