Target Crops

Sweetpotato - Background

VITAA Parternship | Breeding

VITAA - Vitamin A for Africa, http://www.cipotato.org/Vitaa/

Summary

At the end of 2002, scientists at the International Potato Center (CIP) began transferring a new series of improved sweetpotato cultivars targeted at eliminating the tragic consequences of Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in Sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of VAD is manifested in a dramatic reduction in the body’s ability to fight off diseases such as malaria, measles and diarrhea. Its principal victims are children under the age of six. Nutrition experts and health professionals are optimistic that the new plant types -- which are rich in beta-carotene, a chemical that the body uses to produce Vitamin A -- will be widely accepted by consumers because they closely resemble traditional African sweetpotatoes. The new clones are also expected to out-produce farmer varieties, thus boosting calorie production and providing thousands of small farm families with surpluses that can be sold to generate cash income.

Background

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) does not kill its victims directly. Rather, it weakens the immune system leaving them susceptible to deadly diseases such as measles, malaria, and diarrhea. Those most severely affected are young children and pregnant and lactating women.

Over the past 25 years, public health agencies have addressed VAD by providing children with vitamin capsules that contain mega-doses of Vitamin A. The strategy has helped millions, but has proven expensive and -- despite the best efforts of those involved -- has left hundreds of thousands of children at risk.

As a complement to vitamin supplements, health experts have experimented with different methods that address the problem through diet. Many types of fruits and vegetables, as well as meat and milk, are rich in Vitamin A or beta-carotene, and, if consumed in sufficient quantity, can eliminate or greatly reduce the impact of VAD. Most foods that are rich in Vitamin A, however, are too expensive for African consumers, are only seasonally available, or are unpalatable to young children.

The exception is sweetpotato, a highly productive food crop that has few natural enemies and is widely grown in Eastern and Southern Africa (see table below).

In 1999, CIP scientists reported the identification of orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes that are high in beta-carotene — a chemical that the body uses to produce Vitamin A — and that contain sufficient dry matter to meet African taste preferences. Studies indicate that the consumption of just small amounts the new plant types — usually less than 100 grams per day (roughly half a cup) can eliminate or greatly reduce vitamin A deficiencies in both children and their mothers.

Until now, the conventional wisdom held that African consumers would not accept orange-fleshed sweetpotato because they were either too moist or too sweet to meet local taste preferences. A study by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) helped to disprove that notion. ICRW research demonstrated that African women would accept orange-fleshed varieties if the clones are sufficiently high in starch, low in fiber, and if they are introduced through community-level education programs that focus on the health of young children. In Africa, most sweetpotatoes -- almost all of which are white-fleshed -- are grown by women, mainly for family consumption and to generate cash income.

Main Objectives

Building upon these results, in 2001 an international group of 70 agriculturists, health experts, and nutritionists launched what is believed to be the first crop-based initiative to attack Vitamin A deficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative is known as VITAA or Vitamin A for Africa.

VITAA’s goal is to make ready for large-scale distribution not only the varieties used in the initial ICRW study, but a vastly larger series of improved clones developed at the International Potato Center.

Contact Information

Dr. Regina Kapinga, an agronomist with broad experience in root crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa serves as the VITAA Coordinator. In that capacity it will be her responsibility to oversee the importation, multiplication, and wide-scale testing of the new varieties.
(E-mail: r.kapinga@cgiar.org)

HarvestPlus Publications

Sweetpotato Brochure
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Publications on Sweetpotato