Orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). Investment summary.

This OFSP Investment Summary is part of a set of three OFSP investment products: The OFSP Investment Guide that unpacks the investment opportunities along the OFSP value chain, offering a decision tool for identifying where they exist and the activities needed to transform them, including details on the human, financial and physical resources. And the OFSP Investment Implementation Guide that is targeted at those involved in the implementation of OFSP investment programmes such as local government or NGO field staff. It provides a brief overview of the reasons for investing in pro‐poor, nutrition‐sensitive agricultural growth and vitamin A deficiency reduction programmes such as the promotion of OFSP

Orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). Investment guide.

OFSP investment guide aims to unpack the investment opportunities in the OFSP value chain and offer a decision tool for determining where the key opportunities are and the activities for transforming them, including details on the human, financial and physical resources required. This guide is targeted at national level technical experts in public, private and development institutions, to support them through multisectoral and multi-stakeholder actions to identify and attract investments and implement pro-poor, nutrition-sensitive agricultural growth programmes to reduce vitamin A deficiency

Orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). Investment implementation guide.

This OFSP Investment Implementation Guide is targeted at those involved in the implementation of OFSP investment programmes such as local government or NGO field staff. It provides a brief overview of the reasons for investing in pro-poor, nutrition-sensitive agricultural growth and vitamin A deficiency reduction programmes such as the promotion of OFSP. It presents a decision tool for determining where the key opportunities exist in the OFSP value chain. It then unpacks each of the investment areas in detail and presents the activities for achieving its transformation, including details on the required human, financial and physical resources. It assumes such an investment will be undertaken using a multisectoral approach

Building a sustainable sweetpotato seed system in Malawi: Experiences from the "Rooting out hunger in Malawi" project.

The project “Rooting out Hunger in Malawi with Nutritious Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP)” was launched in October 2009 for the benefit of women and children in the country. This 4.5-year effort targets 115,000 households to improve vitamin A and energy intake using improved sweetpotato varieties. It also seeks to boost yields by 50% and improve incomes by 20%. The project aligns with the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach to food and nutrition security and crop diversification. With Irish Aid support, CIP initially worked in partnership with government agencies and three NGOs as implementing partners (IPs) and targeted 4 districts. The project established a “1-2-3” seed multiplication system, with clean planting material produced at a primary multiplication site, and decentralized vine multiplication sites (DVMs) doing multiplication at the community level. DVMs run by individuals or groups of farmers with access to irrigation were established by the IPs and supervised by district Extension staff. Mutiplication at the DVMs was termed secondary (vine production using rapid multiplication) or tertiary (production of both roots and vines, particularly during the hungry season). A subsidized voucher system was used by partners to allow at-risk households to purchase sweetpotato planting material from DVMs. Promotion and awareness campaigns were conducted in each district to stimulate demand for OFSP. By February 2012, the project had reached 36,403 households in 5 districts with subsidized vouchers, and an additional 19,331 beneficiaries through non-voucher sales. Seven IPs in 14 districts partnered in the effort. Lessons learned and sustainability of the system will be discussed

Genetic characterization of cassava (Manihot esculenta) landraces in Brazil assessed with simple sequence repeats

Based on nine microsatellite loci, the aim of this study was to appraise the genetic diversity of 42 cassava (Manihot esculenta) landraces from selected regions in Brazil, and examine how this variety is distributed according to origin in several municipalities in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Amazonas and Mato Grosso. High diversity values were found among the five above-mentioned regions, with 3.3 alleles per locus on an average, a high percentage of polymorphic loci varying from 88.8% to 100%, an average of 0.265 for observed heterozygosity and 0.570 for gene diversity. Most genetic diversity was concentrated within the regions themselves (HS = 0.52). Cluster analysis and principal component based scatter plotting showed greater similarity among landraces from São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Amazonas, whereas those from Minas Gerais were clustered into a sub-group within this group. The plants from Mato Grosso, mostly collected in the municipality of General Carneiro, provided the highest differentiation. The migration of human populations is one among the possible reasons for this closer resemblance or greater disparity among plants from the various regions