Examinando por Autor "Nemutenzi, Precious"
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Ítem Restringido A Business model on food products derived from orange-fleshed sweet potatoes to enhance nutrition security.(Universidad EARTH, 2020-12) Nemutenzi, Precious; Castellón Mora, Roger; Porter, Amy GraceOne in every four people suffer from ‘hidden hunger’, which is a lack of essential micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) in the diet. In sub-Saharan Africa, 48 % of children between six months and 59 months old are vitamin A deficient which results in blindness, long-term illnesses and even death. Many strategies have been adopted over the years to solve vitamin A deficiencies including pill supplements, but these solutions yielded little success due to poor accessibility. An emerging alternative with promising potential is the use of underutilized, biofortified, vitamin A-rich, orange- fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) varieties which are high yielding, accessible to smallholder farmers and adaptable to our local climates. One small OFSP root of approximately just 100 g can meet the daily vitamin A needs of a child; thus, food-based approaches promoting the consumption of vitamin A-rich foods such as the OFSP through value-addition can significantly reduce vitamin A deficiencies. This project aimed to develop OFSP value-added products (chips and flour) and evaluate the technical, financial and market feasibility of these products comparing them to the primary production of OFSP. The proof of concept was used as a basis to select the most viable business model to commercialize the products in Zimbabwe. The results from this study indicate that fresh OFSP can be consumed as a vitamin A supplement and the derived products (chips and flour) can compete with similar products in the market. All three business models (primary production of OFSP, flour and chips production) are feasible, but the primary production model is the most viable for a startup with limited financial resources. A hybrid model which incorporates all the models and produce higher product volumes is even more profitable due to economies of scale. The sweet potato value chain in Zimbabwe is a growing market with massive potential to enhance nutrition security and create economic opportunities for farmers.