Seminário NOVAFRICA:
“Vitamin A Deficiency and Training to Farmers: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Mozambique”

Na terça-feira, dia 12 de janeiro, pelas 14h30, o Centro NOVAFRICA convida Rute Martins Caeiro, da Nova School of Business and Economics, para apresentar o seu trabalho.

Autores:
Rute Martins Caeiro, Pedro C. Vicente

Resumo:
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 the 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 pre-school 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 found encouraging evidence of adoption of OFSP for production in the short and medium-run, but only marginally significant improvements in our measures of consumption of OFSP. The treatment led to gains in child nutrition status less than one year and a half after the treatment was administered, identified by improvements in weight-for-age and height-for-age Z-score. Lastly, we also found considerable increases in nutrition-related knowledge, as well as knowledge about cooking and planting OFSP.

Este seminário será apresentado em Inglês.