Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya
Unlike physical losses, deterioration of food safety can be difficult to observe. In low- and middle- income countries, much of the food supply is never tested for safety hazards. We analyze data from 1500 maize samples and associated consumer surveys collected from clients of small-scale hammer mil...
| Autores principales: | , , , , |
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| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2019
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145504 |
| _version_ | 1855529529441779712 |
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| author | Hoffmann, Vivian Mutiga, Samuel H. Harvey, Jagger Nelson, Rebecca J. Milgroom, Michael G. |
| author_browse | Harvey, Jagger Hoffmann, Vivian Milgroom, Michael G. Mutiga, Samuel H. Nelson, Rebecca J. |
| author_facet | Hoffmann, Vivian Mutiga, Samuel H. Harvey, Jagger Nelson, Rebecca J. Milgroom, Michael G. |
| author_sort | Hoffmann, Vivian |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Unlike physical losses, deterioration of food safety can be difficult to observe. In low- and middle- income countries, much of the food supply is never tested for safety hazards. We analyze data from 1500 maize samples and associated consumer surveys collected from clients of small-scale hammer mills in rural Kenya. We find that while visible damage to maize is penalized by lower prices, there is no correlation between price and aflatoxin, a carcinogenic fungal contaminant, implying an absence of market incentives to manage this aspect of food loss. Aflatoxin contamination is, however, correlated with consumer perceptions of quality, especially for self-produced maize, suggesting an information asymmetry that could lead to inefficiencies in this market. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace145504 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1455042025-11-06T06:39:50Z Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya Hoffmann, Vivian Mutiga, Samuel H. Harvey, Jagger Nelson, Rebecca J. Milgroom, Michael G. crop storage mycotoxins storage maize food safety aflatoxins markets safety food prices crop losses prices postharvest losses Unlike physical losses, deterioration of food safety can be difficult to observe. In low- and middle- income countries, much of the food supply is never tested for safety hazards. We analyze data from 1500 maize samples and associated consumer surveys collected from clients of small-scale hammer mills in rural Kenya. We find that while visible damage to maize is penalized by lower prices, there is no correlation between price and aflatoxin, a carcinogenic fungal contaminant, implying an absence of market incentives to manage this aspect of food loss. Aflatoxin contamination is, however, correlated with consumer perceptions of quality, especially for self-produced maize, suggesting an information asymmetry that could lead to inefficiencies in this market. 2019-12-06 2024-06-21T09:04:35Z 2024-06-21T09:04:35Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145504 en https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jspr.2019.03.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101895 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146540 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146736 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Hoffmann, Vivian; Mutiga, Samuel H.; Harvey, Jagger; Nelson, Rebecca J.; and Milgroom, Michael G. 2019. Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1886. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145504 |
| spellingShingle | crop storage mycotoxins storage maize food safety aflatoxins markets safety food prices crop losses prices postharvest losses Hoffmann, Vivian Mutiga, Samuel H. Harvey, Jagger Nelson, Rebecca J. Milgroom, Michael G. Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya |
| title | Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya |
| title_full | Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya |
| title_fullStr | Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya |
| title_full_unstemmed | Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya |
| title_short | Observability of food safety losses in maize: Evidence from Kenya |
| title_sort | observability of food safety losses in maize evidence from kenya |
| topic | crop storage mycotoxins storage maize food safety aflatoxins markets safety food prices crop losses prices postharvest losses |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145504 |
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