Agric scientists, entrepreneurs and farmers have revealed that Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) which is being piloted in Ghana, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso, all in West Africa is the next cocoa for Ghana.
Cocoa is the chief agricultural export of Ghana and the country’s main cash crop. It contributes more than 20 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The Chairman of Ghana Sweetpotato Innovation Platform, Emmanuel Darkey who buys the newly developed OFSP from farmers in Ghana and sells to shopping malls in urban Ghana added that the economic and health benefits of the crop is too great to be enough.
Mr Darkey who also supplies the Vitamin-A dense Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) to the U.S Embassy in Accra, and other market centres in the country stated: “Ghana can gain more foreign exchange from the OFSP than other mineral resources if attention is given to the crop”.
He made these known at an exciting field visit to the Volta region of Ghana on 7th February 2017, which showcased how the OFSP was finding its way into Ghanaians diets, generating income for thousands of smallholder farmers and private business owners in formal and informal markets.
It was revealed during the tour led by senior officials of the International Potato Center (CIP), a root and tuber research-for-development institution that, the OFSP is helping to combat hidden hunger amongst vulnerable populations.
It is also battling Vitamin A deficiency which is prevalent among children in Ghana. Vitamin A deficiency affects seven out of ten children in Ghana.
Mr Darkey stated: “Ghana can gain more foreign exchange from the OFSP than other mineral resources if attention is given to the crop”.
At Vekon Bakery which uses the OFSP to bake bread and other pastries for sale in the Sogakope township and its surrounding communities, Mr Darkey noted: “The business aspect of the OFSP is too good. I have plans to export the product to Holland, and France soon”.
He was quick to add that the demand for the OFSP kind of sweetpotato is too great in Europe, and appealed to Ghanaian farmers to double the production of the crop.
The Manager at Vekon Bary, Delator Konu disclosed that the demand of the OFSP potato bread in Sogakope and its catchment areas is greater than expected. Because of the demand, we are almost finished building a new factory to produce the bread in large quantities, he told African Eye Report during the visit.
The Proprietor of Vekon Bakery, Madam Veronica Konu who employs more than 200 people in the business, said: “All the hotels, schools and individuals in the area patronise the OFSP bread daily”.
She told senior officials of the CIP who visited her factory during the visit that five bags of sweetpotato are mixed with any of the floor to bake the bread.
Madam Konu is envisioned to increase her daily production from 500 kilos to a tonne after the completion of the factory building which has hostel facility for the factory workers.
She added that the OFSP bread is more nutritious than any type of bread and therefore appealed to Ghanaians to consume the bread.
From Sogakope, the visiting CIP team comprising Dr Ted Carey, CIP Regional Sweetpotato Breeder and Ghana Country Manager, Erna Abidin, CIP Seed System Scientist and Project Manager, Joel Ranck, Head of Communications Department at CIP, Vivian Atakos, Regional Communications Specialist & Public Awareness Department went to Akatsi Abor to interact with the OFSP farmers.
A sweetpotato seed multiplier and producer at Akatsi Abor, Julius Dorsese who has been growing planting material (vines) of the orange-fleshed sweetpotato for a number of years, said through the farming he was able to reroof his house. While plans are underway to build a new compound house for his family, he said.
Mr Dorsese however used the opportunity to appeal to the implementers of the OFSP project and the government to provide him with a irrigation dam to ensure all-year-farming of the crop.
“I need financial support to expand my 300 acres farm to 600 acres within the short possible time”, he stated.
Dr Ted Carey, CIP Regional Sweetpotato Breeder and Ghana Country Manager explained that the project implementers (CIP) have good working relationship with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture at national, regional and district levels in the country.
OFSP has the potential to improve the lives of millions of African households and its promise has been recognized on a global scale. In October 2016, three scientists-two from Africa— from the International Potato Centre were honored with the 2016 World Food Prize for their achievement in developing the single most successful example of micronutrient and vitamin biofortification.
Instructively, over the past 15 years, theCIP has helped build robust evidence to demonstrate that pro-vitamin A rich, Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) can combat vitamin A deficiency in children. CIP and its partners have shown that this new food is acceptable in traditional diets and that only one-half cup of OFSP provides the vitamin-A requirement for a single child.
Since 2009, CIP and its partners have delivered OFSP to nearly 260,000 households in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Angola, Kenya, and Rwanda. However, this is only the beginning and CIP is currently scaling up its research efforts and development impacts in Africa and Asia in an effort to reach 15 million households with orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) by 2020.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
