Are small Sub-Sahara African farmers willing to pay for vegetative propagated orange fleshed sweetpotato planting material? Evidence from Central Mozambique

Abstract

This paper evaluates farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the vegetative propagated orange fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) planting material that is many times considered as a public good. Famers’ WTP for OFSP vines was elicited by conducting a real choice experiment (RCE) among 121 small sweetpotato growers in central Mozambique with prior experience growing OFSP but with no participation in OFSP vine distributions in the previous 3 years of the experiment. Results reveals a higher farmers’ willingness to pay for OFSP varieties (US$0.07-0.12) compared to the non-orange planting material (US$ 0.03) and compared to the traditional subsidized price of clean sweetpotato vines (US$ 0.06) used in Mozambique. These results may encourage formation of a network of private vine multipliers that would supply permanently OFSP planting material in wider areas.Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, International Development, Production Economics, Q16,