Awareness and willingness to pay for organic vegetables among farming households in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze awareness and willingness to pay (WTP) for
organic vegetables among households in Anambra State, Nigeria. Analysis of data
was done using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages, and
Contingent Valuation Method. One hundred and forty (140) respondents were
utilized for the study but with a valid response rate of 85.7 percent to give one
hundred and twenty (120) respondents sampled from the study area using
multistage sampling procedure. Data used for the research was obtained with the
aid of a well-structured questionnaire. The most commonly consumed vegetables
were pumpkin (59.17%), garden egg (28.33%), cucumber (8.33%) and amaranth
(4.17%). The respondents were aware (95.83%) of the health benefits of organic
vegetables and also aware (71.7%) of environmental effects of using inorganic
fertilizer for vegetable production. In the WTP for organic vegetables, it was
observed that 21.7% of the respondents were not WTP for organic garden egg,
while 78.3% of the respondents were WTP a premium for a kg of organic garden
egg. About 8.3% of the respondents were not WTP for organic pumpkin while
91.7% of them were WTP a premium for organic pumpkin. The analysis showed
that in households WTP for organic garden egg, factors such as age, health,
education, and awareness were significant, while WTP an amount was also
significantly influenced by the same set of variables. Also, while willingness to pay
for organic pumpkin was significantly influenced by health, education and
awareness, WTP an amount was significantly influenced by health, education and
awareness. There is need for public awareness by the media and organic NonGovernment Organizations to create more programmes that will educate
consumers on the health and environmental advantages of organic farming and
consumption patterns over conventional practices. With this, more consumers will
be willing to pay a premium for organic vegetables.