Measuring the Impacts of Saffron Production Promotion Measures on Farmers’ Policy Acceptance Probability: A Randomized Conjoint Field Experiment in Herat Province, Afghanistan

Mohammad Wais Azimy, Ghulam Dastgir Khan, Yuichiro Yoshida and Keisuke Kawata
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Mohammad Wais Azimy: Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima 739-8529, Japan
Ghulam Dastgir Khan: Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima 739-8529, Japan
Keisuke Kawata: Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: The government of Afghanistan promotes saffron production as a means to achieve economic development while reducing the widely spread opium cultivation in the country by providing necessary support to its farmers via saffron farmer service centers. This study investigates the causal effects of relevant attributes of potential saffron production promotion policies on the participation probabilities of saffron farmers. This study applies a randomized conjoint experiment to primary survey data of 298 farmers in Herat Province, which is perceived by the government as the center of saffron production in the country. The proposed hypothetical saffron production promotion policy consists of six attributes, namely, provision of machinery equipment, weather-based crop insurance, accessibility to long-term loans, location of saffron farmer service centers, provider of services, and annual payment. In the randomized conjoint experiment design, the respondents rank two alternative policies and policies against the status quo. The desirable policy comprises the machinery provision, long-term (up to 5 years) loan accessibility, an easily accessible service center, and policy implementation by international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The estimated results reveal that saffron farmers are highly supportive of the proposed saffron promotion policy and that their willingness to pay is as high as 17% of their per capita income.

Keywords: saffron production promotion policy; randomized conjoint experiment; willingness to pay; Afghanistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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