IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/agecon/v50y2019i4p495-507.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Farmer perception and valuation of seed quality: Evidence from bean and cowpea seed auctions in Tanzania and Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Mywish K. Maredia
  • Robert Shupp
  • Edward Opoku
  • Fulgence Mishili
  • Byron Reyes
  • Paul Kusolwa
  • Francis Kusi
  • Abdul Kudra

Abstract

Double blind field experiments and experimental auctions were conducted with bean and cowpea farmers in Tanzania and Ghana to gauge the relative demand for three types of seed products that differ in price and quality: certified, quality declared, and recycled. Whether the cost differential makes these seeds qualitatively different products as reflected in their perceived performance, and whether that translates into farmers’ willingness to pay price premiums, are the research questions addressed by this study. Results indicate that, all else equal, there were significant differences in the perceived quality of the seed products evaluated. Farmers were willing to pay significantly more for their higher rated seed relative to their lower rated seeds. However, for a majority of farmers the magnitude of the premium they are willing to pay for a higher quality seed is less than the current price differential between certified seed and grain. Research and policy implications of these results for legume seed system are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Mywish K. Maredia & Robert Shupp & Edward Opoku & Fulgence Mishili & Byron Reyes & Paul Kusolwa & Francis Kusi & Abdul Kudra, 2019. "Farmer perception and valuation of seed quality: Evidence from bean and cowpea seed auctions in Tanzania and Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 50(4), pages 495-507, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:50:y:2019:i:4:p:495-507
    DOI: 10.1111/agec.12505
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12505
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/agec.12505?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abdul Muis Hasibuan & Daniel Gregg & Randy Stringer, 2021. "The role of certification, risk and time preferences in promoting adoption of climate-resilient citrus varieties in Indonesia," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1-21, February.
    2. Christine Wamuyu Mwangi & Josiah Ateka & Robert Mbeche & Luke Oyugi & Elijah Ateka, 2022. "Comparing farmers’ willingness to pay with costs of clean sweet potato seed multiplication in Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(5), pages 1279-1293, October.
    3. Bettles, Joseph & Battisti, David S. & Cook-Patton, Susan C. & Kroeger, Timm & Spector, June T. & Wolff, Nicholas H. & Masuda, Yuta J., 2021. "Agroforestry and non-state actors: A review," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    4. Jian Li & Ping Qing & Wuyang Hu & Minglai Li, 2022. "Contract farming, community effect, and farmer valuation of biofortified crop varieties in China: The case of high‐zinc wheat," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 1035-1055, May.
    5. Astrid Mastenbroek & Irma Sirutyte & Robert Sparrow, 2021. "Information Barriers to Adoption of Agricultural Technologies: Willingness to Pay for Certified Seed of an Open Pollinated Maize Variety in Northern Uganda," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 180-201, February.
    6. Martey, Edward & Etwire, Prince M. & Adombilla, Ramson & Abebrese, Samuel O., 2023. "Information constraint and farmers’ willingness to pay for an irrigation scheduling tool," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    7. Morgan, Stephen N. & Mason, Nicole M. & Maredia, Mywish K., 2020. "Lead-farmer extension and smallholder valuation of new agricultural technologies in Tanzania," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    8. Felister Y. Tibamanya & Mursali A. Milanzi & Arne Henningsen, 2021. "Drivers of and Barriers to Adoption of Improved Sun- flower Varieties amongst Smallholder Farmers in Singida, Tanzania: the Double-Hurdle Approach," IFRO Working Paper 2021/03, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    9. Fredrick Bagamba & Proscovia R. Ntakyo & Geoffrey Otim & David J. Spielman & Bjorn Van Campenhout, 2023. "Policy and performance in Uganda's seed sector: Opportunities and challenges," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(3), May.
    10. Myat Thida Win & Mywish K. Maredia & Duncan Boughton, 2023. "Farmer demand for certified legume seeds and the viability of farmer seed enterprises: Evidence from Myanmar," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(2), pages 555-569, April.
    11. Maertens, Annemie & Chari, A.V., 2020. "What’s Your Child Worth? An Analysis of Expected Dowry Payments in Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    12. Wossen, Tesfamicheal & Abay, Kibrom A. & Abdoulaye, Tahirou, 2022. "Misperceiving and misreporting input quality: Implications for input use and productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:50:y:2019:i:4:p:495-507. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.