Quinoa is one of the ancestral grains now considered as the “superfoods of the future” due to their characteristics as functional foods with great environmental adaptability. The Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund has introduced quinoa in Zimbabwe to increase resilience of farming systems in light of environmental shocks. In order to improve adoption of the crop, it is important to understand the combined effects of socio‐demographic variables on consumer perceptions of the crop. However, there is limited literature on the combined effects of socio‐demographic variables on quinoa health and nutritional benefits in Zimbabwe. In this study, we used principle component analysis to identify consumers' perception about health and nutritional benefits of quinoa in Gweru Urban District, Gweru, Zimbabwe. A questionnaire was designed and applied to 200 participants. However, only 167 forms were valid for analysis. Age, education, and income level are main factors that determine consumer perceptions on health and nutritional claims. The results indicate that quinoa need to be promoted a as a crop that goes beyond food and income security by placing additional emphasis on health and nutritional aspects. This is very insightful in light of the need to improve the uptake of the crop by smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. However, the use of self‐reporting survey method has received criticism for failing to get detailed information on perceptions of individuals. These findings could be handy to promote quinoa as a climate smart crop with additional health and nutritional benefits. This is one of the novel research studies exploring the motives of Zimbabwean consumers towards quinoa as a functional food crop. The work also contributes to knowledge on consumer food preferences.

The adoption of quinoa as a potential food crop in semi-arid Zimbabwe is threatened by poor seed establishment. A 4 x 3 factorial experiment arranged in a completely randomised design (CRD) was carried out to establish the effects of irrigation frequencies and different soil types on germination and early growth of quinoa. Three soil types (sand, loam, and clay) and four irrigation frequencies (after every 1, 2, 3, and 4 days) were used. Measurements taken included days to 50% emergence, germination percentage, mean germination time, germination rate index, coefficient velocity of germination, seedling height, final crop stand, and root density. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done using GenStat 18th Edition and mean separation was done using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) at a 5% significance level. There was an interaction between irrigation frequency and soil type on days to 50% emergence (p<0.05), germination percentage (p<0.05), germination rate index (p<0.05), seedling height (p<0.05), root length density (p<0.05), seedling crop stand (p<0.05). Sandy soil irrigated on 1-day intervals recorded the highest germination percentage (96.7%), while clay irrigated on 3-day intervals recorded the lowest (41.7%) final germination percentage respectively. Seeds planted in sand and clay recorded the shortest (3.25) and longest (4.5) mean germination time (days) respectively. Loamy and sandy soils irrigated on 3-day intervals and 1-day intervals recorded the lowest (29.4%) and highest (70.4%) germination rate index respectively. Loam soil irrigated on 1-day and 4-day intervals recorded the highest (16.37 cm) and shortest (9.3 cm) seedling height. Loam soil irrigated on 2-day and sandy soil irrigated on 3-day intervals recorded the lowest (3.07 cm/cm3) and the highest (21.23 cm/cm3) root length densities respectively. Sand irrigated on 1-day intervals recorded the highest (85%) crop stand. Findings concluded and recommended planting and frequently irrigating quinoa in sandy soils for better crop establishment.