Farmer willingness to pay for seed-related information: rice varieties in Nigeria and Benin

Abstract

This study examines farmers' preferences for seed of new rice varieties (improved and NERICA) and their willingness to pay (WTP) for information embodied in the seed, in villages of Nigeria and Benin. Information might not generate rivalry among its users but excludability is certainly a characteristic of information and its delivery can generate incentives for private participation. Conjoint utility analysis is used to estimate the structure of farmers' preferences for rice seed. Farmers prefer one variety based on the utility they obtain from its attributes, which depends on their own social and economic characteristics. Contingent methods are used to elicit preferences and rice seed price. * Corresponding to: J. Munyemana formerly WARDA staff, for the reviews and suggestions on earlier versions of this work. Koffi Amegbeto from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), and James Hanson and William Rivera at the University of Maryland provided valuable suggestions and literature during the development of this research. The authors also would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. J. Daniela Horna et al.The marginal values of attributes are estimated with an ordered probit regression. The WTP for seed-related information is derived from the utility model. The results have implications for the best way to finance extension services in the areas of intervention, particularly for new rice varieties. Gustafson, 1991;Carney, 1998), in spite of extensive literature showing the positive impact of extension on agricultural performance (Birkhaeuser et al., 1991;Evenson, 2001). In addition, public provision of extension services represents a heavy fiscal burden for governments. Experiences in a number of locations around the world are demonstrating that inefficiencies in resource allocation are unavoidable if a service such as extension is provided free of charge to stakeholders who might be able or willing to contribute in order to obtain appropriate service (Schwartz

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