Farm Households' Preferences for Cash-based Compensation versus Livelihood-enhancing Programmes: A Choice Experiment to Inform Avian Flu (HPAI H5N1) Compensation Policy in Nigeria

In this paper, we attempt to bridge the resilience school of thought and incentive compatibility in livestock disease-control policies through a choice experiment study designed to estimate households' preferences for various compensation plan attributes. We define compensation plan broadly to include not just the traditional attributes, such as the number of days it takes to receive the payment and the compensation rate, but also more diverse interventions, such as training in biosecurity measures and access to bank loans, which are expected to have longer term livelihood impacts. The results reveal that, overall, study households preferred compensation plans that made payment in fewer days, provided facilitated credit access and offered biosecurity training, though there was considerable heterogeneity across households. Although agricultural compensation schemes across developing countries have been monetary-based, these results are indicative of the potential acceptability of alternative non-monetary compensations in rural areas. Copyright 2012 , Oxford University Press.