Consumers’ Perceptions and Valuation of an Organic Chicken in Malawi

Abstract

In general, an increase in consumer income increases interest in safe foods and increases consumption of environmental friendly foods. Meanwhile, even in Malawi, interest in safe food and environmentally friendly food has been increasing due to increase in per capita income, but research related to this has not been done yet. The purpose of this study is to estimate the value of environmentally friendly foods in Malawi consumers. For this purpose, we surveyed the consumption patterns and estimated the value of organic chicken for consumers visiting supermarkets. As a value estimation technique, Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used. Probit model analysis showed that price, expenditure on regular chicken, and knowledge of organic food affect the willingness to pay for organic chicken. CVM analysis shows that Malawi supermarket consumers are willing to pay MK2,514 (3.59) dollars per kilo of organic chicken, which is 25.7% higher than the average price of a regular chicken. Thus, Malawi supermarket consumers can deduce that they have a higher value for environmentally friendly food than regular food. These findings can be used in formulating policies on food safety by government officials, organic chicken meat marketing strategies by supermarket mangers, decision making to enhance organic food production by producers, in order to develop organic food industry.