Abstract:
Biofortification, or breeding food crops for improved nutritional content, is a cost effective way to
improve nutritional status. The process can, however, alter the sensory characteristics of the crop, and
consumer acceptance is essential for their adoption. The oldest biofortified crop is quality protein maize
(QPM), biofortified with essential amino acids, a trait now incorporated in many recently-released varieties
in East Africa. To estimate rural consumers’ acceptance and willingness to pay (WTP) for QPM in the
dispersed population of Northern Tanzania, a novel method, combining a modified home-use test with a
Becker–DeGroot–Marschak experiment, was developed. The results showed that rural consumers in Tanzania
could distinguish stiff porridge made from QPM and from conventional maize (CM). They generally
preferred the former, as expressed by higher scores during affective tests for texture, taste, and overall
qualities. Further, rural consumers who were not provided with information about the nutritional benefits
of QPM were willing to pay a premium of 16% over CM, and those who were given information, 39%.
The scores on the affective test and the information on QPM’s nutritional benefits were the main factors
determining WTP in the experiment, while no personal characteristics of the participants were found to
be significant. We conclude that QPM is, at least, as well accepted as conventional maize, and preferred
for its sensory characteristics. Information on nutritional benefits increases rural consumers’ willingness
to pay for it, so information campaigns may be effective in increasing demand for QPM varieties. However,
these varieties need to be competitive for other characteristics that rural households value, in particular,
field and storage qualities.
