Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Their claim was that, since they had not used it before, they could not judge
its effectiveness at controlling pests and diseases.
Farmers' willingness to pay for compost
There was a positive correlation between how farmers perceived compost
and their WTP for it. About 70 per cent of them expressed positive WTP,
while 30 per cent were unwilling to pay even though they perceived it as a
good soil input. Farmers were unwilling to pay for it largely for economic
reasons. They were generally satisfied with the high returns achieved from
their current soil input and did not see a need to replace or try new ones.
Many suggested that it should be the government's responsibility to subsidize
or supply inputs free to farmers.
Comparing WTP bids across different farming systems in Kumasi
revealed that urban vegetable farmers expressed the lowest mean WTP
(US$0.10), although their systems were profitable, with annual revenues
ranging between US$600 and $1000 per hectare. Peri-urban vegetable farmers
proposed the highest mean WTP (US$3; Table 2.2). The lower bid from
urban vegetable farmers may have been influenced by the cheap and readily
available poultry manure in urban farming systems.
A previous study in Kumasi found that more than 90 per cent of the
urban vegetable farmers preferred poultry manure because of the low price
(US$0.01 per 10 kg) and availability (Drechsel and Kunze, 2001). On the other
hand, the peri-urban vegetable farmers used expensive chemical fertilizers,
which cost about US$2.80 per 10 kg. Although the nutrient content was
greater in chemical fertilizers, the cost of nitrogen was still cheaper for the
poultry manure than the chemical fertilizer.
The poultry industry in Kumasi may have the potential to provide large
amounts of bio-fertilizer. There are about 300 registered commercial poultry
farms in and around Kumasi (Kindness, 1999), and manure production by the
largest farm alone is about 50 tonnes per week (Drechsel, 1996).
Decision variables for farmers' WTP
Farmers' experience of the use of compost had significant influence on the
WTP for compost, as did gender and household dependency. However, their
Table 2.2 Farmers' willingness-to-pay for 50 kg of compost
Farming system
Mean WTP US$ (Std. Dev.)
Vegetable farming, urban
0.10 (0.10)
Vegetable farming, peri-urban
3.00 (1.10)
Staple crops, urban
2.00 (1.60)
Staple crops, peri-urban
2.70 (1.00)
Backyard, urban
1.40 (0.10)
Ornamentals
0.60 (0.40)
