Farmer perception and attitude towards orange flesh sweetpotato attributes: an analysis of common beliefs about sweetpotato production and consumption

This paper interrogates some of the beliefs about production and consumption of sweetpotato in general, and orange fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) in particular, using both descriptive and exploratory factor analysis and data collected from farmers in Tanzania. It finds that contrary to beliefs, sweetpotato production and consumption is significant to growers and farmers value some key attributes such as yield, taste, storability of the roots and nutritional benefits. It therefore concludes that the negative beliefs about sweetpotato are unfounded. The paper discusses the implications of the findings.