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Promotion of orange-fleshed sweetpotato to enhance dietary Vitamin A intake: Lessons and Strategies in Eastern and Southern Africa download a Word file

Potential of sweetpotato in reducing vitamin A deficiency in Africa download a Word file

Increased promotion and evaluation of high β carotene sweetpotato as part of the food based approaches to combat Vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa download a Word file

Evaluation and large-scale dissemination of orange-fleshed sweetpotato in Sub-Saharan Africa download a Word file

Sweetpotato: An African Answer to a Major Public Health Problem -- Thousands adopt new varieties to boost health and income

An international team of researchers and farmers received the prestigious CGIAR Partnership Award today for their efforts to alleviate Vitamin A deficiency, one of Africa’s most important and most treatable public health problems. Ian Johnson, Vice President of the World Bank and Chairman of the CGIAR, presented the award.

Working under the banner of Vitamin A for Africa – also known as VITAA – the partnership provides community groups in seven countries with new orange-fleshed varieties that prevent vitamin A deficiency. Unlike Africa's traditional white-fleshed sweet potatoes, VITAA varieties are rich in beta-carotene, a micronutrient that the body uses to produce vitamin A. VITAA is coordinated by the International Potato Center, the CGIAR research center based in Lima, Peru.

Vitamin A deficiency is a leading cause of early childhood death and a major risk factor for pregnant and lactating women. The condition does not kill directly, but rather weakens the immune system, leaving its victims susceptible to deadly diseases such as measles, malaria and diarrhea. VITAA works at the community level, targeting mother’s groups and other producer organizations in areas where sweet potatoes are already grown.

"Sweet potato is a women's crop grown mainly for family use and supplementary household income," says VITAA Project Coordinator Regina Kapinga, a Tanzanian agronomist based at the Potato Center’s field office in Kampala, Uganda.

"One of the reasons that we are drawing so much attention these days is because VITAA offers a common-sense solution to a major public health problem. Right now our only difficulty is meeting the demand for planting materials," she says.

VITAA research and development activities are supported by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the OPEC Fund for International Development, the Micronutrient Initiative, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Senior Family Fund (USA), and important CGIAR donors who generously provide unrestricted funding for CIP research.

VITAA farmers, Steering Committee Chair Fina Opio, and Coordinator Regina Kapinga (left to right) accompanied by other award winners as they prepare to receive the CGIAR Science Award for Outstanding Partnership in the plenary of the Annual General Meeting of the CGIAR, Nairobi 2003. VITAA farmers Jowelia Sekiyanja and […],Steering Committee Chair Fina Opio, and Coordinator Regina Kapinga (left to right) accompanied by other award winners as they prepare to receive the CGIAR Science Award for Outstanding Partnership in the plenary of the Annual General Meeting of the CGIAR, Nairobi 2003. Fina Opio had special words of thanks to CIP for its vital role in promoting the VITAA Partnership.

Farmers Turn to Sweetpotato in War-Torn Northern Uganda

Since July, more than 850,000 orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) vine cuttings have been delivered to Ugandan farmers in the war-torn districts of Lira and Apac. That’s the amount needed to plant just 30 hectares, say local officials, but it is significant given the escalating violence that has forced many farmers to live in protected camps.

Field Day in Soroti. Dignitaries and guests from local communities and non-governmental organizations examine processed orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes at a VITAA field day in Uganda's Soroti District. The event was organized by a local NGO-SOCADIDO-- in collaboration with CIP and NARO . VITAA Chair, Dr. Fina Opio, is pictured second from the left.

During lulls in the fighting, the farmers move from behind the defensive perimeter of the camps to attend to their fields. The only way that they can work is when extension workers from the James Arwata Foundation (JAF), a local community-based organization, find a way to deliver planting materials.

The farmers, who normally grow crops like cassava and millet prefer sweetpotato because it is earlier maturing than traditional crops, say JAF extension workers. Farmers know that sweetpotato is hardy enough to thrive under the rugged conditions of Northern Uganda and requires little weeding. Moreover, for reasons that are not entirely understood, rebel troops usually raid cassava fields and leave sweetpotato unharmed.

The contribution of orange-fleshed sweetpotato to the nutrition of malnourished children and pregnant mothers in displacement camps cannot be over-emphasized, say local officials. The situation in the camps is so serious that district authorities are urging JAF to speed up its deliveries.

To meet the demand, JAF – with help from VITAA, the Senior Family Fund and other donors – plans to expand its distribution of orange-fleshed varieties early in 2003. Plans call for JAF to multiply large amounts of OFSP variety SPK 004, not only to feed people in the camps, but to produce vines that displaced people can carry back to their villages when conditions improve.

Technical support to JAF is provided by Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), PRAPACE (Regional Network for the Improvement of Potato and Sweetpotato in East and Central Africa ), CIP-VITAA and farmers from Uganda’s Soroti District.

Ugandan Field Day Brings Promise of New Profits for Farmers

More than 500 farmers met recently in Uganda’s Soroti District for what one official called the “largest field day ever organized to publicize the health benefits of orange-fleshed sweetpotato.”

“Orange-fleshed varieties are attracting a lot of attention in Uganda as well as in other VITAA member countries for their earning potential and nutritional benefits,” says VITAA coordinator, Regina Kapinga. “But what’s really attracting people to the new varieties are the health benefits to children and the attractiveness of food products made from the new cultivars.”

Soroti farmers, Kapinga notes, were particularly impressed by the orange-fleshed roots displayed by farmers Rajab Syetabula and Harriet Sekiyanja.   Syetabula and Sekiyanja, who traveled more than 200 kilometers from their home in the Luwero District, explained that the profits they earned from the new orange-fleshed varieties help pay school fees and household expenses. Rajab’s earnings also paid for the construction of a house that he named NASPOT in honor of a new series of orange-fleshed varieties recently released by Namulonge Research Station.
The Soroti field day was presided over by Emanio Richard, the local Chairman of Gweri Sub-County. In a brief speech, Mr. Richard noted that Soroti sweetpotato farmers were reluctant to increase production because of large post-harvest losses and lack of local markets. He urged the farmers to persevere, however, noting that a contract was being negotiated with Maganjo Grain Millers for the supply of high quality OFSP dry chips. The chips will be used to produce a nutrient-rich sweetpotato porridge called “Nutri-porridge,” a product that was recently launched in supermarkets in Kampala.

Funding for the field day was provided by CIP-VITAA, PRAPACE (the Regional Potato and Sweetpotato Improvement Network in Eastern and Central Africa), the Senior Family Fund, a private philanthropy based in the United States, Uganda’s Sweetpotato Research Program at the Namulonge Animal and Agricultural Research Institute and USAID-MOST.

Queen of Buganda Launches Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato

Her Royal Highness, the Queen of Buganda, recently launched a campaign to promote orange-fleshed sweet potato in Uganda’s fight against Vitamin A deficiency.

The launch builds upon research and community mobilization efforts made in the Luwero district by child health experts at Makerere University. Initiated with funds from USAID-MOST, the project promotes both locally available varieties and newly improved cultivars provided by VITAA researchers in Kenya.

The Queen, known locally as the Nabagereka, appealed to all Ugandans to grow and feed orange-fleshed sweetpotato to fight malnutrition and poverty. A local government official suggested that the orange-fleshed sweetpotato be named Nabagereka to motivate Ugandan farmers to grow orange-fleshed plant types.

The Nabagereka, the official wife of the Kabaka or King of Buganda, is held in high esteem by her subjects and plays a pivotal role in mobilizing development efforts in Buganda Kingdom. Luwero is one of the 13 districts that are a traditional home for the Bagandan people.
Project partners include the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), Volunteer Efforts in Development Concerns (VEDCO), a local NGO, International Potato Center, PRAPACE (the regional potato and sweetpotato research network for eastern and central Africa); and BUCADEF (the Buganda Cultural and Development Foundation) a royal NGO.   Visit Queen of Buganda website

VITAA Efficacy Studies Begin in Africa

Scientists from South Africa’s Medical Research Council (MRC) recently initiated the first of two studies that will test the efficacy of orange-fleshed sweet potato to improve the vitamin A status of children. The study, which is being conducted at the Umphumela Primary School in the KwaZulu-Natal area, is among the first to examine the efficacy of a root crop to reduce vitamin A deficiency. A complementary study is planned for Tanzania.
"If our work shows that orange-fleshed sweet potatoes can improve a child’s vitamin A status, it will demonstrate the value of the VITAA varieties as a viable, long-term food-based approach for improving nutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa,” says Paul Van Jaarsveld, the study’s principal investigator. An estimated 33% of South Africa’s children under age of six are believed to be Vitamin A-deficient.

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Umphumela Primary School students

New VITAA Varieties Readied for Shipment

Breeder Dapeng Zhang

Forty-two improved high beta-carotene sweetpotato clones are scheduled to reach Sub-Saharan Africa before the end of the year. The new plant types are currently being processed at the International Potato Center (CIP) in Lima, Peru to ensure that they are free of pest and diseases prior to shipment overseas.

The new “VITAA” clones are high in the dry matter needed to meet local market standards as well as the beta-carotene needed to prevent vitamin A deficiency in young children and pregnant and lactating mothers.

“These are the first in a series of new sweetpotatoes to emerge from a six-year, multi-million dollar breeding program,” says CIP plant breeder Dapeng Zhang. “We believe that they are significantly better than the first generation of VITAA clones.” Their dry matter content, Zhang notes, range from 30 to 38 percent, which should make them highly attractive to African consumers.

Upon arrival in East Africa each of the new clones will be subject to 12 months of plant quarantine at the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS). From there, they will be distributed to Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda where they will be further evaluated prior to on-farm testing.

For additional information contact: z.dapeng@cgiar.org.

Scientists Predict Fifty Million Children Could Benefit from New Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato Varieties

A recent impact case study by economists working at Michigan State University and the International Potato Center indicates that orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes could make a major contribution to alleviating vitamin A malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. Replacing the white-fleshed varieties now grown by farmers with new high beta-carotene cultivars could benefit an estimated 50 million children under age 6 currently at risk from diseases associated with Vitamin A deficiency.

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