Eating Orange Fights Vitamin A Deficiency and Poverty

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, October 7, 2005 – Helen Keller International (HKI) recently launched a four-year project, funded by The McKnight Foundation, to introduce and promote new varieties of orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes (OFSP) in Burkina Faso. Consumers in the United States are used to eating sweetpotatoes that are orange-fleshed and an excellent source of vitamin A, but, in most of the rest of the world, sweetpotatoes are white-fleshed and contain no vitamin A. Introducing OFSP varieties has been shown to be an effective strategy to control vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and improve food security. The McKnight Foundation has supported similar projects in Eastern Africa, but the introduction of OFSP in West Africa remains limited. HKI initiated this newest project in an effort to demonstrate the potential for OFSP to alleviate malnutrition in the fragile Sahel region of West Africa, where Burkina Faso is located.

At a workshop held in September in Ouagadougou as part of the project, HKI worked with representatives from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the National Farmers Federation, the French Agency for Food Security, other NGOs and Ministries of Agriculture, Education and Health to develop a plan for OFSP production and consumption. Mr. Sylvestre Tapsoba, Director of the Nutrition Directorate in the Ministry of Health, stressed the importance of integrating different approaches and involving partners in strategies to combat malnutrition.

It is estimated that over 42% of children under five in sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of VAD, a type of micronutrient malnutrition that can cause blindness and even death. Adequately controlling VAD will avert more than 645,000 child deaths each year in sub-Saharan Africa. The magnitude of VAD in Burkina Faso is alarming. According to the World Health Organization and FAO, the country is one of 35 identified as being the most severely affected by VAD.

A harsh climate and lack of natural resources and maritime access contribute to Burkina Faso’s vulnerability to VAD. Agriculture is by far the leading sector of the economy. In food-based pilot projects to control VAD, OFSP have been shown to be well accepted as crops, as well as rich in vitamin A and resistant to pests and diseases, making them an ideal food to improve human nutrition and generate income. In addition, sweetpotatoes are more frequently consumed by women and children, the groups at greatest risk of mortality and morbidity due to VAD.

At the workshop, Dr. Robert Mwanga of the National Agricultural Research Organization in Uganda related the success story of one family that benefited from OFSP. The family, who lived in a small grass-thatched hut, eventually accumulated enough assets to allow them to purchase a four-room house and farm animals, and send their seven children to school, all through the sale of sweetpotatoes. Dr. Mwanga stated, “The financial support from The McKnight Foundation for research/development should translate into improving the livelihoods of the . . . poor.” In addition to these financial gains, the family also benefited from the nutritional value that the OFSP provide them.

HKI’s new OFSP project will cover the Eastern Region of Burkina Faso (Gourma, Komandiari and Gnagna) as well as one province of the Sissili Region (Koudougou).