Information interventions and willingness to pay for PICS bags: Evidence from Sierra Leone

This study investigates the different impact of informational interventions on smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags in Sierra Leone. Despite the proven efficacy of PICS bags in reducing post-harvest losses and maintaining crop quality, their adoption rates remain extremely low in Sierra Leone. Through a field experiment with random assignment involving 436 households, this research investigates how health and profit-oriented information impacts farmers’ valuation of PICS bags. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: receiving health benefits information, receiving profit benefits information, or a control group receiving standard usage instructions. Both treatment groups also received the standard usage instructions provided to the control group. The WTP was assessed using the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) auction method. Results indicate that while profit-related information significantly increases WTP, health information does not. Additionally, this study explores heterogeneity in treatment effects, finding that there is no significant variation in response across different demographic and socioeconomic groups, pointing to a potential uniformity in the effectiveness of the informational interventions. • Profitability information significantly boosts willingness to pay (WTP) for PICS bags. • Health-related information does not significantly affect WTP for PICS bags. • Informational treatment effects remain consistent across various demographic groups. • Behavioral interventions increase WTP but are not sufficient to match market prices.