Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Trade in Urban Kenya: Implications For Policy and Investment Priorities
This study looks at the urban consumption patterns of fresh fruits and vegetables and the major supply chain systems used in the distribution of fresh produce. The study integrates issues of supply chain organization and performance into the analysis of consumer demand for fresh produce. In particular, the study looks at how system organization and performance affects the ability of the system to satisfy consumer demand for fresh produce. The study pursues these main objectives, namely, to estimate the household consumption of fruits and vegetables per adult equivalent; to examine the shopping patterns of fresh produce consumers as compared to other food purchases; and to examine the various supply chain systems for fresh produce.
The role of African leafy vegetables in food security
Croft, Marcia M. Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2016. The Role of African Leafy Vegetables in Food Security. Major Professor: Steve Hallett. African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are a diverse set of crops grown across sub-Saharan Africa. They have been a staple of traditional diets and contain many critical micronutrients but their importance has been largely ignored by researchers and policymakers at the expense of imported crops. Availability, accessibility, and utilization of ALVs are limited by factors across the supply chain. This research investigated seed systems, drought tolerance, hydroponic production, market barriers, consumer preference, and the impact of gender as related to ALVs. We found that ALVs play an important role in food security and that critical differences exist between formal and informal sectors. Women play a stronger role in informal sectors, but the balance between the formal and informal markets is changing, and this may jeopardize the incomes of many women. The determinants of household security were different for maleand female-headed households, and this information can be used to address the gap in food security between genders. Market barriers differed for formal and informal
The impact of education in rural Ghana: examining household labor allocation and returns on and off the farm
Most of the human capital literature pertaining to developing countries focuses on the returns to education in either farm work or wage work; few studies examine how education affects the allocation of time between these activities. This paper estimates the returns to education in farm and off-farm work, and consequently the role of education in determining the allocation of labor. The results from this study show that off-farm work has a much higher return to education than does farm work and suggest that this divergence in returns affects the allocation of labor in farm households between farm and off-farm work.