Knowledge of vitamin A deficiency and crop adoption

• Autor(a) principal: Caeiro, Rute Martins
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Vicente, Pedro C.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/161152
• topic: Africa; Mozambique; orange-fleshed sweet potato; randomized evaluation; vitamin A; Agronomy and Crop Science; Economics and Econometrics; SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Vitamin A deficiency is a widespread public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper analyzes the impact of an intervention fighting vitamin A deficiency through the promotion of production and consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP). We conducted a randomized evaluation of OFSP-related training to female farmers in Mozambique, who were also the primary caretakers of preschool children. The treatment consisted of group and individual-level training where basic knowledge about nutrition was taught, and planting and cooking skills related specifically to OFSP were developed. We find considerable increases in nutrition-related knowledge, as well as knowledge about cooking and planting OFSP, which persist after more than a year. We also observe clear evidence of adoption of OFSP for production in the short- and medium-run, which spreads through social networks.