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.
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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 – estimated to cost up to 11 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Africa. Emphasis in the past two decades has been on enhancing three major micronutrients (vitamin A, iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn)) in staple food crops. Just 125g of biofortified orange-fleshed Sweet potato (OFSP) meets a young child’s daily vitamin A needs. Experts said flesh-types are good sources of vitamins C, K, E, and several B vitamins, and the mineral magnesium and that sweet ...
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