| Sweet potato plays a critical role as a food security crop in the tropics because it complements other food crops and serves as a famine reserve when cereal crops fail. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, the potential of sweet potato to contribute towards improvements in household food security in rural areas is hampered by the current low and sub-optimal productivity levels. The failure by local farmers to use clean planting materials, fertilizers, and pesticides is the leading factor associated with low sweet potato yields. This dissertation investigates the role of local knowledge and gender in farmers' practices of production, management, and storage of sweet potato planting material in the smallholder farming systems within the Lake Victoria Zone Region of Tanzania. The data used in this research was collected from a survey conducted by the International Potato Center involving 621 households, and from my own in-depth interviews and focus groups in the Mwanza and Mara regions. The study found that sweet potato is a subsistence crop mainly grown for household consumption and only the surplus is sold. The findings show that women are involved in all the aspects of crop production from vine acquisition and management to harvesting and selling. The men and children may act as enablers for growing the crop, performing the arduous tasks of clearing the land and weeding. Occasionally men support women in sourcing planting material far from their community of residence. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.). |
