Nutusweetleaves: Consumption of sweet potato leaves as relish for Nutrition and food security

Edible Sweetpotato Leaves for Food Security

Nutusweetleaves is a low-cost, scalable nutrition practice that promotes the use of sweetpotato leaves for household consumption to improve nutrition and resilience. The practice addresses low vegetable intake and micronutrient deficiencies by encouraging the use of a readily available, nutrient-rich food source. Sweetpotato leaves provide vitamins A, C, and E, B-vitamins, iron, calcium, and antioxidants, contributing to improved immunity, eye health, and prevention of nutrient deficiencies. Implemented through homestead gardens and farmer training, the practice supports continuous access to both food (leaves) and planting material (vines). It is particularly suitable for women and vulnerable households, as it requires minimal resources and fits within existing farming systems.

This technology is pre-validated.

9•9

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 9/9; level of use 9/9

Positive impacts: 14

Vulnerable Group	Positive Impacts
Women Smallholders	• Increased household income through sale of leaves and vines • Improved family nutrition (vitamin A, iron, micronutrients) • Enhanced skills in dual-purpose crop production • Greater resilience to droughts due to continuous leaf harvest
Women-Headed Households	• Strengthened household food security • Potential income generation from surplus leaves • Reduced dependence on purchased vegetables • Empowerment via homestead garden participation
Children (under 5 years)	• Better vitamin A, iron, and micronutrient intake • Increased dietary diversity • Reduced risk of stunting and anemia
Pregnant & Lactating Women	• Improved maternal micronutrient intake • Access to affordable, locally produced nutritious food • Enhanced dietary diversity supporting maternal and infant health

More...

Unintended impacts: 8
Mitigations: 8

Barriers: 8
Mitigations: 8

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

The sweetpotato withstands the adverse climate effects such as droughts and floods, regenerates quickly and can be maintained in kitchen gardens

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

By keeping the sweetpotato in kitchen gardens, they serve as food all time while serving as source of material as soon as conditions e.g when rain resumes

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

It keeps the green around homesteads even during dry periods

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Produces more food per unit area, no heavy tillage is involved in is cultivation

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

It forms a dense canopy which reduces erosion; improves soil organic matter; supports soil biodata

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

It helps in improving soil structure, and through decomposition, organic matter is added to the soil

Water use: Much less water used

It benefits from refuse water produced from households, thus helping in recycling water and putting it to use in the most difficult dry periods

Problem

Limited access to nutrient-rich vegetables: Vulnerable households, especially women and children, consume too few vegetables.
Low awareness of nutritional value and preparation methods: Many households do not know how to prepare leaves safely and nutritiously.
Seasonal shortage of planting material: Reduces sustainability and availability of sweetpotato leaves.
Low adoption of homestead gardens: Limits household-level food security impact.
Insufficient knowledge of dual-purpose production: Leaves and roots are not jointly optimized for nutrition and income.
Vulnerability to climate shocks: Droughts reduce root yield, but leaves could mitigate seasonal food insecurity.
Limited gender-sensitive interventions: Women, who often manage homestead gardens, are not fully supported.
Few scalable nutrition-sensitive practices available: Leaves remain underutilized in agriculture-nutrition programs.
Weak capacity building at community level: Farmers lack training in leaf harvesting, vine conservation, and pest management.

Solution

Household Nutrition: Promote homestead leaf production to improve access to nutrient-rich foods.
Awareness & Preparation: Train communities on safe harvesting and cooking methods.
Vine Conservation: Teach techniques to preserve and propagate healthy planting material.
Homestead Gardens: Encourage kitchen gardens for continuous leaf production.
Dual-Purpose Production: Promote simultaneous production of leaves and roots for nutrition and income.
Climate Adaptation: Highlight leaves as resilient food sources during drought or poor root yield.
Gender Inclusion: Provide training and resources targeting women farmers.
Scalable Nutrition Practice: Offer a low-cost, easily adopted practice integrating nutrition, agriculture, and resilience.
Capacity Building: Deliver community-level training on harvesting, pest management, and garden protection.

Key points to design your program

Household Nutrition & Food Security: Promote homestead gardens to provide year-round access to nutrient-dense leaves for women, children, and vulnerable households.

Capacity Building: Train communities on leaf harvesting, preparation, vine conservation, and pest management.

Resilience & Sustainability: Support adoption of climate-resilient dual-purpose sweetpotato varieties, ensuring continuous supply even during droughts.

Key Activities:

Conduct community demonstrations and farmer field schools.
Provide improved planting material and guidance on garden establishment.
Monitor adoption, nutrition outcomes, and gender-sensitive impacts.

Target Beneficiaries: Smallholder farmers, women-headed households, local communities.

Partners: NGOs, community-based organizations, research institutions, local authorities.

Resources & Budget: Training materials, demonstration garden inputs, monitoring and evaluation tools, operational costs for community engagement.

IP

Unknown

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: validated

Level of use 9 out of 9

Common use by intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Positive impact 14

Vulnerable Group	Positive Impacts
Women Smallholders	• Increased household income through sale of leaves and vines • Improved family nutrition (vitamin A, iron, micronutrients) • Enhanced skills in dual-purpose crop production • Greater resilience to droughts due to continuous leaf harvest
Women-Headed Households	• Strengthened household food security • Potential income generation from surplus leaves • Reduced dependence on purchased vegetables • Empowerment via homestead garden participation
Children (under 5 years)	• Better vitamin A, iron, and micronutrient intake • Increased dietary diversity • Reduced risk of stunting and anemia
Pregnant & Lactating Women	• Improved maternal micronutrient intake • Access to affordable, locally produced nutritious food • Enhanced dietary diversity supporting maternal and infant health

Unintended impact 8

Vulnerable Group	Unintended Impacts	Mitigation Strategies
Women Smallholders	• Overharvesting may reduce root yield • Competition for land between leaves and other crops	• Train on balanced leaf harvesting • Promote integrated planting and efficient garden design
Women-Headed Households	• Market saturation reducing leaf income • Sharing vines could spread pests or diseases	• Encourage value-added products and diverse market linkages • Supply disease-free vines and train on proper vine management
Children (under 5 years)	• Leaves undercooked, reducing nutrient absorption • Some children may dislike taste	• Promote correct cooking methods (brief wilting, moderate cooking) • Combine leaves with legumes or nuts to improve palatability
Pregnant & Lactating Women	• Misconceptions about leaf safety • Over-reliance on leaves limiting diet diversity	• Conduct community awareness campaigns • Promote leaves as part of a balanced diet

Barriers 8

Vulnerable Group	Barriers	Mitigation Strategies
Women Smallholders	• Limited access to improved/clean planting material • Lack of technical knowledge	• Provide high-quality disease-free vines • Organize training and demonstration plots
Women-Headed Households	• Limited financial resources for garden establishment • Limited market linkages	• Support small grants, inputs, or community shared gardens • Facilitate market access and cooperative structures
Children (under 5 years)	• Low household awareness of nutritional needs • Inconsistent leaf availability	• Conduct nutrition education campaigns for caregivers • Promote homestead and community garden production
Pregnant & Lactating Women	• Cultural beliefs or dietary habits limiting consumption • Limited guidance from health/extension services	• Promote awareness of health benefits and proper preparation • Train local agents to provide nutrition advice

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid	–	–	–	–
Semiarid	–	–		–
Subhumid	–	–		–
Humid	–	–	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

It provides a nutrient-rich vegetable that improves household food security, especially during seasonal hunger periods.

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Leaves are rich in vitamin A, iron, calcium, and antioxidants, supporting immunity, eye health, and overall nutrition.

Goal 5: gender equality

Women smallholders and women-headed households, who typically manage home gardens, gain income and skills through leaf production.

Goal 12: responsible production and consumption

Utilizing sweetpotato leaves reduces food waste since leaves are often discarded.

Select Appropriate Varieties
- Choose sweetpotato varieties suitable for both roots and leaves (dual-purpose).
- Prefer varieties with tender leaves, low latex (less bitter), and good root yield.
- Orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) varieties are ideal for added vitamin A benefits.
Establish Homestead or Kitchen Gardens
- Plant vines close to the house for easy access to water (e.g., greywater) and daily leaf harvesting.
- Protect gardens from livestock using simple fencing, thorny branches, or enclosures.
- Use small beds or mounds for easy management and optimal leaf growth.
Conserve and Maintain Planting Material
- Keep healthy vine tips (25–30 cm) in homestead gardens for replanting.
- Avoid damaged or infested vines to reduce pests and diseases.
- Ensure continuous availability of disease-free, high-quality vines for timely planting.
Harvest Leaves for Consumption
- Harvest young, tender leaves and shoot tips for best taste and highest nutrient density.
- Avoid over-harvesting to allow the plant to continue producing roots.
- Briefly wilt leaves in sun or shade (~30 minutes) to reduce sap and improve palatability.
Prepare Leaves for Consumption
- Cook leaves with a little oil and combine with legumes or nuts to enhance protein and vitamin absorption.
- Leaves can also be cooked alone like any other leafy vegetable.
- Educate households on proper preparation methods to preserve nutrients.
Promote Continuous Production
- Rotate gardens and replant with conserved vines at the onset of rains.
- Destroy old gardens after new plots are established to break pest cycles.
- Maintain regular harvesting and garden management to ensure year-round leaf availability.
Scale and Share
- Share planting material with neighbors to promote adoption in the community.
- Use demonstration plots to train farmers on the benefits and practices.
- Integrate leaf production with root harvesting to maximize nutrition, income, and food security.

Downloads

Consumption of Sweet-potatoLeaves Vegetable in Kenya.pdf (PDF, 1006.76 KB)
Nutusweetleaves Comparison of antioxidant, β‑carotene,.pdf (PDF, 1.3 MB)

Last updated on 30 April 2026

International Potato Center (CIP)
Norman Kwikiriza

Commodities

Sweet Potato

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

+ 1 more

Subcategory

Food security and Nutrition enhancement

Value chain step

Postharvest

Best used with

Community-based multiplication of sweet potato vines and cuttings

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Where it can be used Details ›

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones.

Target groups

Development institutions Farmers Processors

Nutusweetleaves: Consumption of sweet potato leaves as relish for Nutrition and food security

Positive impacts: 14

Problem

Solution

Key points to design your program

IP

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Level of use 9 out of 9

Positive impact 14

Unintended impact 8

Barriers 8

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Goal 5: gender equality

Goal 12: responsible production and consumption

Downloads

Commodities

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

Category

Subcategory

Value chain step

Best used with

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Where it can be used Details ›

Target groups

TAAT

Nutusweetleaves: Consumption of sweet potato leaves as relish for Nutrition and food security

Inclusion assessment 14 8 8

Positive impacts: 14

Climate impact 7

Problem

Solution

Key points to design your program

IP

Scaling readiness

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 9 out of 9

Level of use 9 out of 9

Inclusion assessment

Positive impact 14

Unintended impact 8

Barriers 8

Tested/adopted in

Where it can be used

Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Goal 5: gender equality

Goal 12: responsible production and consumption

How to use

Downloads

Downloads

Commodities

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

Category

Subcategory

Value chain step

Best used with

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Where it can be used Details ›

Target groups