Gendered Food Mapping of Fried Sweetpotato in Kwara State, Nigeria

The study was conducted at three administrative levels in Kwara state namely; state level (Offa city); local government level; Agbamu in Irepodun LGA and Ijagbo in Oyun LGA; (Oro (Irepodun) and Ijagbo (Oyun) LGA); and community level Araromi- Ipo (Lat and Long), Omido, Igosun and Onila. All the areas selected are known for production, consumption and marketing of sweetpotato. A survey was conducted utilizing Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Individual Interviews (II), Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Market Interviews (MI). Yoruba was the dominant ethnic group in the four communities. Farming is the main occupation for the majority of the respondents interviewed. The communities categorized themselves into three wealth categories namely; wealthy/rich, mid class and the poor. Most communities practiced both monocropping and intercropping of sweetpotato with maize and cassava. Important crops cultivated were; yam, cassava, maize and sweetpotato. The proportion of people producing sweetpotato in the communities visited ranged between 45 and 100%. About 80% of the farmers in the communities were male and the remaining 20% females. Agric sweetpotato, Alausa, Carrot potato and Aregbe were the most commonly grown sweetpotatoes. Farmers obtained their planting materials from irrigated land zones (36.80%), purchases (15.80%) and also from previous planting plots (10.50%). Important characteristics of good sweetpotato in general were; similar for male and female farmers namely; freshness, lack of infections, medium to big size, no rottenness and well matured roots. A good quality fried sweetpotato was described as mealy, not fibrous, moderate outer dryness, fresh and tasty. From the market study, three demand segments were constantly mentioned; retail, wholesale and community segments. The most important quality characteristics among traders were; absence of diseases and weevils visible on the root skin, firmness, high yield, size of the root, freshness and storability.