Micronutrient malnutrition affects two billion individuals worldwide, especially developing countries’ rural populations where the majority of food intake is from staple crops. The adoption and consumption of biofortified crops, which are staple food crops conventionally bred to have higher levels of micronutrients and minerals, is one agricultural-nutrition intervention being implemented to increase micronutrient intake. In this dissertation, I utilize experimental auctions to estimate consumer and farmer demand, measured via willingness-to-pay (WTP), for two biofortified staple food crops, rice and beans. I assess how information, farmer aspirations, and the difference in the experimental quantity used versus respondents’ intended purchase quantity impact demand estimates. Findings can be used by implementers, extension agents, and agro-dealers regarding how best to increase demand for biofortified crops.Chapter one examines the effects of nutrition information on rural Bangladeshi consumers’ WTP for two ways to increase zinc intake through rice. I assess zinc intake via low-milling and biofortification of rice with increased zinc content, which is also low-milled to retain maximum zinc content. Results indicate that with information, consumers are willing to pay a premium for zinc biofortified rice compared to non-biofortified rice, when milled at the same level. However, results confirm Bangladeshi consumers’ strong preference for high-milled rice, as they discounted low-milled rice even after receiving information on the nutritional benefits of biofortified or low-milled rice. Therefore, given current consumer preferences, other micronutrient intake interventions, beyond biofortification, should be explored. In chapter two, I examine the role of farmer aspirations on WTP for biofortified bean seed, whose health benefits are considered a medium-term investment. Specifically, I assess if farmers classified as being high aspiring have a higher WTP for biofortified bean and if they respond differently, as evidenced by their WTP, to nutrition and cooking quality information shared about the various bean seed types, via three rounds of bidding. I find that compared to the non-biofortified benchmark seed type, farmers are willing to pay a premium for biofortified bean seed when information is shared. Therefore, biofortified bean seed should be labeled, and nutrition and consumption information should accompany the seeds to elicit maximum demand. So, for initial roll-out, this study recommends targeting farmers that have achieved above a primary school education, that farm larger total land area across all crops, have greater assets, participate in farmer field days, are part of a savings group, and are members of a religious group as these characteristics distinguish high aspiring farmers. Finally, chapter three investigates if, and to what degree, varying bid quantity in WTP elicitation impacts per-unit WTP via a non-hypothetical field experiment using rural Zimbabwean bean farmers. I compare the status-quo approach of small, pre-fixed experimental quantities for bid elicitation versus an innovative approach where the experimental quantity is matched to each respondent’s intended purchase quantity (IPQ). Farmers were randomly assigned to either a fixed quantity group (FQG) where they bid on a 2kg seed pack or a variable quantity group (VQG) where farmers’ experimental quantity was matched to their IPQ. I find that the per-unit WTP is significantly biased upward when bids were elicited using a fixed quantity compared to farmers’ IPQ. This bias was significantly higher for novel (biofortified bean) seeds. I find evidence that this bias in WTP is due to respondents’ IPQ being above the fixed experimental quantity used. These results point to the need for researchers to critically consider the experimental quantity when designing input-based producer WTP studies. The estimated high WTP based on a small experimental bid quantity can have major implications for companies launching new products and in estimating effective demand for agricultural inputs as well as governments setting input subsidy prices.
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