JAFE Vol. 4 (1): 9-20
Farmers’ Perception and Willingness to Pay for Organic Fertilizer in Delta State, Nigeria
Loveth O. Okuma and Rodney A. Isiorhovoja
ABSTRACT
Farmers in Nigeria encounter myriads of unremitting challenges in the use of inorganic fertilizer, notwithstanding the efforts of Government at different times to ensure amelioration of the challenges. Against this background, the study assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) for organic fertilizer as an alternative to inorganic fertilizer with the specific objectives of determining the level of arable crop farmers’ awareness and perception of organic fertilizer, determining farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the product, and identifying factors that influence farmers’ WTP. It was hypothesized that socio-economic factors have no significant effect on farmers’ WTP for organic fertilizer. Delta State, Nigeria was the study area. A multistage sampling procedure was used to collected data from 150 farmers across the State using copies of a structured questionnaire which were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts, mean and standard deviation), contingency valuation method and logistic regression to determine the factors which influenced WTP. Among the findings was the high awareness of farmers of what organic fertilizer is and its essential qualities. Thus, they were favorably predisposed to its use. The maximum average price farmers were WTP was 522.60 Nigerian Naira (N522.60) given the contingency factor that “organic fertilizer increases yield and is cheaper”. Finally, “Organic fertilizer use experience” and “household farm income” were significant determinants of WTP. It was concluded that farmers’ WTP for organic fertilizer was adequately high to justify commercial production, and recommended that further sensitization campaigns be conducted to bridge whatever information gap still exists in the use of organic fertilizer in order to strengthen farmers’ commitment.
KEYWORDS: Organic fertilizer, Willingness to Pay (WTP), Contingency valuation, determinants