CONSUMER DEMAND FOR AFLATOXIN-FREE RAW MILK IN PAKISTAN

A. Abedullah^1*, S. Kouser², H. Badar³ and M. N. M. Ibrahim⁴

¹Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Islamabad, Pakistan; ²COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan; ³University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF); ⁴International Livestock Research Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan

*Corresponding author’s e-mail : abedullah@pide.org.pk

ABSTRACT

Aflatoxins are highly toxic compounds in raw milk and pose serious risks to human health. Growing awareness among consumers about safe food is encouraging researchers, suppliers, and policymakers to investigate consumers’ demand for aflatoxin-free raw milk. In this background, this study estimates consumers’ willingness to pay for varying levels of aflatoxin in raw milk in Pakistan. A discrete choice experiment was conducted on 360 randomly selected urban households in the Punjab province. We employed the latent class multinomial logit model to uncover the heterogeneity in consumers’ preferences for different quality and safety attributes of raw milk. Empirical findings suggest that consumers want to pay the highest premium of US$ 1.9/liter for milk having the lowest concentration of aflatoxin. Based on these findings, we suggest that there is considerable scope for the rapid development of aflatoxin-free milk in Pakistan, even though it is marketed at higher prices than the prices of status-quo milk.

Key words: Milk, Aflatoxin, Choice experiment, heterogeneous preferences, Pakistan