Households’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Teff Seed in Yilmana-Dinsa Woreda of West Gojjam Zone, Amhara Nation

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the willingness to pay for improved teff seed in Yilmana-Dinsa woreda, West Gojjam zone. The data were generated from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected from 121 sample respondents in three kebeles. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an econometric model. A contingent valuation method was employed to estimate the parameters in the Tobit model. The result showed 79.3% of them were willing to pay for improved teff, while the remaining 20.6% were non-willing respondents for improved teff seed. Among the socio-economic characteristics of the sample respondents, sex, access to training, level of education, age, on-farm income, extension contact, and credit use were statistically significant. The mean amount of household willingness to pay for improved teff seed had an average price of 35.89, with a minimum and maximum of 0 Birr and 100 Birr per kilogram, respectively. The econometric result of the Tobit model revealed that level of education, farming experience, frequency of extension contacts, credit use, and access to training were factors that positively and significantly affected households' maximum willingness to pay for improved teff seed. Off-farm income and distance from the nearest market were factors that negatively and significantly affected households' maximum willingness to pay for improved teff seed. Based on the findings, government and other stakeholders need to focus on strengthening improved seed access through organized seed systems that encompass all actors and promising cultivars through a well-established national extension system in order to fill the current seed system gaps.