Consumer preferences for organic vegetables in southwestern Nigeria: A choice experiment approach

Abstract

In sub-Saharan Africa, identifying estimates of consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for safe food continues to receive attention in the literature. Using experimental data from Nigeria, we examined the source of heterogeneities in preference and WTP for organically produced food. The subjective valuation by consumers of certification in relation to third-party certification and the participatory guarantee system (PGS) was also investigated. A sample of 196 households subjected to a discrete choice experiment yielded 1 764 observations that were analysed using the generalised multinomial logit and mixed logit models. The results reveal a strong preference for food safety in terms of reducing chemical residue, which dominated the respondents’ preference and WTP patterns. Concerning certification attributes, consumers were positively disposed to third-party certification, but showed no significant preference for the PGS form of certification. Significant heterogeneities in preference were due mainly to age and awareness of organic products. We suggest that policies should focus on consumers’ understanding of organic food, third-party certification, and organic agriculture

Consumers’ food control risk perception and preference for food safety certification in emerging food markets

“…Lower chemical residue, lower price, tastiness and freshness increase the likelihood of choosing organic products. Results here are consistent with the findings of previous studies (Akinwehinmi et al, 2021; Bello & Abdulai, 2016b; Probst et al, 2012). The latent variable—FCRP is positively significant at 1%.…”

“…Our results confirm findings from past research that consumers in emerging markets express a strong preference for a reduction in food safety risks (e.g. Akinwehinmi et al, 2021; Bello & Abdulai, 2016b; Philip & Dipeolu, 2010). Further, we find that a majority of our respondents perceive the food control system to be weak.…”

“…However, in domestic food markets in many low and middle‐income countries (LMICs), food safety claims, in terms of certification and labelling, are rarely made (Hoffmann et al, 2021), possibly due to weak food control and uncertainty about consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for safe food (Hoffmann et al, 2019). Nonetheless, recent studies suggest that consumers in these markets are increasingly becoming aware of food safety risks (Coulibaly et al, 2011; Ingenbleek et al, 2019; Omojokun, 2013) and might be willing to pay for certification of food safety attributes (Akinwehinmi et al, 2021; Bello & Abdulai, 2018; Groote et al, 2016; Ortega & Tschirley, 2017; Probst et al, 2012).…”

Consumers’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception of Food Production Systems: The Case of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria

“…A few studies on knowledge, attitude, and perception about food production systems and consumption have focused more on GMO (Iroh et al, 2021;Eneh et al, 2012;Ebuehi and Ailohi, 2012) while others on organic food system (Kajang and Ezekiel, 2020;Rodríguez-Bermúdez et al, 2020;Akinwehinmi et al, 2021). So far, no known study has examined consumers' knowledge, perception, and attitude of all the food production systems simultaneously.…”