Promoting local foods in small island states: The role of information policies

Carla Barlagne (), Pascale Bazoche (), Alban Thomas, Harry Ozier-Lafontaine (), François Causeret and Jean-Marc Blazy
Additional contact information
Carla Barlagne: The James Hutton Institute, ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Pascale Bazoche: SMART-LERECO - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AGROCAMPUS OUEST
Harry Ozier-Lafontaine: ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
François Causeret: ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement

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Abstract: Ensuring the success of agriculture is at the heart of food security, and it is necessary to examine strategies that tackle agricultural development through the production and consumption of sustainable food products. One way to increase food security in small island states is to develop local food sectors by increasing consumers' awareness about local products with sustainable characteristics. We designed an economic experiment to assess consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for yams with sustainable characteristics: the origin, the intrinsic quality of an alternative variety and the mode of production. The results showed that labelling significantly changes consumers' valuation of the different yam profiles. Consumers' WTP for local yams (2.85 € kg À1) was significantly higher than for imported yams (1.80 € kg À1), while the organic mode of production derives a significant premium if information on production methods has been disseminated. The results also suggested that organoleptic characteristics of new varieties should not be overlooked. We conclude on how the labelling strategy could be facilitated through a policy targeting the development of the local food sector.

Keywords: Experimental economics; Food crops; Willingness-to-pay; The Caribbean; Organic production; Yams (Dioscorea sp.) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04054003v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Food Policy, 2015, 57, pp.62-72. ⟨10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.09.003⟩

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Journal Article: Promoting local foods in small island states: The role of information policies (2015)
Working Paper: Promoting local foods in small island states: The role of information policies (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04054003

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.09.003

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