Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya

Vivian Hoffmann, Samuel H. Mutiga, Jagger Harvey, Rebecca J. Nelson and Michael G. Milgroom

No 1886, IFPRI discussion papers from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Unlike physical losses, deterioration of food safety can be difficult to observe. In low- and middle- income countries, much of the food supply is never tested for safety hazards. We analyze data from 1500 maize samples and associated consumer surveys collected from clients of small-scale hammer mills in rural Kenya. We find that while visible damage to maize is penalized by lower prices, there is no correlation between price and aflatoxin, a carcinogenic fungal contaminant, implying an absence of market incentives to manage this aspect of food loss. Aflatoxin contamination is, however, correlated with consumer perceptions of quality, especially for self-produced maize, suggesting an information asymmetry that could lead to inefficiencies in this market.

Keywords: crop storage; mycotoxins; storage; maize; food safety; aflatoxins; markets; safety; food prices; crop losses; prices; postharvest losses; Kenya; Eastern Africa; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-env
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1886

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