The acceptance of indigenous leafy vegetables and their contribution to household food security in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa.
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Date
2022
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Abstract
The dietary shift from indigenous leafy vegetables to cash crops production and consumption
increased the risk of micronutrients deficiency diseases, especially among rural-poor
communities. The less consumption of ILVs promotes hunger and food insecurity among rural
and urban households. An increase in consumption of these leafy vegetables helps minimize
malnutrition, hunger, and food insecurity. Each ILV contain different levels of micronutrients,
suggesting that diversifying ILVs in consumption has the potential to reduce health conditions
associated with micronutrient deficiency. Therefore, understanding consumer acceptance of
indigenous leafy vegetables (ILVs) is important in enhancing their consumption levels to
increase micronutrient intake. However, the determinants of consumers' acceptance of ILVs,
vis-à-vis its potential impact on household food security, is neglected by researchers, as a result,
declining.
This study was set out to assess the determinants of acceptance of indigenous leafy vegetables
by consumers in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. The study used secondary data that was
collected by the South African Vulnerability Assessment Committee in 2016. A total of 1520
respondents were selected from the two provinces using a multistage stratified sampling
method. In analyzing the determinants of consumers' acceptance of ILVs, a seemingly
unrelated regression (SUR) model was employed. The results of SUR showed that the gender
of the household head, marital status, HIV status, wages/salary, and grants were statistically
significant in influencing the acceptance of ILVs by consumers. The study further revealed that
amaranth and cleome were the most accepted leafy vegetables while blackjack was the least
accepted one. Education and marital status had a negative influence on the acceptance of all
leafy vegetables being investigated in this study.
While estimating the impact of ILVs consumption on household food security, the household
food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) was used to determine the household food security status
of the respondents. In the same vein, the endogenous switching probit model (ESPM) was
employed to estimate the impact of ILVs consumption on household food security status. The
results from the household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) showed that a large proportion
of the population was food secure while a small portion of the population was food insecure.
The correlation coefficients rho_1 and rho_ 0 in the ESRM were negative (-0.992) and positive
(0.970), respectively. This indicates that self-selection occurred in the consumption of ILVs
between both consumers and non-consumers of ILVs. The results from descriptive statistics
revealed that most consumers did not produce ILVs but consumed them. While a small number
of farmers produced ILVs yet did not consume them. The household size and wealth index
variables were positive and significant to the consumption of ILVs. On the other hand, age,
gender, and education variables had a negative influence on the consumption of ILVs.
To increase the acceptance of ILVs, especially the least accepted ones. The study recommends
that extension officers must educate farmers about the importance of these leafy vegetables.
NGOs can provide agricultural input such as seedlings, fertilizers, farm machinery to
encourage the production of underutilized ILVs among smallholder farmers, including
blackjack. Strategies to enhance value addition and sensitization of consumers to traditional
knowledge regarding leafy ILVs, and their nutritional importance to the human diet are
required.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.