Kofi Britwum
Assistant Professor of Farm Management and Agricultural Economics University of Delaware
- Newark DE
Prof. Britwum studies consumer perception of food marketing, extension to local farmers, and food adoption.
Media
Social
Industry Expertise
Areas of Expertise
Media Appearances
Do Farmers Dream of Electric Tractors?
Offrange
2025-05-31
Many remain optimistic about the future for electric tractors, including Kofi Britwum, an agricultural economist at the University of Delaware. ”The market is really going to grow,” he said. ”As much as 29% within the next nine years or so, so there’s definitely some promise.”
Kamala Harris wants to ban grocery price gouging. What economists think of price controls
Deseret online
2024-08-15
“Supply chain disruptions triggered by the pandemic account for some of these inflationary trends,” wrote University of Delaware assistant professor Kofi Britwum. “Increased consumer demand after lockdowns were lifted coincided with floundering supply chains and labor shortages, limiting supply and driving prices upward.”
Could Artificial Intelligence Be Used For Grain Marketing?
Lancaster Farming online
2024-08-06
In an article, University of Delaware assistant professor of farm management Kofi Britwum outlined several potential uses, including in grain marketing.
“By utilizing AI with data on these variables, models can be developed to predict market trends with specific probabilities,” Britwum wrote. “This will add a level of certainty to farmers’ marketing strategies, aiding them in making better-informed decisions.”
Articles
Willingness to pay for farmed salmon: Balancing sustainability and safety perceptions
Aquaculture2025
Given pressure on wild fish stocks, aquaculture has worked to develop farmed seafood markets. While farmed seafood should be more sustainable, consumers may lack confidence in its sustainability and may have food safety concerns. Using a sample of 266 seafood consumers in the US state of Maine, the study examined preferences for wild-caught and farmed salmon based on safety perceptions of the latter. Most preferred wild-caught, but this declined with lower food safety concerns. Additionally, willingness to pay for certified sustainably farmed versus non-certified farmed salmon was compared, revealing higher premiums with greater confidence in food safety. The industry should improve food safety perceptions and promote its benefits as a sustainable seafood source.
Staging an Experience of Cultural Heritage Preservation: Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Heirloom Rice in the Philippines
Agribusiness2025
The Cordillera Administrative Region in the Philippines is home to terraced rice embedded in centuries of cultural heritage. However, weak market incentives threaten sustained production, jeopardizing indigenous communities' cultural heritage and the in situ biodiversity of rice genetic resources. Demand‐side policy interventions have been proposed to address these challenges. Drawing on the experience economy, we staged an experience with urban consumers, offering them the opportunity to participate in cultural heritage preservation through purchasing heirloom rice. Participants first self‐selected into white or brown rice market segments as a benchmark. Subsequently, each market segment was invited to (i) identify their preference between their benchmark and heirloom rice, and (ii) bid to upgrade their non‐preferred to their preferred rice through a Becker‐DeGroot‐Marschak (BDM) mechanism.
Did COVID-19 influence fruit and vegetable consumption? Explaining and comparing pandemic peak and post-peak periods
Appetite2024
The COVID-19 pandemic, one of the worst global health crises in the last century, impacted nearly every aspect of people's lives, including their dietary choices and food consumption patterns. It arrived during a long shift in American diets featuring increasingly large portions of processed foods as well as fruit and vegetable consumption that is well below recommended levels. Improving the latter has been a key part of policymakers' efforts to improve consumers' diets. This study surveyed individuals in the US South to determine the factors influencing their consumption of fruit and vegetables during the pandemic peak and how these have changed post-peak. During the peak, food venue, demographics, and concerns about diet and the seriousness of the virus heavily affected consumption. Greater amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables were consumed post-peak pandemic.
How does cultural and colonial heritage affect optimal branding strategies? Evidence from the rice sector in Senegal
Agribusiness2024
Africa's cultural and colonial heritage has profoundly segmented rice markets. Whereas in ancient centers of rice domestication, consumers maintained preferences for local rice consistent with their cultural heritage, preferences have shifted toward imported Asian rice in coastal areas around seaports, due to prior exposure to colonial import substitution policies. To enhance the competitiveness of locally produced rice relative to imported versions, it is necessary to tailor new local rice products to both market segments. A study was conducted in Senegal to test branding strategies for local rice in a country where both market segments coexist. Brands that mimic local and international labels were developed for local rice, and urban consumers bid to upgrade non‐preferred to preferred brands through the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) mechanism.
Extension agents’ perceptions, practices, and needs of urban forestry: A case study from Tennessee, United States
Sustainability2023
Urban forests are essential green infrastructure for sustainable cities. However, existing studies are mainly focused on the general public’s perception and needs of urban forestry, and little is known about non-traditional educators like extension agents. To address this gap, the main objective of this study is to explore extension agents’ perceptions, practices, and future training needs. Specifically, a statewide online survey consisting of 33 questions was designed and disseminated to extension agents in Tennessee via email with 64 responses. We found that the majority of respondents valued urban forestry, with 68.9% of them believing that urban forests are very important, especially for providing shade, cooling, energy saving, aesthetic values/beautification, increasing property values, and wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Their main clientele includes homeowners, farmers, and landowners, and 63.3% of extension agents reported that they have received urban forestry-related requests.
Education
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
PhD
2017
University of Delaware
MS
2013
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
BS
2006
