Despite sustained economic growth and reduction in some of forms of malnutrition, Ghana still faces a national prevalence rate of 20.8% vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among for children 6–59 months old. Orange-fleshed sweetpotato ( Ipomoea batatas L.) (OFSP) can significantly improve vitamin A intake and contribute toward reducing VAD, especially in Northern Ghana where VAD is 31% among young children. Several poverty and nutrition projects in Ghana have promoted the use of OFSP for its health benefits. This study assesses the effect of three varietial attributes on adoption of the first released OFSP variety in Northern Ghana namely, Apomuden. The study concluded that sweetness, taste and dry matter have joint significant effects on adoption of an OFSP variety. The positive and negative traits highlighted will inform the on-going breeding effort.

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International marketing literature suggests that through market learning, businesses develop market-valued capabilities that are the basis of their performance. Therefore, market learning is also of importance to producers at the base of the pyramid (BoP), whose ability to climb out of poverty often depends on the purchasing power of those in export markets. However, the ways in which BoP-producer-based export chains learn from foreign users of their products and incorporate these insights into their decisions are not yet clear. Using case studies from Benin, the authors examine how market learning processes function in supply chains at the BoP. A cross-case comparison suggests that market connections are established when export market information is generated by formal-sector organizations and when such organizations establish formal ways of sharing information with BoP producers. The access to export markets becomes sustainable if formal institutions also support the use of information. The study has implications for procurement by exporters and for pro-poor development.

Malnutrition, particularly vitamin A deficiency, is a major public health problem in many developing countries. This study investigated whether priming or self-generation of goals, or whether attention to instrumental or experiential goals together with use of a reminder condition or not, promotes dietary behaviour intentions and change. A set of 556 randomly selected children aged 7–12 in Osun state, Nigeria, participated in an four-week intervention and field experiment in which a meal based on orange-fleshed sweetpotato, rich in pro-vitamin A, was introduced on five occasions as a complement to the existing school meal. Baseline intentions, anticipated feelings and repeated measures of post-consumption and experience were assessed. The analyses included a generalised linear mixed model for consumption and a linear mixed model for feelings and experience. The results confirmed that attention to instrumental goals undermines goal pursuit, while a focus on experiential goals increases the persistence of pursuit. Priming of experiential goals should be recommended, especially because this approach evokes positive feelings after eating. There was no evidence of an effect from repeated pairing of goals with the school meal, but use of planning by stating intentions increased the amount eaten. These results have implications for how school meals programmes should be designed to better align personal motivation with behavioural change in relation to dietary health.