Market Feasibility of Faecal Sludge and Municipal Solid Waste-Based Compost as Measured by Farmers’ Willingness-to-Pay for Product Attributes: Evidence from Kampala, Uganda
Loading...
Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
resources
Abstract
There is a great potential to close the nutrient recycling loop, support a ‘circular economy’
and improve cost recovery within the waste sector and to create viable businesses via the conversion of
waste to organic fertilizers. Successful commercialization of waste-based organic fertilizer businesses
however largely depends on a sound market. We used a choice experiment to estimate farmers’
willingness-to-pay (WTP) for faecal sludge and municipal solid waste-based (FSM) compost in
Kampala, Uganda and considered three attributes—fortification, pelletization and certification. Our
results reveal that farmers are willing to pay for FSM compost and place a higher value on a ‘certified’
compost product. They are willing to pay US $0.4 per kg above the current market price for a similar
certified product, which is 67 times higher than the cost of providing the attribute. Farmers are
willing to pay US $0.127 per kg for ‘pelletized’ FSM compost, which is lower (0.57 times) than the cost
of providing the attribute. On the other hand, farmers require US $0.089 per kg as a compensation to
use ‘fortified’ FSM compost. We suggest that future FSM compost businesses focus on a ‘certified and
pelletized’ FSM product as this product type has the highest production cost–WTP differential and
for which future businesses can capture the highest percentage of the consumer surplus. The demand
for FSM compost indicates the benefits that can accrue to farmers, businesses and the environment
from the recycling of organic waste for agriculture.
Description
Keywords
Faecal sludge, Municipal solidwaste, Compost, Informational attributes, Willingness-to-pay, Choice experiment, Latent class models
Citation
Danso, G. K., Otoo, M., Ekere, W., Ddungu, S., & Madurangi, G. (2017). Market feasibility of faecal sludge and municipal solid waste-based compost as measured by farmers’ willingness-to-pay for product attributes: Evidence from Kampala, Uganda. Resources, 6(3), 31. doi:10.3390/resources6030031