OFSP: Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (High provitamin A)

Orange Sweetness, Nutrient Richness, and Farmer's Success - Embrace OFSP!

The Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) is a biofortified crop that contains high levels of beta-carotene. Sweet potato cultivars with orange flesh have more beta-carotene than those with light-colored flesh cultivars. After eating OFSP, the beta-carotene is converted into vitamin A, providing essential nutrition and supplementing the diet of people. It has huge potential to improve food and nutritional security across Africa.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•9

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 9/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

Others: Positive high

The poor: Positive medium

Under 18: Positive high

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Carbon footprint: Same amount of carbon released

Environmental health: Moderately improves environmental health

Soil quality: Does not affect soil health and fertility

Water use: A bit less water used

Biodiversity: Not verified

Problem

Vitamin A Deficiency: Widespread vitamin A deficiency contributes to malnourishment, affecting the health and well-being of communities, especially children and pregnant women.
Insufficient Tuber Yields: Traditional sweet potato varieties yield only 3-7 tons per hectare, resulting in limited food availability and income for farmers.
Limited Nutrient Sources: The lack of diverse and nutrient-rich crops hampers overall nutrition, posing a challenge to addressing dietary deficiencies and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Solution

Beta-Carotene Enrichment: OFSP, with its high beta-carotene content, addresses vitamin A deficiency by providing a rich source of this essential nutrient, promoting better health and nutrition.
Improved Varieties and High Yields: OFSP's improved varieties yield 25 tons per hectare, significantly surpassing traditional varieties, thereby enhancing food security and increasing farmers' income.
Versatile and Nutrient-Rich Crop: OFSP offers a versatile and nutrient-rich crop, diversifying nutrient sources and contributing to overall nutrition, promoting a sustainable and healthier agricultural ecosystem.

Key points to design your program

In the near future, this section will provide an overview of this technology's success in various contexts, details on partners offering technical support, training, and implementation monitoring, along with other valuable insights for your projects and programs. These details will be added progressively.

In the meantime, use the 'Request information' button if you need to contact us.

Cost: $$$ 20 USD

10kg vines

200 kg

vines for 1 acre (0.3 hectare)

25 tons

per hectare

IP

Open source / open access

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 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

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

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
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Malawi	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Zambia	–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 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 3: good health and well-being

Obtain Planting Material:
- Purchase a 10kg bag of OFSP vines, usually available for less than USD 20, including transport costs.
Planting:
- Space the vines 50cm apart in rows, maintaining a 30cm distance from plant to plant.
Propagation:
- Use healthy slips or cuttings obtained from the vines. Plant the slips at an angle in the soil.
Region:
- OFSP is adaptable to all agroecologies in Africa, making it suitable for various climates and regions.
Application:
- OFSP tubers can be consumed after cooking. Alternatively, they can be milled into flour or mashed into puree for a range of products such as bread, chapatis, cakes, juices, and porridge.
Livestock Feed:
- Peels and tubers can be used to create feed meal for animal rearing, enhancing protein content. Leftover vines and low-grade tubers can be turned into silage, providing nutritious fodder for ruminant livestock and pigs.
Propagation Method:
- OFSP can be propagated from seeds, tubers, or vines. Cuttings from vines are commonly used for planting and are easy to prepare.
Planting Technique:
- Plant healthy slips or cuttings by inserting them at an angle in the soil, with a spacing of 50cm between rows and 30cm from plant to plant.
Availability:
- Improved OFSP varieties are available in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia, and are ready to be scaled for addressing malnutrition and increasing profits for producers.