What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: Micronutrient Content and Fungal Contamination of Foods in Developing Countries

The negative effects of micronutrient deficiencies on human capital acquisition and economic productivity are well documented. A less well understood but potentially serious threat to human health in developing countries is the contamination of food crops by fungal toxins. This paper surveys what is known about the health and economic burdens attributable to insufficient micronutrients and toxic contamination of food in developing countries, discusses consumer demand for micronutrients and food safety, and describes some of the challenges to improving population nutrition, particularly in rural areas.food safety, micronutrients, aflatoxin, developing countries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development,

Aflatoxin Contamination and Consumer Valuation of Maize in Western Kenya

Crop Production/Industries,

The Hidden Cost of Cheap Food

Most residents of developed countries have ready access to food that is fortified with nutrients and free of contamination. For people in developing countries, that is not the case. Many people lack resources for defining a healthy diet or learning about its benefits; finding and purchasing healthy food can be an enormous task in itself. Dr. Vivian Hoffmann of the University of Maryland looks at the impacts of poor nutrition in developing countries and emphasizes the need for education and outreach

What is the most effective way to deliver life-saving anti-malarial bed nets in the developing world?

Does free distribution to vulnerable households do more harm than good, or is it a critical component of an overall strategy? Dr. Vivian Hoffmann at the University of Maryland examines this issue and comes to a surprising conclusion

Marketing Household Water Treatment: Willingness to Pay Results from an Experiment in Rural Kenya

Despite increasing availability of household water treatment products, demand in developing countries remains low. Willingness to pay for water treatment products and factors that affect demand are not well understood. In this study, we estimate willingness to pay for WaterGuard, a dilute chlorine solution for point-of-use water treatment, using actual purchase decisions at randomly assigned prices. Secondly, we identify household characteristics that are correlated with the purchase decision. Among a sample of 854 respondents from 107 villages in rural Kenya, we find that mean willingness to pay is approximately 80% of the market price. Although only 35% of sample households purchased WaterGuard at the market price, 67% of those offered a 50% discount purchased the product. A marketing message emphasizing child health did not have a significant effect on purchase behavior, overall or among the subset of households with children under five. These findings suggest that rural Kenyans are willing to pay for WaterGuard at low prices but are very sensitive to increasing price. Households with young children that could benefit the most from use of WaterGuard do not appear to be more likely to purchase the product, and a marketing message designed to target this population was ineffective

Experimental and survey-based data on willingness to pay for seafood safety and environmental sustainability certification in Nigeria

Aquatic foods, including fish, are a substantial component of animal source foods globally, and make a critical nutritional contribution to diets in many contexts. In the global North, concern among consumers and regulators over the safety and environmental sustainability of seafood, particularly in developed nations, has led to the development of increasingly stringent seafood safety standards. While such standards may constitute regularity, logistical, and economic barriers to participation in export markets by small-scale producers, they have in other contexts catalysed upgrades to production and post-harvest handling practices within value chains associated with both capture fisheries and aquaculture. The health burden of foodborne illnesses is a major concern in developing countries. As incomes rise, consumers in developing countries are increasingly willing to pay a premium for safer and environmentally sustainable foods. However, there is little empirical evidence on consumers' willingness to pay for seafood safety in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Data on demand for seafood safety and environmental sustainability certification in African countries are largely unavailable in the public domain. In this paper, we describe data collected in Lagos State, Nigeria in October and November 2019. Experiments in the form of Becker-DeGroote-Marschak (BDM) auction mechanism, and post experiment surveys were conducted with 200 fish consumers in fish markets. These data can be used to assess whether consumers' demand for safe and healthy seafood from local markets can be harnessed to generate positive economic returns to producers. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc

Are consumers in developing countries willing to pay for aquaculture food safety certification? Evidence from a field experiment in Nigeria

Many developing countries face challenges in managing food safety risks associated with consumption of animalsource foods. Efforts to address these challenges increasingly recognize the role of certification in agri-food systems governance. Understanding consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for food safety certification is fundamental to determining the appropriate design and implementation of programs to reduce the burden of foodborne illnesses in developing countries. To address this need, we implemented a framed field experiment with consumers of eight farm-raised African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) products varying in certification status (safety certified versus uncertified) and product forms (live versus smoked) to examine their WTP for food safety certification in Nigeria. We applied a mixed-effects model to account for the hierarchical structure of the data with one participant entering multiple bids, and estimated a model with participant fixed effects as a robustness check. We found that consumers were willing to pay between 3.1% and 18.8% more for fish certified as safe compared to uncertified fish. Furthermore, there was an asymmetry in food safety certification valuation, with consumers paying significant premiums for high-value larger-sized certified live and smoked catfish, but not smaller-sized certified live and smoked catfish. The results are robust to a specification in which consumer fixed effects are included. Our findings suggest there exists consumer demand for certification programs to upgrade the food safety standards of higher-value fish products in Nigeria's domestic markets. Lower-value fish products typically consumed by lower-income consumers show less potential for certification. Alternative safety regulation is needed to ensure safety practices for low-end fish products

Food safety metrics relevant to low- and middle-income countries

London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineRoyal Veterinary College, LondonWorld Health OrganizationFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation

Impact of information on demand for safe food

Problems caused by eating unsafe food are a major health issue in many countries. Contamination by bacteria or toxins can cause these health risks, particularly for young children whose bodies are still developing. It can be difficult to know which foods are risky because you usually cannot tell by looking if food is contaminated. The goal of this research was to see whether giving consumers in Kenya information about one of these contamination risks would make them choose to purchase different products