Biofortified crops with a visible trait: The example of orange-fleshed sweet potato in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is the first biofortified vitamin A staple food to be developed and promoted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where traditionally most varieties grown are whitefleshed (containing no beta-carotene). During the past decade research has demonstrated that OFSP is bioavailable, and lab studies have demonstrated efficacy and determined 13 units of beta-carotene:1 unit of retinol ratio. Research has also shown that when OFSP is introduced with an additional demand creation and nutrition education approach, significant increases in vitamin A consumption result, and in Central Mozambique, a 15 % decline in prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) was attributable to the intervention. The integrated agriculture-nutrition approach can be cost-effectively taken to scale. Because of sweet potato's image as a crop of the poor, policy makers in SSA often ignore its potential contribution to nutrition and health. Implementation of well-designed demand creation strategies can be very effective in changing the mind-set of policy makers. Unexpectedly, the visible orange flesh color trait turned out to be a positive marketing tool, not a negative constraint. Since the emergence of the food crisis in 2008, global policy makers have begun significantly reinvesting in agriculture. The benefits of linking nutrition and agriculture to address micronutrient malnutrition and overall food security are increasingly recognized, and OFSP is a tested intervention for effectively linking the two to address VAD in young children. Ten key critical steps should be considered when undertaking a new OFSP dissemination effort.