BACKGROUND: Nutritional quality of cassava complementary porridge improved through

No abstract

Despite the efforts to promote good practices in infant and young child feeding (IYCF), the adoption of such practices has been low. Using data from a sample of 665 women, and the theory of planned behavior, we examine the effect of different types of nutrition education and psychosocial factors on the use of recommended IYCF practices. Regression results show that nutrition education and psychosocial factors have strong positive effect on the extent to which IYCF practices are used, with the latter having conflicting individual but overall positive effect. Moreover, coefficients of latter were mostly less than those of the former indicating that pschosocial factors were less important in explaining variability in usage of IYCF than the nutrition education variables. It further finds that different sets of nutrition education and psychosocial factors affect different categories of women, with interactive nutrition education approaches having a greater effect. The findings also suggest need for targeting of beneficiaries with multiple nutrition education approaches.

Open Agriculture. 2017; 2: 148-154 IntroductionThere is increasing interest in developing agro-industries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to expand agriculture's key role in poverty reduction (UNIDO 2009). In part, this recognizes the rapid rate of urbanization in the continent (Jedwab et al. 2014), with greater proportions of the population purchasing rather than growing their own food. Moreover, urban consumers often opt for foods in "convenient" processed forms, which can be consumed immediately or require reduced preparation times (Thiele et al. 2009). There is also increasingly greater interest in integrating the consumption of nutritious foods into agrivalue chain development (Henson and Humphrey 2015).The Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative, led by the International Potato Center (CIP) and launched in 2009, seeks to improve the lives of 10 million households in SSA by 2020 through access to improved varieties of sweetpotato, especially orange-fleshed, pro-vitamin-Arich varieties and their diversified use (Low 2013). Over 90% of sweetpotato consumed in the continent is boiled, steamed, or fried in contrast to other countries, such as China where sweetpotato is utilized as flour or purée in baked goods, candy, dried strips, juices and noodles (Low et al. 2009).The CIP and the Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) implemented the Rwanda Super Foods project, a fiveyear effort (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) that developed an orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) processed product value chain. Rwanda is a country where sweetpotato is a primary staple food but farmers complain about the lack of adequate markets for their roots. Working in close collaboration with the largest -Rwandan-owned agro-processor (Urwibutso Enterprises), we developed two appropriate economicallyviable processed products: 1) a biscuit (cookies), in which 43% of the wheat flour was replaced by OFSP purée (steamed and mashed sweetpotato) and 2) donuts, where 20-50% of the wheat flour was replaced by OFSP purée. Research clearly established that OFSP equivalent baked products using purée were economically viable, but those made with OFSP flour were not (Sindi et al. 2015a). This DOI 10.1515/opag-2017-0014 Received December 11, 2016 accepted February 21, 2017 Abstract: Research in Rwanda demonstrated that orangefleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) purée (steamed, mashed roots) was an economically viable, vitamin A enhancing ingredient in baked products when the purée was produced and used in the same bakery. Having a storable, packaged OFSP purée produced by a firm to supply bakers is an alternative model. Vacuum-packed OFSP purée with preservatives with a fourmonth shelf-life at 23°C was developed by the International Potato Center under laboratory conditions in 2015. Turning it into a commercial reality required developing a publicprivate partnership to establish an OFSP purée-bread value chain. The phases in developing the chain are described. Cost-benefit assessment focuses on two points along the chain: the farmers producing roots for the purée fa...

Biofortification of staple crops to combat micronutrient deficiencies is gaining global recognition. Projects promoting biofortified food crops use intensive agriculture-nutrition