Super Spud – Uganda

The UN 2000-01 survey of Uganda showed that 23 per cent of children under the age of 5 were seriously underweight and 19 per cent of the total population were undernourished. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) plays a large part in this serious national health problem, with children and childbearing women being most at risk. To help resolve the problem of VAD a collaborative effort has begun to encourage the cultivation and consumption of a new orange-fleshed sweet potato. The variety is richer in vitamin A than most, and may hold the key to improving the nutritional intake of Uganda’s most at-risk groups.

Vitamin A Deficiency

Vitamin A is an essential food nutrient found in very small quantities in some foods. It is important for normal sight, growth, and development particularly in children. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most prevalent and most treatable public health problems. VAD is a leading cause of early childhood death and a major risk for pregnant and lactating women. The condition does not kill directly, but weakens the immune system, leaving its victims susceptible to deadly diseases such as malaria, measles and diarrhoea. VAD also seriously damages the growth of a child. In Uganda, 40 per cent of children under 5 years of age are stunted. Stunting is higher among children in rural areas, in the Western region, and among children whose mothers have had no education. Around 23 per cent of children under 5 years are underweight, and there has been little reduction in the levels of malnutrition since 1995.

The data presented by the 2000-01 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey show that 28 per cent of Ugandan children aged 6-59 months suffer from VAD. VAD is lower among children of 6-11 months, most of whom are still benefiting from the positive effects of breastfeeding. The highest levels of VAD are found among children of 12-23 months, 23 per cent of whom suffer from VAD. More than half of the women in Uganda suffer from VAD. The deficiency level varies according to the women’s characteristics, but not as much as it does among young children.

Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2001)

Preventing VAD means ensuring that the diet includes foods rich in beta-carotene, a micronutrient that the body uses to produce vitamin A. These foods include dark green leafy vegetables and fruits, and vegetables in which the edible portion is yellow or dark orange in colour, such as pawpaw (papaya), mango, carrot, and pumpkin. Liver, egg yolk and small oily fish are also good sources of vitamin A. Breastfeeding children exclusively for at least four months is another important step in preventing VAD. In addition to dietary measures, many countries have a programme of vitamin A supplementation, in which vitamin A capsules are given to vulnerable groups.

Health officers have been trying to tackle the problem of vitamin A deficiency in Africa for more than a quarter of a century. While vitamin A supplements have helped millions, delivery is expensive and supplement programmes are difficult to deliver. Dietary interventions are also problematic because many foods that are good sources of vitamin A, such as fruit and vegetables, are too expensive or not regularly available to African consumers. However, Vitamin A for Africa (VITAA) believes it may have found a viable solution in the orange-fleshed sweet potato. It is rich in beta-carotene, easy to grow, and affordable to the average consumer.

The Sweet Potato

Two facts have generated growing interest in the sweet potato. First, sweet potato is typically a small farmer crop and often grown on marginal soils with limited outputs. Although it is grown widely in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, production tends to be concentrated in those countries with lower per capita incomes and within regions of those countries where income levels are relatively low. an increase in sweet potato production and use is often considered as a means to improve incomes and food security among the poorer segments of the rural population.

Second, average yields in several countries are well below the average (15 t/ha) for developing countries as a whole, and these in turn are well below the current yield potential. Rapid improvements in productivity are considered readily feasible with less investment in research and extension than other crops, such as rice.

Sweet potato consumption in Uganda is estimated at 85 kg per annum, making it one of the lowest sweet potato consuming countries in Africa. Uganda also has a negative rate of yield improvements (-1.9 per cent), and so is missing out on the benefits of growth in sweet potato production in Africa. Nonetheless, in north-east Uganda – one of the poorest parts of the country – sweet potato becomes a seasonal staple crop during the dry season when supplies of most other foodstuffs are exhausted. Even in such circumstances, the importance of the crop may be underestimated. Processed products made from sweet potato, including starch, noodles, desserts, and flour, have long been made by farm households to extend the availability, diversify the use, and increase the added value of the crop. The magnitude of these new uses is not easy to quantify. Partly for this reason, the available statistics on processing do not always reflect their true level of importance.

range-Fleshed Sweet Potato

Unlike Africa’s traditional white-fleshed sweet potato varieties, the orange-fleshed varieties advocated by VITAA are rich in beta-carotene. A 100 gram serving (about a cupful) of boiled roots can supply half the daily vitamin intake requirement of a young child. Weight for weight, orange-fleshed sweet potato contains 20-30 times more beta-carotene than most rice varieties. Traditionally, orange flesh has been associated with low dry matter, with the preference in Sub-Saharan Africa being for higher proportions of dry matter. Progress has been made, via plant breeding, to break the link between flesh colour and dry matter. More orange-fleshed sweet potato varieties with higher dry matter content are becoming available.

Plant Breeding

To encourage widespread adoption of improved potato varieties, plant breeders at the Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP – International Potato Centre in Peru) are working with VITAA and partner agencies such as BUCADEF (Buganda Cultural and Development Foundation) to introduce 42 improved orange-fleshed breeding lines. The main objectives of the initiative were:
· To establish a sustainable, cost-effective and efficient system for multiplication and timely distribution of planting material of improved sweet potato varieties and build capacity among farming communities to produce high quality planting material.
· To educate communities about the role of vitamin A in the diet of both children and adults.
· To promote the adoption, production, consumption and sustenance of vitamin A rich sweet potato varieties as a way of alleviating VAD in target communities.
· To establish and strengthen inter-institutional links between BUCADEF and research institutions, extension services, farmers, international research centres and donors.

Introducing a marginal change in diet (such as switching varieties) is easier than introducing a completely new food. Field tests were carried out to find out whether African farmers would accept the orange-fleshed sweet potato. Once farmers recognised the nutritional benefits of the variety, they adopted it happily, while children liked the sweeter taste.

Farmers are also persuaded by the added value that can be gained from the crop by selling processed by-products of the crop such as chips.

‘When farmers sell one bag of fresh crops, they earn something like $1, but when they process it and turn it into chips they earn $4.’
Constance Owori, Post Harvest Technologies, Kawanda Research Institute of the National Agricultural Research Organisation

Adoption has been aided by the support given by Nnaabagereka, the wife of the ruler of Buganda. The Queen is held in high esteem by her subjects and plays a pivotal role in mobilising development efforts.

The Way Forward

‘What we are seeing is a groundswell of support for this common-sense agricultural approach to a major public health problem’
Joachim von Braun, Director General of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

The huge potential of the orange-fleshed sweet potato should not be translated into an automatic quick fix. It can be a powerful tool and benefits are likely to come, but the crops still have their cultivation problems and it will take time for the impact to be felt in terms of alleviating VAD. However, as Joachim von Braun indicates, the future potential of sweet potato in alleviating VAD as well as raising incomes is beginning to be realised. According to von Braun, if current growth rates continue, orange-fleshed potatoes could help to prevent VAD and so benefit 50 million African children. In countries like Uganda, full adoption of the orange-fleshed sweet potato could resolve VAD completely for 85-95 per cent of those children most at risk, as well as childbearing mothers.

Acknowledgements

ITDG would like to thank the Centro Internacional de la Papa and BUCADEF for providing information and helping in this case study.

The case study draws on articles written by the Centro Internacional de la Papa and BUCADEF.

Further Information

Reference Material

Low, J., Kinyae, P., Gichuki, S., Oyunga, M.A., Hagenimana, V. and Kabira, J. (1997) Combating Vitamin A Deficiency Through the use of Sweetpotato: Results from Phase 1 of an Action Research Project in South Nyanza, Kenya. Lima: International Potato Center (CIP); Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2001). Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2000-2001. Claverton: UBOS and ORC Macro.

Relevant Implementing Organisations

Buganda Cultural and Development Foundation (BUCADEF)
PO Box 34071 Mengo-Kampala
Uganda
Tel: 256-41-271870
Fax: 256-41-340031
E-mail: bucadef@infocom.co.ug

Centro Internacional de la Papa
The International Potato Centre (known worldwide by its Spanish acronym, CIP) seeks to reduce poverty and achieve food security on a sustained basis in developing countries through scientific research and related activities on potato, sweet potato, other root and tuber crops, and on the improved management of natural resources.
Headquarters
Avenida La Universidad 795
La Molina
PO Box 1558
Lima 12
Peru
Tel: +51-1 349-6017
Fax: +51-1 317-5326
E-mail: Webmaster-CIP@cgiar.org
Website: http://www.cipotato.org/

Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute
Contact: Constance Owori
E-mail: oworiconstance@hotmail.com

Namulonge Agricultural and Animal Production Research Institute (NAARI)
PO Box 7084
Kampala
Uganda
E-mail: naari@afsat.com

The Regional Network for the Improvement of Potato and Sweet Potato in East and Central Africa (PRAPACE)
PO Box 22274
Kampala
Uganda
Tel: 256-41-286209
E-mail: prapace@infocom.co.ug

Vitamin A for Africa (VITAA)
E-mail: cip-vitaa@cgiar.org
Website: http://www.cipotato.org/vitaa/index.asp

Donor And Supporting Organisations

CGIAR
The World Bank
MSN G6-601
1818 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20433, USA
Tel: +1 202 473-8951
Fax: +1 202 473-8110
E-mail: cgiar@cgiar.org
Website: http://www.cgiar.org/

Department for International Development (DFID)
1 Palace Street,
London SW1E 5HE
Tel: +44 (0)20 7023 0000
Fax: +44 (0)20 7023 0019
E-mail: enquiry@dfid.gov.uk
Website: http://www.dfid.gov.uk

USAID
Information Centre
Ronald Reagan Building
Washington, D.C. 20523-1000
Tel: +1 202-712-4320
Fax: +1 202-216-3524
Website: http://www.usaid.gov/

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