IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/ajfand/334028.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Appraisal of determinants of orange-fleshed sweet potato production and utilization in Isiolo County, Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Kavoo, Agnes Mumo
  • Mwajita, Mwashasha Rashid
  • Kariuki, Lilian Wambui
  • Kiirika, Leonard Muriithi

Abstract

Micronutrient deficiency remains a leading challenge among children and pregnant women in arid and semi-arid areas (ASALs) of Kenya. An important strategy for supplementing dietary intake of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, is through food fortification. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) affects 190 million pre-school children and 19 million pregnant women globally. Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OSP) is a rich plant-based source of beta-carotene which is converted into Vitamin A upon consumption and has the potential to alleviate this deficiency among ASALs communities. In this study, household surveys were conducted to profile Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OSP) farmers’ knowledge, production practices, constraints, acceptance and willingness to grow OSP in Isiolo County, Kenya. The overall aim of the study was to enhance adoption and improve food and nutrition security. Farmers were purposively sampled depending on their involvement in sweet potato farming for at least one year. A total of 150 farmers representing three wards namely: Burat, Ngaremara, and Bulla Pesa were interviewed. Data were collected using structured questionnaires via face-to-face interviews as well as focused group discussions (FGDs). Collected data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software Version 16.0. A total of six sweet potato varieties were grown in the study area. The yellow fleshed variety cultivated by 40% of the respondents was cited as the most palatable variety (60%). Only 52.4% of the farmers were aware of OSP and its benefits with 100% of the farmers willing to grow the OSP varieties. Several constraints were reported to influence production of OSP which included pests and diseases, lack of improved varieties, short shelf life, and lack of market (76.2%, 81%, 71.4% and 61.9%, respectively). The most common forms of OSP utilization were whole cooked products and dual purpose, that is, food and feed (81% and 52% of respondents, respectively). The dual nature of sweet potato utilization suggests a huge potential for up-scaling production to satisfy a demand for dietary diversification, value addition and product diversification and eventual increase in household incomes and reduced resource related conflicts among pastoralist communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Kavoo, Agnes Mumo & Mwajita, Mwashasha Rashid & Kariuki, Lilian Wambui & Kiirika, Leonard Muriithi, 2022. "Appraisal of determinants of orange-fleshed sweet potato production and utilization in Isiolo County, Kenya," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 22(03).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ajfand:334028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/334028/files/Kavoo21210.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hassan, Rashid M. & Nhemachena, Charles, 2008. "Determinants of African farmers’ strategies for adapting to climate change: Multinomial choice analysis," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 2(01), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Thomas B. Yaméogo & William M. Fonta & Tobias Wünscher, 2018. "Can Social Capital influence Smallholder Farmers’ Climate-Change Adaptation Decisions? Evidence from Three Semi-Arid Communities in Burkina Faso, West Africa," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Abdul T. A. Naico & Jayson L. Lusk, 2010. "The Value of a Nutritionally Enhanced Staple Crop: Results from a Choice Experiment Conducted with Orange-fleshed Sweet Potatoes in Mozambique," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 19(4), pages 536-558, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nanda Kaji Budhathoki & Douglas Paton & Jonatan A. Lassa & Gopal Datt Bhatta & Kerstin K. Zander, 2020. "Heat, cold, and floods: exploring farmers’ motivations to adapt to extreme weather events in the Terai region of Nepal," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(3), pages 3213-3237, September.
    2. Kim, Chung-Sil & Jung, Hye-Kyung & Lee, Sang-Ho & Park, Soo-Young & Takei, Atsuo, 2012. "An Analysis on Determinants of Farmers´ Adaptation to Climate Change in Korea," Journal of Rural Development/Nongchon-Gyeongje, Korea Rural Economic Institute, vol. 35(2), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Thennakoon, Jayanthi & Findlay, Christopher & Huang, Jikun & Wang, Jinxia, 2020. "Management adaptation to flood in Guangdong Province in China: Do property rights Matter?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    4. Assa, Maganga Mulagha & Gebremariam, Gebrelibanos G. & Mapemba, Lawrence D., 2013. "A cross-region study: climate change adaptation in Malawi's agro-based systems," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161304, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    5. Dana Freshley & Maria Mar Delgado-Serrano, 2020. "Learning from the Past in the Transition to Open-Pollinated Varieties," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, June.
    6. Mulatu Debalke, Negash, 2011. "Determinants of farmers’ preference for adaptation strategies to climate change: evidence from north shoa zone of Amhara region Ethiopia," MPRA Paper 48753, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Tiziana Pagnani & Elisabetta Gotor & Francesco Caracciolo, 2021. "Adaptive strategies enhance smallholders’ livelihood resilience in Bihar, India," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(2), pages 419-437, April.
    8. Giuseppe Maggio & Marina Mastrorillo & Nicholas J. Sitko, 2022. "Adapting to High Temperatures: Effect of Farm Practices and Their Adoption Duration on Total Value of Crop Production in Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 385-403, January.
    9. Frank, Phillipo & Magreth, Bushesha & Zebedayo, S. K. Mvena, 2015. "Adaptation strategies to climate variability and change and its limitations to smallholder farmers. A literature search," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society (AESS), vol. 5(03), pages 1-11, March.
    10. Raissa Sorgho & Isabel Mank & Moubassira Kagoné & Aurélia Souares & Ina Danquah & Rainer Sauerborn, 2020. "“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-25, October.
    11. Ndambiri, H. K. & Ritho, C. & Mbogoh, Stephen G. & Nyangweso, P.M. & Ng’ang’a, S. I. & Muiruri, E. J. & Kipsat, Mary J. & Kubowon, P. C. & Cherotwo, F. H. & Omboto, P. I., 2012. "Analysis of Farmers’ Perceptions of the Effects of Climate Change in Kenya: The Case of Kyuso District," 2012 Eighth AFMA Congress, November 25-29, 2012, Nairobi, Kenya 159405, African Farm Management Association (AFMA).
    12. Joshua Okonya & Katja Syndikus & Jürgen Kroschel, 2013. "Farmers’ Perception of and Coping Strategies to Climate Change: Evidence From Six Agro-Ecological Zones of Uganda," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 5(8), pages 252-252, July.
    13. Heleene Tambet & Yaniv Stopnitzky, 2021. "Climate Adaptation and Conservation Agriculture among Peruvian Farmers," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(3), pages 900-922, May.
    14. Mpho Tshikororo & Phineas Khazamula Chauke & Jethro Zuwarimwe, 2024. "Influence of Farmers’ Socio-economic Characteristics in Selection of Climate Change Adaptive Strategies," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(3), pages 135-135, April.
    15. Isaure Delaporte & Mathilde Maurel, 2018. "Adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 49-62, January.
    16. Mesfin, Afeworki H. & Bekele, Adam, 2018. "Farmers Perception on Climate Change and Determinants of Adaptation Strategies in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State of Ethiopia," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 9(5), December.
    17. Chia Peter Ta-ah & Nkwemoh Clement Anguh & Nkwemoh Elvis Nsopkwi, 2023. "Farmers Weather Knowledge in Preparations for Rain-Fed Crop Cultivation in Fundong Subdivision Northwest Region, Cameroon," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(11), pages 816-827, November.
    18. Paweł Dziekański & Piotr Prus, 2020. "Financial Diversity and the Development Process: Case study of Rural Communes of Eastern Poland in 2009–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-25, August.
    19. Taye Tesfaye & Diptimayee Nayak, 2023. "Climate Change Adaptation Measures by Farm Households in Gedeo Zone, Ethiopia: An Application of Multivariate Analysis Approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 3183-3209, April.
    20. Suresh, Kanesh & Khanal, Uttam & Wilson, Clevo & Managi, Shunsuke & Quayle, Annette & Santhirakumar, Samithamby, 2021. "An economic analysis of agricultural adaptation to climate change impacts in Sri Lanka: An endogenous switching regression analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crop Production/Industries;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:ajfand:334028. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ajfand.net/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.