Factors Influencing Market Participants Decision to Sort Groundnuts along the Marketing Chain in Ghana

Abstract

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important source of protein and fat in Ghana and other developing countries. However, peanut is often contaminated with aflatoxin because of poor storage conditions. One possible approach to minimizing human consumption of aflatoxin is to sort and remove contaminated nuts at various stages of marketing. Logistic regression models were used to investigate factors influencing market participants' decision to sort peanut before processing and consumption. Results show that farmers' decision to sort peanut before consumption was influenced by gender, education, age, number of dependents assisting, knowledge of health problems associated with consuming aflatoxin contaminated peanut, total revenue per hectare of peanut, and the form in which the peanut is consumed. Livestock owners' decision to sort before consumption was influenced by education and the form in which the peanut is consumed. The level of education of consumers, and the form in which the peanut is consumed influenced consumers' decision to sort peanut. Farmers' decision to sort peanut before processing into paste was influenced by the number of dependents assisting in household labor activities, the revenue from peanut and the form in which the peanut is consumed. The form in which the peanut is consumed and knowledge of the health effects of aflatoxin influenced livestock owner's, retailer's, and consumer's decision to sort peanut before processing into paste. Processors' decision to sort before conversion into paste was influenced by education, knowledge of the reasons for sorting and the form in which peanut is consumed.

Economic Risks of Aflatoxin Contamination in Marketing of Peanut in Benin

“…Most peanut marketing enterprises in Benin have limited capital investment, and entrepreneurs use considerable amount of family labor to sort their nuts. This is concluded in the study by Awuah et al [11] that young and older unemployed individuals are often engaged in sorting nuts. Hence, the labor cost is kept low and there is improvement in quality.…”

“…Unless there is a policy in place for price increases for a better quality and safe product, market participants are likely to engage in cost shifting behaviors. Education is a key factor to increase market participants' willingness to sort peanut [11]. Jolly et al [25] also emphasized increasing market participants' awareness of AF problem to encourage them to sort peanut.…”

“…In order to eliminate those with possible contamination, groundnut should be sorted before or after storage to remove defective or burrowed, contaminated grain. Awuah et al [11] found that age, education, and gender influenced sorting of peanut. Women are more likely to sort peanut than men.…”

“…The AF contaminated peanut is tainted and cannot be marketed and must be thrown away. Awuah et al [11] stated that about 5 to 15% of peanut in Ghana were discarded during sorting. Preand postharvest management strategies employed to reduce AF in food result in lower supply but better product quality.…”

Local agro-industrial by-products with potential use in Ghanaian aquaculture: a review

“…It can thus be inferred that about 63,000 MT of groundnut cake or meal is produced annually in Ghana as a by-product of the oil-extraction processes. However, unlike most oilseed by-products, not all of the groundnut cake/meal produced is available for livestock feed production since a significant portion is incorporated into human meals (Awuah et al 2009). The direct human competition for this resource takes the form of processing the meals or cakes into a variety of protein-rich meals and snacks (Jolly et al 2008;Ibrahim et al 2012).…”