CONSUMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR SAFER VEGETABLES IN OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO

Abstract

This study assesses consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for safer vegetables in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 350 vegetable consumers selected through a multi stage sampling procedure from ten districts of the capital city, Ouagadougou. Descriptive statistics was used in identifying the mean Willingness to Pay (MWTP). Ordered probit and Multinomial logit were used to estimate the factors influencing consumers’ WTP and consumers’ preferred purchasing outlets of safer vegetables respectively. The Garrett ranking technique was then used to rank the constraints to accessing safe vegetables. The results revealed a very high (98.6%) WTP for safer vegetables. The mean WTP amounts for the three selected vegetables if safer were CFA 322(GH¢ 2.3), CFA 400(GH¢ 2.8) and CFA 265(GH¢ 1.9) for 1.5kg of cabbage, 1kg of a bundle of lettuce and 1kg of tomatoes, representing 63.5%, 100% and 59.0% increment. The results also indicated that consumers’ income, education, household size, and health concern significantly influenced their WTP for safer vegetables. Also, household size, occupation, education and respondents’ knowledge on the existing vegetable markets significantly influenced consumers’ choice of preferred market. With respect to the constraint to accessing safe vegetables, inadequate supply of safe vegetables was ranked first while cultural barriers were the least ranked constraints by consumers. Based on the findings, the study recommends that stakeholders should venture into production and selling of safer vegetables. Also there should be keen efforts by stakeholders to create consumer awareness about the health implications of consuming safer vegetables.