The addition of orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) to the food environment is an effective nutrition-sensitive agricultural approach to improve vitamin A intakes. However, the adoption of this biofortified crop merits further study. The objective of our research was to understand factors that affect Mozambican farmers’ adoption and retention of OFSP varieties, with a specific interest in the retention of planting material. Field research was conducted in three provinces of Mozambique during 2015. Provinces with different OFSP intervention histories were selected to allow for the identification of site-specific factors and the impact of variable approaches over time. Qualitative inquiry was used to assess participants’ progress through the five stages of the Innovation-Decision process in the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Ninety-five producers, consumers, and market stakeholders of OFSP participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus groups. Results indicate that diverse factors influenced the adoption and retention of OFSP, including organoleptic qualities, taste preferences, access to planting material, agronomic traits, environmental conditions, lack of capital for inputs and labor, unstable markets, and limited sharing of information and planting material across farmer networks. Current OFSP varieties were acceptable to Mozambican farmers and consumers, but there are several remaining challenges to reaching a critical mass such as lack of access to planting material, perceptions of superior drought tolerance of white-fleshed sweet potato (WFSP), and the belief that OFSP requires additional effort to cultivate (e.g. weed removal, measuring space between plants). Key recommendations which may be considered in future planning for OFSP interventions in Mozambique and other countries include enabling decentralized vine multipliers to provide vines to community members at no cost, continued focus on breeding and distribution of more drought tolerant varieties of OFSP, and training on the similarities in agronomic practices required for producing and preserving OFSP and WFSP.

中文翻译：

---

影响莫桑比克农民收养和保留富含维生素A的橙肉甘薯品种意愿和能力的因素

在食物环境中添加橙肉甘薯 (OFSP) 是一种有效的营养敏感型农业方法，可提高维生素 A 的摄入量。然而，采用这种生物强化作物值得进一步研究。我们研究的目的是了解影响莫桑比克农民采用和保留 OFSP 品种的因素，特别关注种植材料的保留。2015 年在莫桑比克的三个省份进行了实地研究。选择了具有不同 OFSP 干预历史的省份，以识别特定地点的因素和可变方法随时间的影响。定性调查用于评估参与者在创新扩散理论中创新决策过程的五个阶段的进展。九十五个制作人，OFSP 的消费者和市场利益相关者参与了半结构化的深度访谈和焦点小组。结果表明，多种因素影响了 OFSP 的采用和保留，包括感官品质、口味偏好、种植材料的获取、农艺性状、环境条件、缺乏投入和劳动力的资本、不稳定的市场以及信息和种植材料的有限共享跨越农民网络。目前的 OFSP 品种对莫桑比克农民和消费者来说是可以接受的，但要达到临界质量还存在一些挑战，例如无法获得种植材料、认为白肉甘薯 (WFSP) 具有优异的耐旱性，以及人们认为OFSP 需要额外的努力来培养（例如去除杂草、测量植物之间的空间）。