| Project Detail |
Orange-fleshed sweetpotato is an ideal food and nutritionsecurity crop: it is highly productive within 3–4-month growing periods, is highly nutritious and produces more edible protein per hectare a day than rice or wheat. It has high levels of beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, and carbohydrates, providing a relatively cheap source of vitamin A and the energy needed for normal child health. It is also an excellent source of fiber and other essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamins B, C and E as well as minerals such as iron and zinc. Promoting increased production and consumption of orange-fleshed sweetpotato in Tigray is both feasible and sustainable in the long term. Compared with other crops, the cultivation of sweetpotato is less labor and capital intensive, making it a suitable option for resource-constrained rural farmers, including women.
Objectives
Help improve nutrition and food security in vulnerable households with young children (under two years) and women of reproductive age in the target districts of the Tigray region
Scale up the production and consumption of vitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweetpotato as part of a more diversified diet among at least 16,000 vulnerable households by increasing production and demand for the crop and strengthening institutional and policy support for nutrition-sensitive agriculture.
Approach
Many farmers in the project intervention zone find it difficult to sustain sweetpotato production due to shortages of planting material. The International Potato Center (CIP) developed a technique to preserve selected roots in sand and enable early sprouting at the onset of new rains, known as Triple-S—storage in sand and sprouting.
Working closely with the Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Tigray Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development (BoARD) and Bureau of Health (BoH), and local NGOs, CIP builds the capacities of targeted sweetpotato seed suppliers and vine multipliers, ensuring access to quality, disease-free planting material. It also builds capacities of those involved in farmer training centers with small-scale irrigation and other facilities for vine multiplication and demonstrations.
Increasing market demand is an important driver for sustained adoption of sweetpotato by smallholder farmers, so the intervention includes a focus on increasing awareness among rural and urban populations. This work, through schools, mass media and communitybased champions, will, in turn, increase consumption of sweetpotato and create market demand. Finally, the project will strengthen the capacity of existing platformsfor advocacy to raise the priority accorded by government to sweetpotato, particularly the orange-fleshed varieties. |
