Nigeria: Scaling up vitamin A-rich sweet potato

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 – ...