Measuring the Impacts of Saffron Production Promotion Measures on Farmers’ Policy Acceptance Probability: A Randomized Conjoint Field Experiment in Herat Province, Afghanistan

The government of Afghanistan promotes saffron production as a means to achieve economic development while reducing the widely spread opium cultivation in the country by providing necessary support to its farmers via saffron farmer service centers. This study investigates the causal effects of relev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2020-05, Vol.12 (10), p.4026
Main Authors: Azimy, Mohammad Wais, Khan, Ghulam Dastgir, Yoshida, Yuichiro, Kawata, Keisuke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural economics
Agricultural lending
Agricultural policy
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Conjoint analysis
Crop insurance
Cultivation
Design of experiments
Developing countries
Economic development
Experiments
Farmers
Farming
Financial services
Households
International organizations
Labor productivity
LDCs
Machinery
NGOs
Nongovernmental organizations
Promotion
Quality of life
Randomization
Rural areas
Saffron
Service centers
Stigma
Weather
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Summary:The government of Afghanistan promotes saffron production as a means to achieve economic development while reducing the widely spread opium cultivation in the country by providing necessary support to its farmers via saffron farmer service centers. This study investigates the causal effects of relevant attributes of potential saffron production promotion policies on the participation probabilities of saffron farmers. This study applies a randomized conjoint experiment to primary survey data of 298 farmers in Herat Province, which is perceived by the government as the center of saffron production in the country. The proposed hypothetical saffron production promotion policy consists of six attributes, namely, provision of machinery equipment, weather-based crop insurance, accessibility to long-term loans, location of saffron farmer service centers, provider of services, and annual payment. In the randomized conjoint experiment design, the respondents rank two alternative policies and policies against the status quo. The desirable policy comprises the machinery provision, long-term (up to 5 years) loan accessibility, an easily accessible service center, and policy implementation by international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The estimated results reveal that saffron farmers are highly supportive of the proposed saffron promotion policy and that their willingness to pay is as high as 17% of their per capita income.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su12104026