novafrica@novasbe.pt

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

Rute Caeiro

Nova School of Business and Economics

Pedro C. Vicente

Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRIC and BREAD

ISSN 2183-0843
Working Paper No 1305
September 2013

Abstract

Vitamin A deficiency is a widespread public health problem in Sub- Saharan Africa. This paper analyses 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.

Download this Paper (PDF)

This working paper has been accepted for publication in the Agricultural Economics.

https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12548