Assessing the willingness to pay for organic fertilizers from black soldier fly larvae in Busukuma sub-county, Wakiso district

Abstract

In recent years, the use of organic fertilizers made from black soldier fly larvae has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional chemical fertilizers in sustainable agriculture (Zhang et al., 2018). However, there is limited information on the willingness of consumers to pay for organic fertilizers made from black soldier fly larvae, which is an innovative and sustainable source of fertilizer (Sammons et al., 2018). The economic linkage between farmers’ socioeconomic factors and willingness to pay has not been adequately explored (. Zondo & Baiyegunhi, 2021). This generally affects both the demand and supply for fertilizers from black soldier fly larvae. The study aimed to assess the willingness to pay, consumer knowledge and attitudes and the factors that influence their willingness to pay for organic fertilizers from black soldier fly larvae in Busukuma sub- County, Wakiso district, by examining the hypothesis that crop farmers were not willing to pay for organic fertilizers from black soldier fly larvae. The semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from crop farmers in June 2023; in a cross-sectional research design across four parishes with each parish constituting 54 respondents, contingent valuation; the dichotomous choice method that is the double bounded dichotomous choice: was used to elicit the farmers’ willingness to pay for organic fertilizer from black soldier fly larvae and the factors that influence willingness to pay were estimated using the standard Tobit model. Data was analyzed using Stata. Assessing the willingness to pay for organic fertilizer from black soldier fly larvae in Uganda is important in providing valuable insight into the market potential for organic fertilizers, thereby contributing to the development of sustainable agriculture practices in the region and a study on consumer perception will also aid in understanding why acceptance rate of organic fertilizers from black soldier fly larvae could be low among the citizens of the country, despite the positive ecological impact on the environment and the positive economic impacts on crop production. The majority of respondents were males, married, and had an average age of 38.8 years. Chemical fertilizers were the most commonly used type, and price, impact on yields, and nutrient content were considered important factors when purchasing fertilizers. 82% of the sample population had knowledge on the organic fertilizers from BSFL. The average WTP was 3758.981, with only 6 respondent who were not willing to pay with reasons of high cost and inaccessibility of organic fertilizers from BSFL. Factors influencing willingness to pay included gender, income level, access to extension services, agricultural practices, and the type of fertilizers already used. Awareness, education level, and land size did not significantly impact willingness to pay. The results of this study insight the need of strengthening agricultural extension services to promote awareness and adoption of organic fertilizers from BSFL. Enhancing market access for farmers and promoting the production and supply of affordable organic fertilizers are also suggested to facilitate the uptake of this technology.