Analysis of willingness to offer and accept premiums in Ghana’s cashew value chain

Abstract An incentive-based approach cannot be overlooked in the face of the urgent need for quality adherence and practices in Ghana's cashew value chain. However, knowledge of quality practices and the willingness to accept and pay premiums for quality cashew nuts are not well understood. To bridge this gap, cross-sectional data were collected from 401 cashew farmers and 278 buyers in Ghana's Bono and Savanna regions. Descriptive, binary logit regression and dominance analyses were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that most farmers are unaware of the quality parameters, possess limited knowledge, do not adhere to them, and have not received training on them. Moreover, most farmers (65%) were willing to accept premiums to adhere to quality practices. Their willingness is less associated with demographic factors and more with experiential knowledge, market structure, and engagement in quality-enhancing practices. Likewise, most buyers (58%) were willing to pay premiums for quality nuts, and their willingness covered far more with value chain and quality dynamics than with individual demographic differences. The model's predictive performance demonstrates robustness, and the results hold beyond the sample size. Therefore, the Tree Crop Development Authority and stakeholders may consider enforcing policies to encourage value chain actors to adopt standard quality practices and implement quality-pricing systems. Additionally, farmer training on quality standards may be prioritised.