Background: Maize is the most important staple crop for food security and livelihood of smallholder farmers in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, but it alone cannot ensure food security. Cropping patterns must be diversified to ensure an adequate supply and economic access to greater variety of foods for smallholder farm households. This study measured the effect of crop diversification on household dietary diversity in a selected study locale using a survey of 300 randomly stratified farm households in 10 villages located in the Babati, Kongwa and Kiteto districts of Tanzania.Results: Based on multiple regression analysis, the study found that simply increasing Simpson's Index does not influence dietary diversity of farm households due to the presence of interaction effect between Simpson's Index and crop income. It is much more critical and significant to increase the revenue generated from diversified crops along with other socioeconomic endowment and behavioral characteristics of farm households. This is particularly applicable to poorer smallholder farmers who receive crop income less than US$85 per sales transaction and per season. Particularly, marginal and smallholders might be exposed to the effects of crop diversification and crop income toward increasing in their household dietary diversity score. Conclusion:Under average crop income scenarios, households that diversify their crop production tend to increase their dietary diversity from their existing dietary diversity score at a decreasing rate. However, under below average crop income threshold scenarios, farmers tend to increase their dietary diversity score from their existing score at an increasing rate when they diversify into high-value crops that attract relatively high farm gate values and accrue higher net revenues from the market. Monthly food expenditure also tends to positively influence household dietary diversity, indicating that farm households that spend more on market-purchased food have consistent increases in the their dietary diversity scores at the household level. This study concludes that improving economic access to variety of foods at the smallholder household level by diversifying diets through increased crop diversification should be encouraged within maize-based farming systems of the study locale, through integration of micronutrient-rich foods such as vegetables.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how credit access affects the welfare of households and sheds light on how household characteristics influence the decision to take credit and the efficiency in credit use. Design/methodology/approach This study uses data from the fourth round of the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey conducted in 2009, and examines factors that determine the decision to take credit and the effect of such decision on household welfare. The household welfare variable is measured by the food security indicator and total food expenditure. The study employs endogenous Regime Switching model to account for endogeneity in access to credit and self-selection bias in the decision to participate in credit. Findings The result from the kernel distribution shows households with access to credit have more consumption expenditure than those without access to credit. The ordinary least square regression shows that access to credit increases total consumption by 12 percent without considering self-selection bias. Participation in non-farm activity increases the demand for credit by 17 percent. Land holding, household size, and participation in saving associations increase the probability of getting credit by 5, 11, and 20 percent, respectively. Access to credit appears to have a positive impact on food security in both actual and counterfactual cases for the current credit receivers. Originality/value This study provides a thorough analysis of the impacts of access to credit on household welfare in Ethiopia. The study contributes to the debate on the link between access to credit and household welfare and provides valuable input for policy makers.

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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...