Willingness to Pay for Hexanal Technology among Banana Farmers in Meru County, Kenya

From the perspective of food categories, fresh produce are the leading sources of food loss and waste globally. Their highly perishable nature shortens their shelf-lives leading to high postharvest losses if not properly handled. Currently, these losses are estimated at sixty-six percent based on to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jane N. Kahwai, John I. Mburu, Martin O. Oulu, Margaret J. Hutchinson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:International Journal of Food Science
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6676148
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832550426021462016
author Jane N. Kahwai
John I. Mburu
Martin O. Oulu
Margaret J. Hutchinson
author_facet Jane N. Kahwai
John I. Mburu
Martin O. Oulu
Margaret J. Hutchinson
author_sort Jane N. Kahwai
collection DOAJ
description From the perspective of food categories, fresh produce are the leading sources of food loss and waste globally. Their highly perishable nature shortens their shelf-lives leading to high postharvest losses if not properly handled. Currently, these losses are estimated at sixty-six percent based on total weight. Reduction of these losses will ensure constant supply of food along the supply chain as well as economic empowerment of the rural poor. Hexanal which is a naturally occurring compound has been developed as an intervention to prolong shelf-life of delicate tropical fruits such as bananas while also maintaining their quality. However, empirical evidence is still required on the usefulness of hexanal to farmers. It is envisaged that such evidence would inform scaling up of the technology in Kenya. This study assessed willingness to pay for hexanal and the factors influencing WTP amounts among banana farmers in Meru County, Kenya. Primary data was collected from 130 respondents who were grouped into aware and not aware of Hexanal. Results indicate that farmers who are aware of hexanal had a higher mean WTP Ksh 466.47 (US $4.66) compared to those not aware Ksh 331.86 (US $3.32). Factors such as age and income influenced the WTP amounts between subsamples. The major key policy implication of the study is the importance of stakeholders investing in the dissemination of information on hexanal among farmers to enhance uptake.
format Article
id doaj-art-742c0aece55c43478723a052fc49c1c1
institution Kabale University
issn 2356-7015
2314-5765
language English
publishDate 2021-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Food Science
spelling doaj-art-742c0aece55c43478723a052fc49c1c12025-02-03T06:06:52ZengWileyInternational Journal of Food Science2356-70152314-57652021-01-01202110.1155/2021/66761486676148Willingness to Pay for Hexanal Technology among Banana Farmers in Meru County, KenyaJane N. Kahwai0John I. Mburu1Martin O. Oulu2Margaret J. Hutchinson3Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, KenyaDepartment of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, KenyaDepartment of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, KenyaDepartment of Plant Science and Crop Protection, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197, Nairobi, KenyaFrom the perspective of food categories, fresh produce are the leading sources of food loss and waste globally. Their highly perishable nature shortens their shelf-lives leading to high postharvest losses if not properly handled. Currently, these losses are estimated at sixty-six percent based on total weight. Reduction of these losses will ensure constant supply of food along the supply chain as well as economic empowerment of the rural poor. Hexanal which is a naturally occurring compound has been developed as an intervention to prolong shelf-life of delicate tropical fruits such as bananas while also maintaining their quality. However, empirical evidence is still required on the usefulness of hexanal to farmers. It is envisaged that such evidence would inform scaling up of the technology in Kenya. This study assessed willingness to pay for hexanal and the factors influencing WTP amounts among banana farmers in Meru County, Kenya. Primary data was collected from 130 respondents who were grouped into aware and not aware of Hexanal. Results indicate that farmers who are aware of hexanal had a higher mean WTP Ksh 466.47 (US $4.66) compared to those not aware Ksh 331.86 (US $3.32). Factors such as age and income influenced the WTP amounts between subsamples. The major key policy implication of the study is the importance of stakeholders investing in the dissemination of information on hexanal among farmers to enhance uptake.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6676148
spellingShingle Jane N. Kahwai
John I. Mburu
Martin O. Oulu
Margaret J. Hutchinson
Willingness to Pay for Hexanal Technology among Banana Farmers in Meru County, Kenya
International Journal of Food Science
title Willingness to Pay for Hexanal Technology among Banana Farmers in Meru County, Kenya
title_full Willingness to Pay for Hexanal Technology among Banana Farmers in Meru County, Kenya
title_fullStr Willingness to Pay for Hexanal Technology among Banana Farmers in Meru County, Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Willingness to Pay for Hexanal Technology among Banana Farmers in Meru County, Kenya
title_short Willingness to Pay for Hexanal Technology among Banana Farmers in Meru County, Kenya
title_sort willingness to pay for hexanal technology among banana farmers in meru county kenya
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6676148
work_keys_str_mv AT janenkahwai willingnesstopayforhexanaltechnologyamongbananafarmersinmerucountykenya
AT johnimburu willingnesstopayforhexanaltechnologyamongbananafarmersinmerucountykenya
AT martinooulu willingnesstopayforhexanaltechnologyamongbananafarmersinmerucountykenya
AT margaretjhutchinson willingnesstopayforhexanaltechnologyamongbananafarmersinmerucountykenya