WILLINGNESS OF CONSUMERS IN SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA TO PAY FOR ORGANIC LEAFY VEGETABLES.

Abstract

food has become more important as the shift to organic agriculture, which has engulfed the
developing world due to negative consequences of agrochemicaluse, has reached Southwest,
Nigeria.Hence, this study analysed the willingness of consumers to pay for organic leafy
vegetables in the region. Data were collected with the aid of pre-tested questionnaire from 360
respondents selected using multistage procedure and analysed using descriptive statistics and
double hurdle regression model. Majority (56.9%) of respondents were female with average
age, family size, monthly income and expenditures of 39years, 5 persons, ? 110,507.73
($239.71) and ? 73,178 ($158.74), respectively.The exchange rate used for this study is 1$US =
461? .More than half of the consumers were aware of, had positive perceptions of organic leafy -1
vegetables and were willing to pay ? 331.19·kg , on the average, for its regular
supply.Willingness to pay for organic green leafy vegetables was found to increase with
monthly income, education and awareness while it decreased with household size and monthly
expenditures.Organically grown leafy vegetables are healthy foods, increasing awareness
could increase consumers' willingness to pay.Access to different sources of income among
consumers may have a favourable impact on the price they are willing to pay.