Title: Evaluating farmers' preferences for wastewater: quantity and quality aspects

Authors: Ekin Birol, Phoebe Koundouri, Yiannis Kountouris

Addresses: International Food Policy Research Institute, 2033 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006-1002, USA. ' Department of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business, 76, Patission Street, Athens 104 34, Greece. ' Department of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business, 76, Patission Street, Athens 104 34, Greece

Abstract: This paper employs the Contingent Valuation (CV) method to investigate farmers| willingness to adopt a new water resource, namely treated wastewater, and to estimate their Willingness To Pay (WTP) for varying quantities and qualities of treated wastewater for irrigation. A pilot CV study is undertaken with 97 farmers located around Cyprus| Akrotiri aquifer, a common-pool water resource with rapidly deteriorating water quantity and quality. The results reveal that farmers are willing to adopt this new water resource, and they derive the highest economic values from a treated wastewater use programme, which provides high quality treated wastewater, and high water quantity in the aquifer.

Keywords: contingent valuation; willingness to pay; WTP; water quantity; water quality; treated wastewater; aquifer recharge; farmer preferences; preference evaluation; irrigation; Cyprus; new water resources.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2008.018148

International Journal of Water, 2008 Vol.4 No.1/2, pp.69 - 86

Published online: 04 May 2008 *

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