Nigeria: Scaling up vitamin A-rich sweet potato

Published 2021년 2월 3일

Tridge summary

Scientists from the International Potato Centre and the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute are breeding vitamin A-rich, drought-tolerant sweet potatoes in Africa. The Sweet potato Action for Security and Health in Africa project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is organizing breeding programs to improve methods and protocols. The breeding program in Mozambique has shared seeds with 18 NARIs partners in Southern Africa, East and Central Africa, West Africa, Brazil, and Southeast Asia. The Sweet potato for Profit and Health Initiative has reached over six million households in 15 countries and continues to address emerging bottlenecks. The initiative has received the World Food Prize in 2016.

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Original content

Scientists from the International Potato Centre (CIP) and the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State are breeding and helping to disseminate vitamin A-rich sweet potatoes tolerant to drought. The largest producers of sweet potato in Africa are Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania, with the area under cultivation equal to East and West Africa. CIP said Africa is the most affected by the triple burden of malnutrition. Thirty African countries suffer undernutrition,micronutrient malnutrition, and the increasing problem of overweight. Collaborating this, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) added that the quantity of undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rose 23 per cent, from 181 million in 2010 to almost 222 million in 2016. Also, SSA had the highest prevalence of inadequate intake of vitamin A and second highest for iron, zinc, niacin, vitamin B12, and calcium. FAO said the economic cost of undernutrition was staggering – ...

Source: Thenationonlineng