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JESSICA KUKUA BAIDOO.Pdf KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURE VALUE CHAIN ASSESSMENT OF TWO INDIGENOUS LEAFY VEGETABLES (Amaranthus and Corchorus spp.) IN KUMASI METROPOLIS BY JESSICA KUKUA BAIDOO MARCH, 2015 i VALUE CHAIN ASSESSMENT OF TWO INDIGENOUS LEAFY VEGETABLES (Amaranthus and Corchorus spp.) IN KUMASI METROPOLIS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES, KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AD TECHNOLOGY, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY (MPhil. POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY) DEGREE BY JESSICA KUKUA BAIDOO MARCH, 2015 ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work towards the award of MPhil. Postharvest Technology and that to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another author nor material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of the University, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. Jessica Kukua Baidoo …………………………….. ……………………… (Student) Signature Date Certified by: Dr Francis Appiah …………………………… ………………………… (Main Supervisor) Signature Date Mr. Patrick Kumah …………………………… ………………………… (Co-Supervisor) Signature Date Dr Francis Appiah …………………………. .……………………… (Head of Department) Signature Date ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the Glory of God iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing. My Great Redeemer‟s Praise. God to your name be all the Honour, Praise and Adoration for successfully seeing me through this programme. I am nothing without you. I am greatly indebted to Dr. Francis Appiah, who has not only been a supervisor but a father to me. Your suggestions, time, energy and resources has made this project a reality and I say God richly bless you. I also wish to express gratitude to my co-supervisor, Mr. Patrick Kumah, another father I am grateful for. Paa, thank you and God richly bless you too. To all those who made various comments and criticisms about my project to shape it: Dr. Laura Atuah and all lecturers of Department of Horticulture, I acknowledge your support and I am grateful. I also wish to acknowledge Mr. Gabriel Quansah of CSIR, Soil Research Institute, Kwadaso who helped in my laboratory analysis, Laboratory Technicians of Horticulture Department and Mr. Obed Adjei who helped in my survey work. Thank you very much. I cannot end without appreciating my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Baidoo; my sisters, Phoebe, Kezia, Petra, Cagelire and a dear friend, Mr. Anthony Appiah. Your prayers, words of encouragement, useful suggestions and love made this work a success. God bless you all. iv ABSTRACT Indigenous leafy vegetables are known to provide essential minerals and vitamins for consumers. Their consumption is on the ascendency especially in urban communities where they are produced under urban horticulture systems. For sustained production, appropriate handling and quality has to be assured. It is also important that assessment of profitability and wealth distribution along the value chain is documented. Unfortunately, there is insufficient information on indigenous vegetables grown in urban communities in Kumasi. A survey was conducted to assess the value chain and official standards were used to address the nutritional composition The study showed that most (88%) indigenous vegetable producers cultivated indigenous leafy vegetables such as Corchorus spp. commonly called “Ayoyo” and Amaranthus spp. also known as “Aleefu”. Producers had an average of 1- 4 acres of land and used farmer saved seeds for production. River water was the main source of water for irrigation and harvesting was done late in the evening to meet dawn market. Precooling by sprinkling of water, sorting, grading and packaging were postharvest activities observed by both producers and traders. Amaranthus and Corchorus spp. were sold between GH ₵0.50p to GH ₵ 2.00 per bunch and between GH ₵10-100 per bed while traders sold their produce for GH ₵1.00 per bunch or GH ₵ 80-100 per sack. Challenges mostly faced by producers and traders were glut during the rainy season which led to faster deterioration of the leaves while consumers complained of scarcity during the dry season which caused an increase in prices of produce. Proximate analysis conducted on the Amaranthus and Corchorus spp. showed that the leaves were good sources of protein (33% and 33%), ash (22% and 16.8%), fibre (16.75% and 10.88%) and carbohydrate (33.75% and 46.91%) but less in fat (6.5% and 6.0%) respectively v which was healthy for consumption. They were also found to be rich in minerals such as Magnesium (2.75% and 2.53%), Potassium (2.27% and 1.44%), Calcium (39.2% and 43.80%), Iron (163.52mg/kg and 164.96mg/kg) and Zinc (26.8mg/kg and 17.28mg/kg). A total production of 7759.44kg/acre and 14,896.44kg/acre for Amaranthus spp. and Corchorus spp. respectively are produced in Kumasi Metropolis and a producer also generated approximately GH₵2090.00 per acre (GH₵49.76 per day for an acre) as against the trader who makes approximately GH₵1530.00 per acre (GH₵510.00 profit per day) of produce bought. Generally, production of Amaranthus and Corchorus spp. is very lucrative and a major source of income especially for traders. Their consumption should be therefore be promoted as they are major source of minerals. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page……………………………………………………………..…………………………i Declaration ................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................................... iv Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ v List of Tables .......................................................................................................................... xviii CHAPTER ONE……………………..…………………………………………………….…..1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Justification of the study ........................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Objectives of the study........................................................................................................... 4 1.4.1 Main Objective ................................................................................................................ 4 1.4.2 Specific Objectives .......................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Vegetables .............................................................................................................................. 5 2.2.1 Nutritional Importance .................................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Economic Importance ..................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Kinds of vegetables in Ghana ................................................................................................ 8 2.3.1 Leafy Vegetables ............................................................................................................. 8 vii 2.4 Traditional Vegetables ........................................................................................................... 9 2.4.1 Traditional Leafy Vegetables ........................................................................................ 10 2.4.2 Importance of traditional leafy vegetables ................................................................ 11 2.4.2.1 Nutritional importance of traditional leafy vegetables ........................................... 12 2.4.2.2 Economic importance of traditional leafy vegetables ............................................ 13 2.4.2.3 Uses of traditional leafy vegetables ........................................................................ 13 2.5 Important traditional leafy vegetable species ...................................................................... 14 2.5.1 Amaranth ....................................................................................................................... 15 2.5.1.1 Economic and Nutritional importance of Amaranth .............................................. 17 2.5.1.2 Uses of amaranth .................................................................................................... 18 2.5.2 Corchorus spp. .............................................................................................................. 19 2.5.2.1 Economic and Nutritional importance of Corchorus ............................................
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