Highlighting the importance of incorporating indigenous knowledge into new product development and commercial production processes through a study on the attitudes and preferences of mahangu flour consumers in Northern Namibia.

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorDenk, Steven William
dc.date.accessioned2013-10-08T11:06:57Z
dc.date.available2013-10-08T11:06:57Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.descriptionThesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in International Business in the Harold Pupkewitz Graduate School of Business at the NUST.en_US
dc.description.abstractIncorporating indigenous knowledge into new product development and by extension commercial production processes is critical for the successful commercialisation of traditional products. Traditionally, mahangu grain goes through a process referred to as the lactic acid fermentation process. The mahangu grain is exposed to a chemical reaction causing the taste, colour and texture of mahangu porridge to be altered. The results from the discrete choice experiment shows that mahangu consumers prefer the attributes emanating from the lactic acid fermentation process. However due to the lack of exposure to the lactic acid fermentation process, Meme Mahangu flour do not possess any of the attributes the choice data revealed to be the most preferred mahangu flour attributes. Attitudes were measured based on Fishbein’s multi-attribute model. The results showed a negative attitude towards Meme Mahangu. This could be attributed to the fact that the attributes preferred by mahangu consumers (i.e. light coloured porridge) are not present in Meme Mahangu. The results from the choice data collected from the discrete choice experiment shows that the most preferred mahangu flour attributes are those attributes emanating from the lactic acid fermentation process and that the least preferred mahangu flour attributes being those attributes present in mahangu flour that have not been fermented. A sour taste, light colour and soft texture are the attributes most preferred and those emanating from the lactic acid fermentation process. The colour of mahangu porridge has the highest relative importance (52%) with the maximum share of preference falling on light coloured mahangu porridge. Three main recommendations are proposed. These recommendations can significantly enhance the commercial value of mahangu flour and contribute to the improvement of the livelihood of small scale farmers in northern Namibia.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipSupervisors: Prof. Grafton Whyte; Dr. Shameem Alien_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10628/411
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectIndigenous knowledge - Namibiaen_US
dc.subjectNew product development - Namibiaen_US
dc.subjectCommercial production processes - Namibiaen_US
dc.subjectMahangu flour - Namibiaen_US
dc.subjectMaster's theses - Namibia
dc.subjectNUST - Master's theses, 2013
dc.titleHighlighting the importance of incorporating indigenous knowledge into new product development and commercial production processes through a study on the attitudes and preferences of mahangu flour consumers in Northern Namibia.en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Denk. Highlighting the importance of incorporating indigenous knowledge into new product dev.pdf
Size:
3.66 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Masters and PhD Theses
Theses and Dissertations