Analysis of Consumer Preference for Vitamin A-Fortified Sugar in Kenya

Food fortification is an important strategy for addressing micronutrient malnutrition, especially relating to, among others, vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in developing countries. Current efforts to tackle VAD in developing countries include biofortification and industrial fortification. In Kenya, the recent formulation of the national food security and nutritional policy has spurred efforts to fortify sugar with vitamin A to complement the on-going biofortification efforts targeting rural farm households. This study assessed consumer preferences for sugar that is industrially fortified with Vitamin A. The study used data collected from a random sample of 350 sugar consumers drawn from rural and peri-urban areas of Kenya. Preference data were collected using choice experiment method and analysed using the random parameter logit regression technique. Results show that consumers had positive and heterogeneous preferences for the key attributes of fortified sugar including natural fortificants, inclusion of gift packs and fortification labels, minimum levels of vitamin A and the colour of the grains. Consistent with the current campaigns, respondents from households with infants and lactating mothers had higher preferences for fortified sugar than those with aged members or the youth. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for production and marketing policy.