Acceptance of Biodegradable Stoverpack among Retailers, Wholesalers, Processors and Consumers of Agricultural Products in Kampala and Wakiso Districts

Abstract

The biodegradable stover packs caters for reduced post harvest losses, improved shelf life for food products and prevent food spoilage as well as increased incomes for consumers, processors and traders. The study focused on how much more consumers, processors and traders of agricultural products are willing to pay for the new biodegradable packaging materials for the agricultural products in Kampala and Wakiso district in Uganda. The objectives of the study were to contribute to the promotion of the biodegradable stover packs among processors, consumers and traders, to assess the different types of packaging materials used, to find out the willingness of consumers, processors and traders in purchase of the new stover packs and to determine how much more traders, processors and consumers are willing to pay for the stover packs. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 84 consumers, 42 processors and 90 traders. Well-designed questionnaires were used to collect mainly quantitative data from the respondents. The data was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Scientists) version 16.0 statistical package. The study revealed that consumers, processors and traders mostly used polythene bags however they are willing to purchase the new stover bags. The study also revealed that most of the respondents were willing to pay more for the biodegradable packaging materials as they were more eco-friendly compared to the non-biodegradable packaging materials such as the polythene bags, plastic bags, polypropylene bags, sisal bags among others. The results of the study further revealed that factors such as age of the respodent, sex of the respondent, education based on years spent in school, estimated annual income (shs.), most preferred packaging materials to use, most accessible packaging materials, quantity of produce (kgs) traded in a week, amount of produce (kgs) being transported to the market that gets damaged during transportation and the most environmentally friendly packaging materials significantly influenced the willingness of consumers, traders and processors for agricultural produce to pay more for the new biodegradable stover packs Therefore creating more awareness about the presence of the biodegradable packaging materials so as to reduce on environmental pollution and provision of cheap raw materials that are needed in the processing and manufacturing of the biodegradable packaging materials so as to make them easily accessible are necessary in promotion of the new biodegradable stover packs among processors, traders and consumers.