ANALYSIS OF WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR ALTERNATIVE LOCAL READY-TO-USE THERAPEUTIC FOOD FOR MALNUTRITION MANAGEMENT IN WESTERN KENYA

Abstract

Malnutrition still remains to be a major hurdle in Western Kenya with mortality rates of children under the age of 5 standing at 64 deaths per 1000 live births; higher than the national average of 52 deaths per 1000 live births. Ready‐to‐use therapeutic foods (RUTFs) have been proven to be one successful intervention for management of malnutrition. These are macronutrient and energy dense foods that have been fortified with minerals and vitamins. They also do not require any preparation before use, are easy to store and can easily be preserved from bacterial contamination. Despite their enormous benefits, most communities in Western Kenya have been unable to access the RUTFs. Currently, they are no indigenously local made RUTF that meet the required criteria in Kenya despite its potential. Research has shown that there is potential for the production of a local RUTFs bearing in mind that most of the ingredients are grown locally in Western Kenya. However, little is known about the consumer acceptability of a local Ready-to-use foods and the monetary value attached to it in Western Kenya. This prompted this study which aimed at establishing the willingness to pay of consumers for an alternative local Ready-to-use therapeutic foods and the price they would attach to the product. The utility maximization framework guided this study. It postulates that consumers make decisions on what to purchase with the goal of maximizing their expected utility. The study employed a household survey on 383 respondents residing in Bungoma and Busia County who use the current RUTFs. Questionnaire were used in collecting primary data on factors, challenges and willingness to pay for alternative local RUTFs. It covered respondents. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the respondents’ socio economic status and willingness to pay. The effect of socio-economic status, RUTFs consumption frequency and Household dietary diversity score on the consumer willingness to pay and price was assessed using Cragg’s double hurdle model. The willingness to pay for a local alternative RUTFs was high at 252 out of 400 respondents accounting for 63 percent. Among the challenges experienced in accessing the existing RUTFs were high transportation costs (33.3 percent), Shortages in stock (29.6 percent), Stigmatization (22.2 percent), harassment from harsh hospital staff (6.4 percent), frequent illness (6.2 percent) and long queues in the RUTFs dissemination centres (1.2 percent). Gender, Monthly income, HDDS, Size of Household and Marital Status were found to positively influence the WTP while frequency of consumption of RUTFs negatively and significantly affected WTP. Gender was positively significant to price of an alternative local RUTFS while distance to dissemination center a negative influence on the price of an alternative local RUTFs. The study therefore recommends increased investments and policy support for increasing production of a local RUTFs to satisfy the demand and ultimately manage malnutrition in Western Kenya. Furthermore, ingredients used in production of RUTFs should be sourced locally creating a marketing opportunity for the locals to the producers of RUTFs and hence economically benefit the locals. The socio economic characteristics, specifically the Gender of respondent, HDDS, Monthly income, Size of Household, Frequency of RUTFs use and marital status should be considered when developing a marketing mix for the product.