Assessing the Prevalence of Food Safety Concerns in Informal Markets – Case of the Senegal Dairy Market

Last registered on December 29, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Assessing the Prevalence of Food Safety Concerns in Informal Markets – Case of the Senegal Dairy Market
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015089
Initial registration date
December 29, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
December 29, 2024, 11:21 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Purdue University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Purdue University
PI Affiliation
Purdue University

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-12-27
End date
2025-06-30
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Most consumers in the developing world purchase food in informal markets, where very little enforcement of quality grades and standards exists. These informal markets are characterized by numerous small-scale traders and processors who typically operate without formal business registration, making enforcing and monitoring food safety standards difficult and expensive. Given the unobservability of many food safety attributes, actors in such informal markets have little to no incentive to invest in food safety. This gives rise to a “lemons market” in which questionable quality and safety products dominate the food system. The milk food chain in Senegal is a quintessential example of an informal market characterized by food safety concerns. The vast majority of urban and peri-urban consumers purchase sour milk from small-scale informal processors which are small, unregistered businesses that operate without a license or any food safety practices. This aspect has major food safety and health implications for the millions of consumers who purchase sour milk from these vendors. To this end, we will conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impacts of safety training on the adoption of safe handling practices and the safety level of Neex Soow producers’ sour milk. Using 360 participants, we will conduct surveys to understand Neex Soow production, business, and safety practices. We will further assess participants’ demand for safer inputs by evaluating their willingness to pay for each item using the Becker-DeGroot-Marschack auction mechanism. By offering safety training and a recognized training certification, our study introduces a mechanism for product differentiation. Neex Soow vendors who complete the training and display the certification in their shops can signal higher product quality to consumers, potentially creating a premium for safer, more hygienically prepared sour milk. We want to test if this process of quality upgrading addresses the lemons market problem by allowing informed consumers to distinguish between different products’ quality and safety. As more vendors improve their safety practices and gain certification, others in the market could be encouraged to follow to remain competitive, which could raise the average quality of the market over time, thereby reducing the prevalence of “lemons” and promoting overall market efficiency.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bauchet, Jonathan, Diamilatou Kane and Jacob Ricker-Gilbert. 2024. "Assessing the Prevalence of Food Safety Concerns in Informal Markets – Case of the Senegal Dairy Market." AEA RCT Registry. December 29. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15089-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Our research aims to improve the safety levels and revenues of sour milk provided by small-scale informal processors in informal food markets by offering safety training and a recognized training certification that introduces a mechanism for product differentiation. As more vendors improve their safety practices and gain certification, others in the market could be encouraged to follow to remain competitive, which could raise the average quality of the market over time, thereby reducing the prevalence of “lemons” and promoting overall market efficiency.
To achieve this, we conduct a randomized controlled trial with 360 sour milk informal processors in urban and peri-urban neighborhoods of Dakar, Senegal. where half of our sample will receive safety training on proper handling practices and an accredited certificate of completion and the other half will receive no training.
Intervention Start Date
2025-01-20
Intervention End Date
2025-02-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
safety levels of sour milk samples, weekly revenue
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Safety levels will be measured in terms of differences in microbial contamination of sour milk samples between treated processors and untreated ones.
weekly revenues will be measured by assessing the differences in sales between processors in the treated group who receive training and display certification in their shop and processors in the control group.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impacts of safety training on the adoption of safe handling practices and the safety level of Neex Soow producers’ sour milk. Using 360 participants, we will conduct a baseline survey to understand processors' production, business, and safety practices. We will further assess participants’ demand for safer inputs such as masks, head caps, cleaning sheets, and lactic ferments by evaluating their willingness to pay for each item using the Becker-DeGroot-Marschack auction mechanism. Following the baseline survey, half of the participants will receive the treatment. Research partners from the Food Technology Institute (ITA) in Senegal will design a 3-day theoretical and practical training intervention to train treated participants on proper handling practices in milk processing. We will conduct a follow-up survey 6 months after baseline surveys and collect milk samples from all 360 participants to be tested for microbial contamination by ITA.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is done in an office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
neighborhood level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
40 neighborhoods
Sample size: planned number of observations
360
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
180 sour milk processors control, 180 sour milk processors safety training.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Purdue University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2024-12-11
IRB Approval Number
IRB-2024-1641