Are consumers willing to pay for conservation agriculture? The case of white maize in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

Throughout the low‐income world, agricultural producers have a motivation to slash‐and‐burn rainforests as they cannot afford inorganic fertilizers. Farmers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), who are predominantly women, are often forced to walk long distances to cultivate more productive lands, when fertility near their villages is reduced. On their way and while working away from home, women become targets for rape. Adopting conservation agriculture (CA) could help mitigate deforestation and potentially create a safer environment for women. Limited knowledge about the benefits of CA across countries in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) has hindered its adoption. Taking these impediments into account, we estimate if consumers in the DRC are willing to pay (WTP) a premium for CA, using maize flour as the medium. By means of a double‐bounded dichotomous choice valuation method, 600 consumers in Bukavu, DRC, were surveyed about their willingness‐to‐pay for CA‐produced maize. Our study finds that only those consumers who identify themselves as farmers are WTP a premium. This study indicates that if CA adoption is to spread in the DRC, it will likely need to happen via increased yields or reduced costs before the farm gate and not premiums after the farm gate.

Fostering green innovation in achieving sustainable performance

“…Customers are increasingly concerned about the environment and demand more green products (Chiou et al, 2011; Horbach et al, 2012; Kam‐Sing Wong, 2012; Li et al, 2017). Consumers are willing to pay more for green products than non‐green products (Mulimbi et al, 2023; Tariq et al, 2017; Xie et al, 2019). Moreover, Kesidou and Wu (2020) asserted that using only stringent regulation is not enough to drive the development of green innovation.…”

“…Consumers believe green products are more valuable and ethically superior (Chang et al, 2022; Kamboj et al, 2022). Even, premium prices for green products are not a problem for consumers to purchase (Chekima et al, 2016; Lim, 2022; Mulimbi et al, 2023; Sharma, 2021).…”