Consumer willingness to pay for food safety in Tanzania: an incentive-aligned conjoint analysis

摘要

In this paper, we present results from a consumer experiment in Tanzania focusing on food safety. We elicit consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for tomatoes that have been inspected by health officials to meet the standards set by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards. We also elicit consumers' WTP for tomato attributes that can be associated with different food safety standards: conventional vs. organically produced and various origins. Two hundred sixty-nine urban consumers from Morogoro, Tanzania took part in the experiment where they evaluated tomatoes using the Becker-deGroot-Marschak mecha-nism. The results show that on average, consumers in Tanzania are willing to pay a premium for inspected and organically produced tomatoes. Consumers have a strong preference for tomatoes produced in Tanzania and do not discount tomatoes produced in areas associated with poor agricultural practices. However, consumers do significantly discount tomatoes imported from South Africa.