Determinants of consumer willingness to pay for the quality attributes of transgenic (Bt) cowpea (<i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i>) in Kaduna and Sokoto States, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyzed the effect of socio-economic characteristics on consumer willingness to pay for the quality attributes of transgenic (Bt) cowpea (Bacillus thuringiensis) in Kaduna and Sokoto states, Nigeria. A random sample of 208 consumers was drawn from the cowpea consumer population. Primary data were collected using choice experiment (CE) designed questionnaire and analyzed with mixed logit analysis and descriptive statistics. The results across the states show that majority of respondents in Kaduna state (74.58%) and in Sokoto state (78%) had low income of less than N20,000 per annum in the surveyed areas. The combined results on the effect of gender on willingness to pay (WTP) indicated that female consumers were mostly willing to pay a premium price on safety and large grain size attributes relative to male consumers in the study area. Also, the coefficient for the interaction variable of consumers’ age category between 20-30 years and price had a positive sign (0.25) and was statistically significant (p<0.01), implying that the estimated coefficient of this interaction was significantly different from the age of individuals over 60 years. The results showed that the willingness to pay for the interaction coefficient (Price: Income) had a positive sign (N 0.04) but was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The positive sign on income implies that demand for cowpea attributes varies directly with income which suggests that cowpea is a normal product. The result further showed that middle income respondents having annual income between N 20,000- N 100,000) were more likely willing to pay as compared to low-income respondents having annual income below or equal to N19, 000 in the study area.