Abstract
Fish and aquatic foods provide more than 3.3 billion people worldwide with 20 percent of their dietary animal protein needs. In many developing countries, fish is particularly important in the diets and livelihoods of poor people suffering from vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Interventions aimed at minimizing potential health hazards within food-producing sectors including aquatic food systems are necessary for increased contribution to socioeconomic development. Ensuring food safety is, particularly, imperative to addressing the problem of foodborne diseases (FBDs), which caused 420,000 deaths and 33 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide in 2010. Low- and middle-income countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa account for 53 percent of all foodborne illnesses, 75 percent of FBD-related deaths, and 72 percent of FBD-related DALYs. Therefore, interventions targeted to these regions are likely to reduce vulnerability to FBDs. Among interventions that have received considerable attention is certification for food safety. Food safety issues occur at all stages of the value chain. Funded by CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM), the project, “Demand for Seafood Safety and Environmental Sustainability Standards in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Nigeria” designs studies to investigate three questions addressing safety along fish and seafood supply chains: 1) How much premiums are consumers willing to pay (WTP) for food safety certification; 2) Assuming there is willingness to pay WTP, how and to what extent does consumer demand get transmitted to producers; and 3) How willing and able are farmers to change and improve their practices in response to consumer demand? The first phase assessed consumer demand for fish food safety certification and found willingness to pay positive premiums in Nigeria’s domestic markets. The current study focuses on aquaculture producers. Studies have shown that quality improvement at producer level can generate positive externalities at other segments of the value chain with overall welfare improvement to consumers. Extending research carried out in the first phase, this study uses a randomized controlled trial to understand the extent to which the premiums can be transmitted back to producers; to assess farmers’ willingness to adopt quality improvement practices; and to evaluate how participation in safety certification affects their incomes and livelihoods.
