DETERMINANTS OF FARMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR SUBSIDISED FARM INPUTS IN MALAWI

Öz

Most recently, citing low price elasticity of demand for inputs in the agro-based Malawian economy, economists and non-economists have advocated for increasing prices for subsidized inputs. However, elasticities alone are not enough to make inferences since knowledge of whether higher prices are indeed affordable by farmers is of special significance. This study uses the standard The results reveal that smallholder farmers are willing to pay for more inputs in the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) with the mean WTP for each household at MK 1000 being about ten 50kg fertilizer bags and the total WTP at the same price being 46 891 bags per year for 4742 observed households. Using data from the Malawi 2011/12 Farm Input Subsidy Study (FISS4), the model identifies age, sex and education of household head, farm size, food security as well as radio ownership as positive determinants of WTP; with coupon receipt and farm incomes as negative determinants

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Malawi, FISP, Willingness to Pay, FISS4, Tobit

Kaynakça

1. Abebe, H.T. and Bogale, P.A. (2014), ‘Willingness to pay for
2. Rainfall based Insurance by Smallholder Farmers in Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia: The Case of Dugda and Mieso Woredas’. Asia Pacific Journal of Energy and Environment, 1: 121-155. Chirwa, E.W. and Dorward, A.R. (2013), Agricultural Input
3. Subsidies: The Recent Malawi University Press Chirwa, E.W. and Dorward, A.R. (2013), Private Sector Participation in the Farm Input
4. Agricultures Consortium. Chirwa, E.W. Matita, M. and Dorward, A. (2013), Factors
5. Influencing Access to Agricultural Input Subsidy Coupons in Malawi. The Future Agricultures Consortium Dorward, A.R. and Chirwa, E.W. (2009), Cited in Chinsinga, B.
6. (2010). “Seeds and Subsidies:
7. Programmes in Malawi” Agricultures. Experience, Oxford: Oxford Subsidy Programme in Malawi. The Future The Political Economy of Input Working Paper 013, Future Dorward, A.R. and Chirwa, E.W. (2014), The Rehabilitation of
8. Agricultural Input Subsidies?IIED Working Paper. IIED, London. Dorward, A.R. (2009), Rethinking Agricultural Input Subsidy

9. Programmes in a Changing World. University of London: School of Oriental and African Studies. Greene, W.H. (2007), Econometric Analysis (6th edition). Prentice Hall.
10. Gujarati, D. (2004), Basic Econometrics (4th ed). Sidney: McGraw- Hill.
11. Hagos, D., Mekonnen, A.M. and Gebreegziabher, Z. (2012),
12. ‘Households’ Willingness to Pay for Improved Urban Waste Management in Mekelle City, Ethiopia’. Environment for Development, April 2012.
13. Maddala, G.S. (1992), Introduction to Econometrics (2nd ed). New York: Macmillan
14. Maganga, A., Mehire, A., Ngoma, K., Magombo, E. and Gondwe, P. (2014), ‘Determinants of
15. Purchased Inputs in Lilongwe District, Malawi: Mitundu Extension Planning Area’. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Evidence from Research, Vol. 19, No. 10, pp. 1313-1318.
16. Maonga, B.B., Maganga, A.M. and Kankwamba, H. (2015),
17. ‘Smallholder Farmers’ Willingness to Incorporate Biofuel Crops Into Cropping Systems in Malawi’. International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics, Vol. 3, No. 1. Pp. 87-100
18. Mason, N.M. and Ricker-Gilbert, J. (2012), Disrupting Demand for
19. Commercial Seed: Input Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute Mason, N.M., Jayne, T.S. and Mofya-Mukuka, R. (2013), A Review of Zambia’s Agricultural
20. Impacts, and the Way Forward. Indaba Agricultural Research Institute (IAPRI). Working Paper 77. IAPRI, Lusaka Minot, N., Kherallah, M. and Berry, P. (2000), Fertilizer Market
21. Reform and the Determinants of Malawi. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Institute. Subsidies in Malawi and Zambia. (IAPRI) Input Subsidy Programs: Targeting, Policy Fertilizer Use in Benin and Research NSO (National Statistics Office) (2005a), Integrated Household
22. Survey 2004-2005. Report, National Statistics Office, Zomba, Malawi.
23. Oladele, O.I. (2008), ‘Factors Determining Farmers’ Willingness to
24. Pay for Extension Services in Agricultura Tropica Et Subtropica, Vol. 41, No. 4, 165-170
25. Stiglitz, J. and Rothschild, M. (1976), ‘Equilibrium in Competitive
26. Insurance Markets’. Quarterly Journal of Economics 93: 541-562.