Reversing Urban Bias in African Rice Markets: Evidence from Senegal

Urban bias constitutes an important institutional impediment to economic development in poor countries. Some African governments now recognize that they should invest in agricultural productivity in order to reverse urban bias, but often forget the equally important objective of investing in quality tailored to consumers so as to reverse urban bias’ footprint on food markets. We conduct framed field experiments in two major urban markets in Senegal and find that the majority of urban consumers are willing to pay quality premiums for local rice suggesting that investment in post-harvest rice quality is a priority in the reversal of urban bias.