A Latent Class Approach to Farmers’ Preference for Pona Seed Yam Certification System in Ghana (Published)
The study employed choice experiment methods and latent class model to assess farmers’ preferences for seed yam certification system and their willingness to pay for certified seed yam in Kintamop, East Gonja and Afram Plains Districts in Ghana. A total of 9120 choice experiments were elicited from 380 yam farmers. The study identified three classes/ market segments of farmers regarding preferences for Pona seed yam. The results show that farmers have more utility towards fully certified seed yam and are willing to pay ¢719.6 for a bunch of fully certified seed yam. The findings indicate that the likelihood that a randomly chosen farmer would prefer fully certified seed yam was 88.9%. Farmers have high utility towards medium sized seed yam for Pona variety and were willing to pay ¢12.5 for this attribute. The results demonstrate market potential for commercial seed yam certification system in Ghana.
Keywords: Choice Experiment, Market Segmentation, Seed Yam, Willingness to pay
A Latent Class Modelling Approach to Evaluating Farmers’ Preferences For Pona Seed Yam Certification Systems and Their Willingness to Pay in Ghana (Published)
The study employed choice experiment and latent class model to assess farmers’ preferences for seed yam certification system and their willingness to pay for certified seed yam in selected yam producing Districts in Ghana. A total of 9120 choice experiments were conducted to elicit data from 380 yam farmers. The study identified three classes/ market segments of farmers regarding preferences for Pona seed yam. The results show that farmers have more utility towards fully certified seed yam and are willing to pay GH¢719.60 (US$189.4) for a bunch (100 tubers weighing about 45kg) of fully certified seed yam. However, farmers were found to have high utility towards medium-sized Pona seed yam and are willing to pay a premium of GHC¢12.5 (US$3.3) for this attribute. The study has demonstrated high potential for the commercialization of seed yam production in Ghana through a formal seed yam certification system.
Keywords: Choice Experiment, Latent Class Modelling, Market Segmentation, Seed Yam, Willingness to pay