The Rooting Out Hunger in Malawi with Nutritious Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato Project is a 4.5-year, multi-partner effort to improve vitamin A and energy intake among at least 70,000 households with young children (the group most vulnerable to vitamin A deficiency) by expanding OFSP production and consumption in four target districts. The project is closely aligned with, and has made important contributions to, Malawi’s main agricultural and nutrition strategies, namely the Agriculture Sector-wide Approach (ASWAp), the national Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Investment Framework, and the national priorities of ScalingUp Nutrition (SUN) initiative.

During the Reporting Period, the Project has made further strong progress in reaching the target numbers. In the rainy season of 2011/2012, 23,935 beneficiaries grew OFSP on a total area of 161.6 ha, more than doubling the figures from the previous year (10,968 beneficiaries on 73.4 ha). Preparations for the coming 2012/2013 rainy season indicate that over 27,000 households (HHs) have already been registered to receive subsidized vine vouchers, while more beneficiaries will be reached through local vine marketing and additional development programs that have started to procure quality OFSP vines from project partners and to distribute these in a larger number of districts. This expansion of OFSP production beyond the initial voucher scheme and target districts will continue a trend already observed during the past year, and the project will closely assess and document this positive development.