Adoption impact of improved sweet potato variety to the socio-economic changes in some rural areas of Cameroon

A survey questionnaire was administered in the Adamawa Province of Cameroon, which is Guinea savannah in vegetation. This was to find out the status of adoption of improved variety of sweet potato that had been introduced to the area. Men are the major sweet potato growers in the Adamawa Province of Cameroon. Very few of the inhabitants have had any form of formal education. The main occupation of the inhabitants is cattle rearing. Cereals are their staple food and root and tuber crops were just being formally introduced beginning from 1985, hence the growers have not been cultivating them for long. The sweet potato growers here have accepted and adopted new varieties and are cultivating them. Improved varieties occupied 85% of the land as against 15% for the locals, giving a total fresh tuber yield and sales increase of 91 and 83% respectively. Sweet potato consumers appreciated the tubers of the introduced varieties with a 97% taste acceptance and corresponding to 42% increase in total consumption. Most farmers practise monocropping and usually in a continuous cropping system, which is typical of the system they use in cultivating sorghum, maize and millet. Most sweet potato growers cultivate on part-time basis and usually around their homesteads. There are no existing farming groups but, individuals and family labour.-These farmers usually harvested their crop at once except for a few who periodically harvest just for household consumption. Some farmers bought fresh tubers from other farmers to add to theirs for sale. Most of the sales were in fresh tuber form. The sweet potato market is rudimentary and yet to be developed. Post-harvest technology of this crop is yet to be developed to reduce losses. Many farmers grew sweet potatoes for food and money. Proceeds from the sales of sweet potatoes were put into many uses that improved the well being of the growers. Sweet potato is cultivated as a food and cash crop. The cultivation of sweet potatoes provided employment to some people in the rural communities thereby improving their social status.