Market demand for and producer profits of certified safe cabbage: evidence from test sales in traditional food markets in Northern Ghana

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dc.creatorLowenstein, W.
dc.creatorWetzel, C.
dc.creatorMustapha, I.
dc.creatorDrechsel, Pay
dc.creatorAbubakari, A.-H.
dc.date2024-11
dc.date2024-08-27T09:35:52Z
dc.date2024-08-27T09:35:52Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T18:24:46Z
dc.descriptionVendors in traditional urban food markets in West Africa offer locally produced vegetables. These may be unsafe, carrying pathogens and posing potential risks to consumers’ health; or safe, being free from pathogens. Safe produce is rarely differentiated from unsafe produce through certification or price differentiation. Consequently, there is no market data on consumers’ actual payments for certified safe vegetables. Therefore, we aimed to find out whether there is a demand for certified safe vegetables and whether such safety certification is profitable for small-scale farmers. Previous studies have used experiments to elicit price premia consumers’ state to be willing to pay. In contrast, we offered pathogen-free cabbage certified as safe on traditional food markets in Tamale, Ghana, and observed what consumers actually paid. We noted consumer’s actual purchases, who – at the same market stalls – chose between ordinary cabbage of unknown safety status and certified safe cabbage, which carried a price premium to be paid in addition to the price of ordinary cabbage. Our results show that 176 consumers purchased certified safe cabbage and 123 bought ordinary cabbage during the test sales. Consumers’ probability to buy certified safe cabbage is explained by the size of the price premium charged, households’ characteristics and perceptions of local production modes. Estimating customers’ demand function for certified safe cabbage revealed that a pioneer farmer should charge a monopolistic price premium of GHS 1.48 (+46 % on top of the average price for ordinary cabbage valid during the test sales) to maximise the profits from introducing certified safe cabbage into the market. We find that the most promising certification option is for groups of geographically concentrated farmers to jointly apply for safe vegetable certification.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/151874
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/155029
dc.languageen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceLowenstein, W.; Wetzel, C.; Mustapha, I.; Drechsel, Pay; Abubakari, A.-H. 2024. Market demand for and producer profits of certified safe cabbage: evidence from test sales in traditional food markets in Northern Ghana. World Development, 183:106739. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106739]
dc.subjectmarket demand
dc.subjectfood safety
dc.subjectcertification
dc.subjectvegetables
dc.subjectcabbages
dc.subjectprofitability
dc.subjectsmall-scale farming
dc.subjectsmallholders
dc.subjectfarmers
dc.subjecthousehold income
dc.subjectprices
dc.subjectmarketing
dc.titleMarket demand for and producer profits of certified safe cabbage: evidence from test sales in traditional food markets in Northern Ghana
dc.typeJournal Article

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Instituto Internacional para el Manejo del Agua (IWMI)