Does Urban Consumer Preference Affect Willingness to Pay for Value-added Chickpea Products in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan

The research endeavor was conducted to assess the consumer’s preferences and their willingness to pay for chickpea value added products in the urban region of Peshawar district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We have made an attempt to investigate consumer’s preferences for chickpea consumption, their awareness regarding the value-added products of the chickpea and their willingness to pay a price premium for locally produced chickpea value added products over imported products. For this purpose, Contingent Valuation Survey was undertaken to gather primary data from a random sample of 120 respondents, comprising 110 consumers and 10 high-end stores. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics, regression analysis and CVM based frequency tables. The results indicate that a majority of the sampled respondents were aware of the chickpea value added products and expressed their willingness to pay a price premium for locally produced value-added chickpea products as compared to imported ones. Around two-third (74%) of the respondents were aware of chickpea value-added products, while one-third (26%) were not aware of them. Moreover, 79.09 percent of the respondents expressed their willingness to pay for locally produced chickpea value-added products and they were willing to pay a considerable amount of price premium (76 PKR), while 20.91 percent were not inclined to prefer the buying of locally produced value added products of chickpea. Regression analysis depicted that respondents’ age, education, households’ expenditure, household size of the consumer and consumers’ awareness of chickpea value added were significant determinants of consumers WTP for the locally produced value-added products of chickpea. Based on these findings the study recommends, policy measures should prioritize supporting local processing industries by providing financial incentives, facilitating infrastructure development, and providing regulatory support. Collaborative efforts with retailers and promotional activities can enhance market access and visibility for value-added chickpea products. The government may also incentivize local processors to supply canned chickpeas domestically.