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A CONTINGENT VALUATION APPROACH TO ESTIMATING WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR FISH SOLAR DRYING TECHNOLOGY: CASE OF WESTERN SHORE OF LAKE MALAWI
Makwinja, R & Kapute, F
Abstract
For many years, open sun drying (OSD) has been the common way of preserving fish
among the fishing households in Malawi. The main limitations of this technique have
been increased fish quality deterioration and microbial contamination. Two fish solar
dryers (FSD) were constructed under the SEEDFISH project along the Western Shore of
Lake Malawi (WSLM) as a way of minimizing the effects of using OSD and provide a
better way of drying fish in the area. The FSD though adopted, the fishing households
have been seeking alternatives for its sustenance. This study estimates the households’
willingness to pay (WTP) and their influencing factors while using contingent valuation
(CV) approaches. A wide range of data collection methods (exploratory surveys, focus
group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observations) was employed. A
total of 200 fishing households were randomly interviewed. The results showed that 144
(72.4%) of the respondents were willing to pay because the FSD was seen as a way of
mitigating the climate change impact, improving livelihoods, and reducing post-harvest
losses. The mean annual aggregate WTP amount was estimated at MK3,648,750
(US$4,865). Those households (27.6%) not willing to pay argued that they had a low
level of income while others could not see any value of the FSD. The regression
coefficients of age and gender of household head (GHH) were negative (β =-6.02 and
Wald of 5.34, β = -6.92, Wald of 2.01) and significant (p<0.05) suggesting that young
people were more WTP than their counterpart. Males also coded as 0 were more willing
to pay than females. On the other hand, household literacy level (HLL), household
involved in fish processing (HIVFP), household social trust (HST), household
institutional trust (HIT), household level of income (HLI), household experienced fish
post-harvest losses (HEFPL), household access to extension services (HAE) and
household social network (HSN) were positive (β = 2.97, Wald of 7.11, β = 6.37 and
Wald of 5.41, β = 3.03 and Wald of 6, β = 11.2, Wald 9.02, β = 2.42, Wald of 8, β = 0.93,
Wald of 4,81 and β = 2.50, Wald 2.10) and significant (p<0.05) suggesting that those
HIVFP, had high HLL, HLI, HST, HIT, HSN and HEFPL were more willing to pay than
their counterpart. These findings provide comprehensive baseline data for local
government and communities in the development of more effective and holistic
approaches to improving communities’ climate change resilience.
Keywords
Contingent valuation; Fish solar dryer; Lake Malawi; Willingness to pay
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