Foodborne illness and nutritional insecurity remain pressing challenges among smallholder farmers in Southwest Nigeria, yet little is known about how socioeconomic conditions and HRB (HRB) shape their willingness to pay (WTP) for safe and nutritious food. This study explores how socioeconomic factors and health-related behaviour (HRB) interact to shape willingness to pay (WTP) for safe and nutritious food among smallholder farmers in Southwest Nigeria. Guided by Dual System Theory, a cross-sectional survey design was employed, collecting 294 responses from Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti states. Data were gathered using structured questionnaires, including an adapted Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile and Gabor-Granger-based WTP tiers. Analytical methods included Analysis of Variance and ordinal regression with interaction terms. Results show income as the strongest predictor of WTP (Wald χ²=87.969, p< 0.001), with lower-income groups having near-zero odds of paying premiums. HRB had no main effect (OR = 1.589, p = 0.210) but significantly moderated the influence of age (OR = 2.228, p< 0.001) and education (OR = 0.251, p = 0.023). Household size was positively associated with WTP (OR = 1.245, p = 0.009). Policy recommendations include tiered subsidies targeting HRB-rich households, mobile food safety alerts, and experiential learning tools like vendor-rating apps. Theoretically, this study extends Becker’s model by highlighting HRB as a conditional driver, operating independently and interactively with income. These insights support tailored, behaviour-sensitive food safety interventions for nutritionally vulnerable farming populations.
In response to rising population pressures, agricultural intensification has become inevitable across low- and middle-income countries. However, this drive for higher productivity has amplified concerns over the safety of food derived from farm systems, especially fresh produce, dairy, meat, and eggs (Li et al. 2024; Tibebu et al. 2024). Inconsistencies in safety protocols along agri-food value chains have been implicated in the global burden of foodborne diseases (Odetokun et al. 2022). Despite global food and agricultural trade reaching US$2.3 trillion in 2024 (World Trade Organisation), foodborne illnesses continue to impose substantial economic costs, with annual losses estimated at US$50.8 billion in upper-middle-income economies alone (Afsana et al. 2022). Globally, nearly 600 million people fall ill and over 420,000 die from consuming unsafe food each year (Afsana et al. 2022). Nigeria lies at the heart of this silent epidemic, with nearly 23 million people affected annual ly by food safety challenges, an issue compounded by widespread aflatoxin contamination that disproportionately impacts smallholder farming communities (Ezekiel 2023).
Against this backdrop of persistent food safety challenges and health risks, especially among Nigeria’s smallholder farming communities, the limitations of traditional economic models in explaining food-related decisions become increasingly evident. While classical food economics has long positioned income as the primary driver of dietary choices (Becker 1965), recent evidence from Nigeria paints a more complex picture. Financial capacity alone does not fully account for willingness to pay (WTP) for safe and nutritious food (Chen & Feng, 2021; Seligman and Berkowitz 2019). Rather, it is the interplay between income and HRBs (HRB), including dietary literacy, food hygiene practices, and proactive health engagement, that unlocks the true potential of purchasing power (Han et al. 2025). This emerging synergy reframes food investment decisions as not merely economic, but also behavioural, bridging the gap between aspiration and action within a broader cognitive-economic interface (Mullainathan and Shafir 2013).
This complexity becomes even more pronounced when considering Nigeria’s smallholder farmers, who operate at the crossroads of subsistence living and rising food safety threats. Despite the fact that over 78% of these households spend more than 60% of their income on food (NBS, 2023); Omotayo et al. 2016), the persistence of micronutrient deficiencies and widespread aflatoxicosis signals a deeper systemic failure (Vincent-Orugbo and Bemgba 2025). This apparent paradox highlights a critical shortcoming in conventional economic models: their inability to account for the cognitive and behavioural costs of poverty. Under conditions of chronic stress and decision fatigue, hallmarks of life below the poverty line, HRBs (HRB) often lose their motivational power (Haushofer and Fehr 2014; Qu et al. 2022).
To empirically characterize the synergistic interface between income and HRBs in shaping willingness to pay premiums for safe and nutritious foods among Nigerian smallholder farmers, the study set to achieve the following specific objectives.
The justification for studying Smallholder farmers in Nigeria stems from their acute vulnerability to food insecurity and malnutrition, driven by low income, climate shocks, and limited access to safe, nutritious food (Ikuemonisan et al. 2025; FAO 2019; Okpala et al., 2024). These farmers often face a disconnect between what they know (rational understanding of health risks) and what they can afford or intuitively choose, making them ideal subjects for a Dual System Theory-based analysis of Willingness to Pay (WTP) (Kahneman, 2011). By focusing on this underserved group, the study not only fills a research gap but also provides context-specific evidence to guide targeted interventions, such as subsidies and education, that align with national food safety goals and global development priorities like SDGs 2 and 3 (Oladeji 2025; Fasakin et al. 2024; Modibbo et al. 2021; Ogunlela and Mukhtar 2009).
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