Are consumers willing to pay more for biofortified foods?: Evidence from a field experiment in Uganda

Vitamin A deficiency is a major health problem in Africa and in many other developing countries. Biofortified staple crops that are high in beta-carotene and adapted to local growing environments have the potential to significantly reduce the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency. One such example is the orange sweet potato (OSP). Because of its distinctive orange color, which is in contrast to the white varieties that are typically consumed in Africa, it is important to assess whether consumers will accept it. This paper attempts to address this question by using a choice experiment with the real product to quantify the magnitude of the premium or discount in consumers' willingness to pay that may be associated with it. It also considers the extent to which the provision of nutrition information affects valuations. Finally, the paper addresses whether the use of hypothetical scenarios is justified in a developing country context, and quantifies the magnitude of hypothetical bias that results as a consequence. We examine whether a “cheap talk” script, which as elaborated in the paper, reminds respondents that hypothetical scenarios are to be treated as if they are real, is effective in mitigating hypothetical bias. The experiment was conducted in Uganda, a key target country for the dissemination of orange sweet potato. Our results suggest that in the absence of nutrition information, there is no difference between white and orange varieties in consumers' willingness to pay, but there is a discount for yellow sweet potato (which does not have any beta-carotene). The provision of nutrition information does translate into substantial premia for the orange varieties, indicating that an information campaign may be key to driving market acceptance of the new product. Finally, there is a substantial hypothetical bias in both the willingness to pay (WTP), and the marginal WTP, for the new varieties; while “cheap talk” may mitigate this bias, it does not eliminate it.Cheap talk, Field experiments, Hypothetical bias, conjoint analysis, Universal logit,

Effect of drying and storage on the content of provitamin A of orange fleshed sweet potato (Ipomoa batatas): direct sun radiations do not have significant impact

[Introduction] Sweetpotato is an important crop that is widely consumed in sub-Saharan Africa. Sun drying of sweetpotatoes is a traditional practice: after drying on rocks crushed or sliced dried sweetpotato are stored in granaries; re-hydrated and boiled to be eaten like fresh roots, or milled into flour to make porridge. Orange fleshed sweetpotato is being promoted in Africa to tackle vitamin A deficiency. There are inconsistent reports on the effect of sun-drying on pro-vitamin A retention. High losses have been reported which may be associated with the unsaturated instable provitamin A carotenoids easily degraded by light, oxygen and heat (Rodriguez Amaya 1997). This poster describes work to understand the effects of sun/solar drying and storage on pro-vitamin A retention

Relationship among the carotenoid content, dry matter content and sensory attributes of sweet potato

The sensory characteristics of biofortified sweet potato in Africa were explored over a wide range of carotenoid (0.4–72.5 μg/g fresh weight) and dry matter contents (26.8–39.4%). The logarithm of the total carotenoid content was correlated with the dry matter content (declining by 1.2% with each doubling of the carotenoid content) and a wide range of sensory characteristics that involve visual, odour, taste and textural characteristics. Multiple linear regression models were developed. The logarithmic relationship of colour to the carotenoid concentration means that those varieties with a relatively low carotenoid content may appear to be of similar intensity to those with a much higher and hence nutritionally beneficial carotenoid content

Are Consumers in Developing Countries Willing-to-Pay More for Micronutrient-Dense Biofortified Foods? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Uganda

Vitamin A deficiency is a major health problem in Africa and in many other developing countries. Biofortified staple crops that are high in pro vitamins A and adapted to local growing environment have the potential to reduce the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency. One such example is the orange-fleshed sweetpotato. However because of its distinctive orange color, which is in contrast to the white varieties that are typically consumed in Africa, it is important to assess whether consumers will accept it. It is this question that this paper attempts to address, using a choice experiment with the real product to quantify the magnitude of the premium or discount in consumers’ willingness to pay that may be associated with it. In addition, it also considers the extent to which the provision of nutrition information affects valuations. Finally, it addresses whether the use of hypothetical scenarios, both with and without a cheap talk script is justified in a developing country context, and quantifies the magnitude of hypothetical bias that results as a consequence. The experiment was conducted in Uganda, which is a key target country for the dissemination of orange-fleshed sweetpotato. Our results suggest that in the absence of nutrition information, there is no difference in the willingness to pay between white and orange varieties, but there is a discount for yellow sweetpotato (which does not have any beta-carotene). The provision of nutrition information does translate into substantial premia for the orange varieties, indicating that an information campaign may be key to drive market acceptance of the new product. Finally, there is a substantial hypothetical bias in both the WTP and the marginal WTP for the new varieties, and while cheap talk mitigates this bias, it does not eliminate it

Are consumers in developing countries willing to pay more for micronutrient-dense biofortified foods? Evidence from a field experiment in Uganda

Vitamin A deficiency is a major health problem in Africa and in many other developing countries. Biofortified staple crops that are high in pro-vitamin A have the potential to reduce the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency. Using a choice experiment with the real product in Uganda, we quantify the magnitude of the premium or discount in consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) that may be associated with it. Results suggest that taste plays an important role in consumer acceptance, and the provision of nutrition information does translate into substantial premiums for the biofortified variety. There is a substantial hypothetical bias in the WTP for the new varieties, and while cheap talk mitigates this bias, it does not eliminate it