Estimating Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Safety of Street Foods in South-west Nigeria

Street foods have the potential to improve both food security and nutrition but they have the possibility of causing food poisoning outbreaks because they are mostly produced in dirty environments along dusty roads and other sources of contamination. In order to reduce the incidence of food borne diseases there is need for improved safety practices especially by the street food vendors which may increase costs. Parts of these costs will be transferred to consumers in form of higher prices. There is therefore an urgent need to assess consumers’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for safer street foods. Data were collected from 126 respondents who were selected from consumers patronizing street food stalls in Abeokuta, South-west Nigeria. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Logit regression model. WTP was estimated from the Dichotomous Choice Contingency Valuation Method (DCCVM). Average age of consumers was 35years with income of N29, 903.00. The Logit regression estimation showed that income and education have significant and positive effects on consumers’ WTP. Estimated WTP value of N12.70 per N100 worth of street food was obtained from the DCCVM. It is recommended that safer street stalls should be located in areas populated by high income and educated people due to their readiness to pay for the improved quality. Public enlightenments should also focus on food safety education in order to stimulate food safety awareness among consumers especially in areas populated by low income and lowly educated people.