Nutrition and food security impacts of quality seeds of biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato: Quasi-experimental evidence from Tanzania

• Published in: World development Vol. 124; p. 104646
• Main Authors: Shikuku, Kelvin Mashisia, Okello, Julius Juma, Wambugu, Stella, Sindi, Kirimi, Low, Jan W., McEwan, Margaret
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2019; Pergamon Press Inc; Pergamon Press
• Subjects: Adoption of innovations; Agronomy; Biofortified sweetpotato; Crops; Food; Food quality; Food security; Households; Ipomoea batatas; Nutrition; Nutrition and food security impacts; Orange-fleshed sweetpotato; Panel data; Participation; Plant diseases; Quasi-experimental methods; Quasi-field experiment; Rural areas; Rural communities; Seeds; Skills; Tanzania; Uptake; Virus-free; Welfare; Tanzania; Virus-free; Quasi-field experiment; Nutrition and food security impacts; Orange-fleshed sweetpotato; Biofortified sweetpotato; Tanzania
• ISSN: 0305-750X; 1873-5991
• DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104646

•We assessed the impacts of increased availability of disease-free orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties.•Availability of orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties increased awareness, adoption, and food security.•Investment in seed system alone with less focus on nutrition education will not improve nutrition outcomes. This study examined the nutrition and food security impacts of a project that was designed to improve availability of disease-free planting materials of biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) in rural Tanzania. Difference-in-difference and matching techniques were employed to estimate causal effects using panel data. Participation in the project increased agronomic and nutritional knowledge of households, raised uptake rate for OFSP varieties, and improved food security status. Effects on nutrition are, however, weak. These results suggest that timely access to quality seeds accompanied by a transfer of skills is important to reduce barriers to adoption of biofortified crops with resulting positive effects on the welfare of rural households. Adequate promotion of both agronomic and nutrition aspects of the technologies may enhance nutrition effects.