ASSESSMENT OF WILLINGNESS – TO – PAY FOR HONEY AMONG FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN ABAKALIKI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA
Nwibo, S. U. and Egwu, P. N.
Department of Agricultural Economics, Management and Extension
Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki
E-mail: sunwibo92@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The willingness to pay for honey among farming
households in Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State was studied. The
study adopted a combination of descriptive and inferential statistics to
analyse the objectives of the study. The
findings revealed that the mean age of the farming households was forty-six
(46) years with 62.5% of the males engaged in farming. Meanwhile, the mean
household size of the farmers was eight (8) and cultivate an average of five
(5) hectares and earn an annual farming income of one hundred and forty
thousand (N140, 000.00) naira. Using
Kaiser’s rule of thumb, the study identified the active nutrients content of
honey (0.843), low sugar content of honey (0.572) and medicinal value (0.652)
as factors influencing the consumption of honey. Consequent upon the importance
of honey, it was observed that that 76.7% of the farmers are willing to pay for
honey as interpreted as the Naira (N)
amount that the farming households were willing to pay to obtain honey at an
average amount of seven hundred naira (N700.00)
for one litre bottle of honey which was equivalent of $4.46 per a litre. With
the F-ration of 44.796 and coefficient of multiple determination (R2)
of 0.764, which implied that about 76% variation in the dependent variable was
influenced by the independent variables included in the regression model; marital
status (x3), educational status (x4), annual income (x5),
farm size (x6), and household size (x7) of the farmers
were identified as having positive and significant effect on the willingness to
pay for honey in Abakaliki L. G. A. of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The study based
on findings, recommended for public enlightenment campaign on the health
advantage of honey consumption and utilisation should be intensified by
government and non-governmental agencies, supports in form of grants and aids
should be given to bee farmers to boost their production level so as to ensure
adequate supply of honey.
Keywords: willingness, to pay, honey, farming household, Abakaliki.