| Sumario: | The most important factors for the long-term success of the use of crates instead of baskets to transport fresh tomatoes in Nigeria were the additional price a wholesaler pays to farmers to transport the tomatoes in crates instead of in baskets, the risk attitudes of the value chain actors and social norms of the value chain actors. Trust in other value chain actors, the price and lifespan of crates and whether farmers or wholesalers invest in crates only mildly influenced the long-term use of crates. A 30% bonus on the price from wholesaler to farmer when using crates increased the number of farmers using crates after 30 seasons from 25% to 60% and decreased the loss of the best A-quality tomatoes by almost 50%. More risk averse actors are less inclined to keep using crates, because a crate requires a larger investment than a basket. A farmer with a low social norm factor cares less about whether others want to remain using crates, and thus switches to baskets quicker. Farmers with low levels of trust in the wholesaler switch from crates to baskets within a few seasons, whereas farmers with high levels of trust mostly remain using crates. The lifespan and the price of a crate had minor impact on the results, because of the relatively low investment costs of crates. Providing financial incentives for farmers to use plastic crates, developing mechanisms to reduce the risk for individual farmers and strengthening social norms of value chain actors working together in the value chain could help to improve the long-term use of plastic crates.
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