ISHS Acta Horticulturae 380: Symposium on Tropical Root Crops in a Developping Economy
SWEET POTATO IN THE FOOD SYSTEMS OF EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA |
| Authors: | Peter T. Ewell, J. Mutuura |
| Abstract:
Sweet potato is an important crop in two types of food systems in Eastern and Southern Africa. The term food system refers to the complex of cropping patterns, production technologies, food consumption habits, and marketing links which determine what and how well people eat. The first type can be defined as food systems in which sweet potato is a major staple in the diet, along with other starchy foods such as banana, potato, and cassava. Very high and increasing population pressure on limited land resources is requiring the further intensification of production practices, which threatens the long-term productivity of the environment. The second type are food systems where maize and other grains are the basic staples, but where sweet potato is an important secondary food. The crop is widely grown on a small scale, primarily to help insure the food security of the rural household. Sweet potato have important potential in these roles in large, drought-prone regions which have been sparsely populated, historically, but where population and pressures on food security are increasing. Sweet potato is a short-season crop which reliably provides food on marginal and degraded soils with little labor and few or no inputs from outside the farm. The crop is efficient in the production of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and cash income per unit of land and time. The exploitation of this potential has been limited in Eastern and Southern Africa by the restricted ways in which the crop is utilized. Compared to other tropical food and cash crops, the sweet potato has received relatively less research attention. The International Potato Center (CIP) was given the global mandate for the crop in 1987, and is building upon previous research by IITA, AVRDC, and many national research institutes. Social scientists at CIP are working in collaboration with national sweet potato programs on baseline studies of the patterns of production and utilization. The goal is to provide a users' perspective,—to identify areas where research is likely to have the most impact, and to respond to the priority needs of farmers, processors, marketing agents, and other potential users of improved technologies. CIP's regional office is currently involved in collaborative surveys with the national sweet potato programs in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania, and is collaborating with the ESARRN network and the Collaborative Study of Cassava in Africa (COSCA) project for the collection of data on sweet potato in Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia. | |
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