We examined whether folate-fortified maize (FFM) improves the health of rural women of childbearing age and whether the health intervention is associated with the formulation of consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP). A randomized single-blind folate-fortified maize intervention trial was conducted in rural childbearing-aged women. Participants consumed one stalk of either folate-fortified maize (FFM) (treatment group) or ordinary maize (control group) daily for 2 months (n = 55). Serum folate

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... were assessed at baseline, mid stage (after 1 month), and final stage (after 2 months) to assess the effect of FFM. Results showed that the serum folate level in the treatment group (13.31 ng/mL) was 3.40 ng/mL higher than that in the control group (9.91 ng/mL) in the final stage of the study. We obtained suggestive evidence that regular dietary FFM intake significantly increased serum folate levels in rural Chinese women. We further recruited 181 local rural women with similar demographic characteristics to participate in a Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) bidding experiment to measure their WTP for FFM. Results showed that local consumers were willing to pay 2.82 CNY per FFM stalk, approximately 1.21 CNY higher than the price of ordinary maize. We provide evidence on the health improvement effect of biofortified foods and shed light on the associated consumer valuation and policy implementation.