RURAL HOUSEHOLDS’ PERCEPTION OF VITAMIN A BIOFORTIFIED CASSAVA AND ITS PRODUCTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FOOD SECURITY

The paper examined the perception of rural households about vitamin A biofortified cassava and its products in Osun State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 50 households’ members. Quantitative data were collected on the respondents’ personal and socio-economic characteristics, their awareness on vitamin A biofortified cassava, their perception about the crop and its products, as well as the constraints affecting its acceptability in the study area. Data were described using frequency counts, percentages, means and standard deviation and inferential statistics, like Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Chi-square analyses. Results showed that the respondents had a mean age of 52.62 ± 14.30, while 82% of them were married. 74% of the respondents had heard of Vitamin A bio fortified cassava, 64% had seen it while 44% had planted it with 54% having positive perception towards the crop and its products. Poor transport facilities (mean = 3.16) and difficulties in getting planting materials (mean = 2.36) ranked highest among the constraints affecting acceptability of the crop in the study area. There exist significant association between the respondents’ marital status and their perception about vitamin A biofortified cassava. It was concluded that majority of the respondents have positive perception towards vitamin A biofortified cassava and its products. It was recommended that extension personnel should create more awareness about the nutritional value of the crop and its products to enhance better food security status among rural households.