Behavioral Determinants of Biofortified Food Acceptance: The Case of Orange-fleshed Sweet Potato in Ghana

Chinonso Etumnu

No 235249, 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: Biofortified foods are being introduced in sub-Saharan Africa as an important strategy to help address micronutrient malnutrition. However, there has been little research on factors that could play decisive roles in their successful introduction. This paper investigates the determinants of consumer acceptance of biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) using data from a choice experiment conducted in Ghana. I find that OFSP is preferred to traditional white-fleshed and yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes as indicated by consumers' marginal willingness to pay for the three varieties. I also find that consumers' socio-economic characteristics do not have a significant effect on the acceptance of OFSP. Conversely, providing consumers with information about the nutritional benefits of OFSP exert a substantial, positive and significant effect on their acceptance of the produce. Providing nutritional information thus appears to be more crucial in the successful introduction of OFSP and other biofortified foods.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; Health Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; Marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mkt
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea16:235249

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.235249

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