Knowledge And Perceptions Of Consumers On Safety Of Organic Vegetables In Tanzania: A Case Study Of Morogoro And Kinondoni Municipalities

ABSTRACT

In the previous decades, there has been an upsurge of use of pesticides on food produces. Many consumers now perceive or are knowledgeable that consumption of organic vegetables is healthier than consuming their corresponding items. A cross sectional study was done to assess the awareness and perception of consumers regarding food safety in Morogoro and Dar es Salaam. A total of 200 paticipants half from each segment were interviewed using a constructed and pretested structured questionnaire. However, the analysis was done to 192 residents, half from each study segment. Data analysis was done through SPSS version 20. Scale liability was tested with Cronbach alpha. Descriptive statistics was conducted to assess knowledge and perception among respondents. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine factors that affected the consumers’ choice and identify as well as the approaches used by them to avoid the consumption of unhealthy foods. The majority of participants (81%) perceived that organic vegetables had better taste than conventional vegetables. About 45.3% of the respondents perceived that organic vegetables were more attractive than conventional vegetables. Most of them (95.8%) perceived consumption of organic vegetables to be nontoxic than conventional vegetables. There was no significant difference (P> 0.05) in perception of organic vegetables among age groups. To avoid consumption of foods that were perceived perilous, physical appearance was a common method used by most (52%, β = 0.493) consumers compared to reading product labels (45.3%, β = 0.296), asking product information (38%, β = 0.434) and product tasting (26%, β = 0.146). The low purchasing and consumption rates of organic vegetables were significantly different (P< 0.05), affected by their perceived low shelf life (β = 0.108), lack of uniqueness (β = 0.071) and unavailability in the market (β = 0.032). Most organic food growers (97%) needed an external participatory guarantee system for liable market so that producers and investors cooperate with organic growers for business-oriented aspects.