IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v33y2008i4p352-361.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumer acceptability of yellow maize products in Zimbabwe

Author

Listed:
  • Muzhingi, Tawanda
  • Langyintuo, Augustine S.
  • Malaba, Lucie C.
  • Banziger, Marianne

Abstract

This study analyzes consumers' awareness of and attitudes towards yellow maize products in Zimbabwe and suggests intervention strategies that will ensure increased production and consumption of the crop, which is rich in provitamin A to help prevent the incidence of vitamin A deficiency prevalent among vulnerable groups. Data from 360 randomly selected rural and urban households show that yellow maize is known to all but few are aware of its nutritional qualities or consume it. The main source of supply is imported food aid. Rich in oils, carotenoids and fructose, yellow maize easily undergoes chemical changes to produce unacceptable organoleptic properties (or bad taste) if poorly handled during importation. These two factors are responsible for it being perceived inferior to white maize by consumers. Quality assurance during importation can improve consumer confidence but a long-term strategy will be to vigorously promote domestic production of yellow maize varieties rich in high levels of [beta]-carotene that meet the preferences of consumers. Drawing from a probit model regression analysis, nutritional education can potentially promote yellow maize consumption, especially if targeted at low income households. Domestic production and consumption of yellow maize will decrease vitamin A deficiency among vulnerable groups and improve food insecurity through reduced grain prices and increased incomes for farmers. These results draw attention to the need for policy makers in developing countries to review their agricultural policies to ensure that they do not undermine the local production and consumption of nutritionally valuable crops.

Suggested Citation

  • Muzhingi, Tawanda & Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Malaba, Lucie C. & Banziger, Marianne, 2008. "Consumer acceptability of yellow maize products in Zimbabwe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 352-361, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:33:y:2008:i:4:p:352-361
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306-9192(07)00054-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cheryl Doss, 2006. "The Effects of Intrahousehold Property Ownership on Expenditure Patterns in Ghana," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 15(1), pages 149-180, March.
    2. Carmen Diana Deere & Cheryl R. Doss, 2006. "Gender and the Distribution of Wealth in Developing Countries," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-115, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Laurencia Govender & Kirthee Pillay & Muthulisi Siwela & Albert Modi & Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, 2016. "Food and Nutrition Insecurity in Selected Rural Communities of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa—Linking Human Nutrition and Agriculture," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Katola, Alex Arves & Katundu, Mangani Chilala & Ndolo, Victoria Uchizi & Tembo, David Tryson & Stark, Hannah Aliza, 2022. "Successful reintroduction of landrace orange maize in rural Malawi is not related to the nutritional knowledge of women in farming families," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 22(09).
    3. Banerji, A. & Hamukwala, Priscilla & Manyong, Victor & Meenakshi, J. V. & Mungoma, Catherine & Tomlins, Keith & Zulu, Rodah, 2010. "Consumer acceptance of provitamin A orange maize in rural Zambia:," HarvestPlus working papers 4, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. De Groote, Hugo & Kimenju, Simon Chege, 2008. "Comparing consumer preferences for color and nutritional quality in maize: Application of a semi-double-bound logistic model on urban consumers in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 362-370, August.
    5. Hoffmann, Vivian, 2009. "What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: Micronutrient Content and Fungal Contamination of Foods in Developing Countries," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 1-9, October.
    6. Meenakshi, J.V. & Banerji, A. & Manyong, Victor & Tomlins, Keith & Mittal, Nitya & Hamukwala, Priscilla, 2012. "Using a discrete choice experiment to elicit the demand for a nutritious food: Willingness-to-pay for orange maize in rural Zambia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 62-71.
    7. Giuseppe Timpanaro & Claudio Bellia & Vera Teresa Foti & Alessandro Scuderi, 2020. "Consumer Behaviour of Purchasing Biofortified Food Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-14, August.
    8. Banerji, Abhijit & Birol, Ekin & Karandikar, Bhushana & Rampal, Jeevant, 2016. "Information, branding, certification, and consumer willingness to pay for high-iron pearl millet: Evidence from experimental auctions in Maharashtra, India," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 133-141.
    9. repec:ags:aaea22:335918 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Peter Amoah & Victor O. Adetimirin & Bismark Anokye & Oluyinka J. llesanmi & Nnanna Unachukwu & Elisabeth Ivania Aporva, 2025. "Characterization of carotenoid profiles and presence of functional markers in sub-tropical maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines," Czech Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 61(2), pages 86-99.
    11. Murekezi, Abdoul & Oparinde, Adewale & Birol, Ekin, 2017. "Consumer market segments for biofortified iron beans in Rwanda: Evidence from a hedonic testing study," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 35-49.
    12. Morawetz, Ulrich B. & De Groote, Hugo & Kimenju, Simon Chege, 2011. "Improving the Use of Experimental Auctions in Africa: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 36(2), pages 1-17, August.
    13. Mequanint B. Melesse & Amos Nyangira Tirra & Chris O. Ojiewo & Michael Hauser, 2021. "Understanding Farmers’ Trait Preferences for Dual-Purpose Crops to Improve Mixed Crop–Livestock Systems in Zimbabwe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    14. Johnson, Nancy L. & Guedenet, Hannah & Saltzman, Amy, 2015. "What will it take for biofortification to have impact on the ground? Theories of change for three crop-country combinations," IFPRI discussion papers 1427, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Ralitza Dimova & Ira N. Gang, 2016. "Is Women’s Ownership of Land a Panacea in Developing Countries? Evidence from Land-Owning Farm Households in Malawi," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(2), pages 242-253, February.
    2. Hannah Pieters & Andrea Guariso & Anneleen Vandeplas, 2013. "Conceptual framework for the analysis of the determinants of food and nutrition security," FOODSECURE Working papers 13, LEI Wageningen UR.
    3. Holden, Stein & Bezu, Sosina, 2013. "Joint Land Certification and Intra-household Decision-making:Towards Empowerment of Wives?," CLTS Working Papers 14/13, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    4. Holden, Stein & Bezu, Sosina, 2014. "Joint Land Certification, Gendered Preferences, and Land-related Decisions: Are Wives Getting More Involved?," CLTS Working Papers 6/14, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    5. Kassie, Menale & Fisher, Monica & Muricho, Geoffrey & Diiro, Gracious, 2020. "Women’s empowerment boosts the gains in dietary diversity from agricultural technology adoption in rural Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. My Nguyen & Kien Le, 2023. "The impacts of women's land ownership: Evidence from Vietnam," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 158-177, February.
    7. De Rock, Bram & Cherchye, Laurens & Chiappori, Pierre-André & Ringdal, Charlotte & Vermeulen, Frederic, 2021. "Feed the children," CEPR Discussion Papers 16482, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Isabel Lambrecht & Monica Schuster & Sarah Asare Samwini & Laura Pelleriaux, 2018. "Changing gender roles in agriculture? Evidence from 20 years of data in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(6), pages 691-710, November.
    9. Christian Rogg, 2006. "Asset Portfolios in Africa: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-145, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Han, Wenjing & Zhang, Xiaoling & Zhang, Zhengfeng, 2019. "The role of land tenure security in promoting rural women’s empowerment: Empirical evidence from rural China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 280-289.
    11. Cheryl R. Doss & Agnes R. Quisumbing, 2020. "Understanding rural household behavior: Beyond Boserup and Becker," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(1), pages 47-58, January.
    12. La Mattina, Giulia, 2017. "Civil conflict, domestic violence and intra-household bargaining in post-genocide Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 168-198.
    13. Amber Peterman, 2011. "Women's Property Rights and Gendered Policies: Implications for Women's Long-term Welfare in Rural Tanzania," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 1-30.
    14. Hallward-Driemeier, Mary & Hasan, Tazeen & Rusu, Anca Bogdana, 2013. "Women's legal rights over 50 years : progress, stagnation or regression ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6616, The World Bank.
    15. Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein T., 2015. "Generosity and sharing among villagers: Do women give more?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 103-111.
    16. Lahoti, Rahul & Suchita, J. Y. & Swaminathan, Hema, 2012. "Women’s Property, Mobility, and Decisionmaking: Evidence from Rural Karnataka, India:," IFPRI discussion papers 1188, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Dominic Richardson & UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, 2018. "Key Findings on Families, Family Policy and the Sustainable Development Goals: Synthesis Report," Papers inorer948, Innocenti Research Report.
    18. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Doss, Cheryl & Theis, Sophie, 2019. "Women's land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: Framework and review of available evidence," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 72-82.
    19. Ingvild Almås & Alex Armand & Orazio Attanasio & Pedro Carneiro, 2018. "Measuring and Changing Control: Women's Empowerment and Targeted Transfers," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(612), pages 609-639, July.
    20. Van den Broeck, Goedele & Van Hoyweghen, Kaat & Maertens, Miet, "undated". "Horticultural exports and food security in Senegal," 2017 International Congress, August 28-September 1, 2017, Parma, Italy 261437, European Association of Agricultural Economists.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:33:y:2008:i:4:p:352-361. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.