Willingness to pay of Nigerian poultry producers and feed millers for aflatoxin‐safe maize

Andrew M Johnson,Victor Manyong,Joan R Fulton,Akande Adebowale,Nicole J Olynk Widmar,Ranajit Bandyopadhyay,Tahirou Abdoulaye,Bamikole Ayedun

doi:10.1002/agr.21621

Abstract

Dietary aflatoxin exposure is a widespread problem in the developing world and causes severe negative health consequences to humans and livestock animals. A new biological control product, called Aflasafe, has been introduced in Nigeria to mitigate aflatoxin contamination of maize in the field and in storage. No known prior work has estimated how much African agribusinesses using maize for animal feed will pay for aflatoxin‐safe maize. This study measured the levels of Aflasafe awareness, surveyed current aflatoxin management practices, and estimated, using choice experiments, willingness to pay (WTP) for aflatoxin‐safe maize by Nigerian poultry producers and feed millers. Data was gathered from 272 orally administered surveys, which included discrete choice experiments examining maize purchasing decisions. Results suggest that the proportion of enterprises that were aware of aflatoxin was found to vary across states. Two latent classes of Nigerian poultry producers and feed millers were identified that were willing to pay average premiums of 4.9% and 30.9%, respectively for maize with 10 parts per billion (ppb) aflatoxin concentration relative to maize with 20 ppb aflatoxin concentration. Both latent classes were, on average, willing to pay larger premiums for maize with 4 ppb aflatoxin concentration. There was evidence that latent class membership, and hence WTP, varied based on awareness of aflatoxin and across geographies.JEL CLASSIFICATIOND29; I15; O13

Highlights

Aflatoxin is a potent toxin, predominantly produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus, with severe negative impacts on both human and animal health (Williams et al, 2004)
Less than half of agribusiness enterprise representatives (42.4%) had heard of aflatoxin, and only 13% of enterprise representatives had heard of Aflasafe
It is noteworthy that Kaduna State had the lowest level of aflatoxin awareness even though implementers in Kaduna State were actively enrolled in the AgResults Nigeria Aflasafe pilot project in October of 2015 (AgResults Initiative, 2015)

Summary

Introduction

Aflatoxin is a potent toxin, predominantly produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus, with severe negative impacts on both human and animal health (Williams et al, 2004). Humans are exposed to aflatoxin by consuming contaminated grains, nuts, and legumes or by consuming meat, eggs, or milk from animals with aflatoxin‐contaminated diets (Iqbal, Nisar, Asi, & Jinap, 2014; Keyl & Booth, 1971; Liu & Wu, 2010). Dietary aflatoxin exposure reduced feed conversion efficiency in pigs and poultry by 7–10% (Shane, 1993, as cited in Williams et al, 2004). Aflatoxin consumption can decrease egg production in layers and increase poultry mortality rates (Shane, 1993). The effects of aflatoxin consumption can be exacerbated if other toxins are present in feed rations, which is relatively common (Huff, Kubena, Harvey, & Doerr, 1988)

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