Vitamin A Deficiency and Training to Farmers: Evidence from a Field Experiment ...

• Author(s): Caeiro, Rute ; Vicente, Pedro C.
• Date: 2013
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/11060
• Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
• Subject(s): vitamin A; orange-fleshed sweet potato; Mozambique; randomized evaluation
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English
• Editor(s): Vicente, Pedro

Description

Vitamin A deficiency is a widespread public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper analyzes the impact of a food-based intervention to fight vitamin A deficiency using orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP). We conducted a randomized evaluation of OFSP-related training to female farmers in Mozambique, in which the treatment group was taught basic concepts of nutrition, and OFSP-planting and cooking skills. We found encouraging evidence of changes in behavior and attitudes towards OFSP consumption and planting, and considerable increases in nutrition-related knowledge, as well as knowledge on cooking and planting OFSP.