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SPHI Brief 2013: Rooting out hunger in Malawi with nutritious Orange-fleshed sweetpotato

Malnutrition among young children remains one of the biggest challenges in Malawi rural. Agriculture is the major occupation in rural areas, getting this sector moving is critical for food security and poverty reduction. Maize is the most important food crop, followed by cassava, sweetpotato, Irish potato, and sorghum. Sweetpotato is currently becoming more significant as dry spells are increasing and maize is much more susceptible to dry spells than sweetpotato. Consequently, there is great interest on the part of government and other partners in mitigating these risks with nutritious orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). This brief, outlines a project by SASHA seeking to improve vitamin A and energy intake using OFSP. Some major observation is the release of 6 pro-vitamin A rich, orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) varieties and over 100,000 households receiving planting materials via working with numerous development partners. OFSP is being integrated into the Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) effort to combat malnutrition at the community level.

HOW TO CITE

Abidin, E. and Chipungu, F. 2013. Rooting out hunger in Malawi with nutritious Orange-fleshed sweetpotato. International Potato Center (CIP).