Willingness to Pay for Compost from Urban Waste by Farmers of Different Urban and Peri-Urban Farming Systems In the Greater Accra Region

Abstract

This study identified the types of soil ameliorant that exist in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It also determined farmer's willingness to pay for composted urban waste as well as the amounts they were willing to pay for a 50kg bag of compost should it result in a 25% and 50% increments in output, respectively. The study further investigated the socio-economic factors that affect farmer's willingness to pay for compost. The results obtained further revealed that different types of soil ameliorants existed in the study area and these include compost, chemical fertiliser, black soil, poultry manure, cow dung, night soil, household refuse, sheep and goat droppings and industrial waste. The average amount of money farmers were willing to pay for compost varied with the different farming systems. However, when the farming systems were combined, the average amounts that farmers were willing to pay at 25% and 50% increments in output were czl3,955.70 and (218,978.21 respectively per 50kg bag of compost. Empirical evidence from the estimation of the logit model indicated that the level of farmer's education and gender positively affected farmers' willingness to pay for compost, whereas their profit levels had a negative relationship with their willingness to pay