Presented at the Workshop to Promote Orange Flesh Sweet Potato, held in Jessore, Bangladesh, on the 4th and 5th of May, 2013.

1. Improving incomes, nutrition and health in Bangladesh through
potato, sweetpotato and vegetables
USAID Horticulture Project -Horticulture Project - CIP/AVRDC BangladeshCIP/AVRDC Bangladesh

2. Goal
Increasing income and nutrition of 100,000
poor households in Southern Bangladesh

3. Project Relevant Crops (PRCs)
1. Potato
2. Sweetpotato
3. Vegetables- Tomato, brinjal, bottle gourd, bitter
gourd, okra, yard long bean, snake gourd, cucumber,
red amaranth, Indian spinach, Kangkon and Pumpkin

4. Implementing Partners
● International Potato Center (CIP)
● World Vegetable Center (AVDRC)
● BRAC
● Proshika
● Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI)
Tuber Crop Research Center (TCRC)
Horticulture Research Center (HRC)
On-farm Research Division (OFRD)
● Department of Agricultural Extension (target areas)
● World Fish
● SPRING

5. Bangladesh has made significant strides in boosting its economy
and rising incomes in the past decade;
-yet more than 43 percent of preschool-age children are stunted
and 56 percent are underweight
-Bangladeshi children suffer from high rates of micronutrient
deficiencies, particularly vitamin A, iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn)
-Some 60 percent of children < 5 year are thought to be at risk of
vitamin A deficiency, and the prevalence of Xerophthalmia (night
blindness).

6. Why VAD occurs !
-the excess vitamin A is stored the liver, when the
body’s stores of this micronutrient have been
depleted
-inadequate intake of vitamin A due to a poor diet
and frequent infections, especially worm, measles,
diarrhea and respiratory infections.

7. Whom VAD is common !
-among the young children than adults because
children grow more quickly and children suffer more
from infections and severe malnutrition than adults do.
-pregnant and breastfeeding women because they have
higher needs as they have to supply the needs of their
own bodies and those of the unborn child or baby

8. In children, there are 4 major consequences of VAD:
1. Poor growth and development: VAD children often become malnourished as they
have poor appetite which leads to weight loss, lower ability to fight against infection,
are more likely to fall ill
2. VAD especially increases a child’s risk of getting gastro-intestinal and respiratory
infections.
3. Eye problems: VAD children can suffer from night blindness. This can progress to
conditions that damage the eye such as Bitot spots (foamy white patches on the
white part of the eye) and Exophthalmia (dryness of the cornea and conjunctiva)
which can eventually lead to irreversible blindness.
4. Death: Increased risk of infection, greater severe of infection and higher rates of
malnutrition means that VAD children are more likely to die than well-nourished
children.

9. VAD occurring in pregnant women
can lead to night blindness, miscarriage, the
early arrival of the baby, low birth weight,
and increase risk of death of the mother.

10. Source of Vitamin A: Vit A is available from three sources;
1. Animal foods: Fish, liver, kidneys, red meat, eggs, butter, mild and
breast milk; animal source is expensive and not usually eaten by poor
household
2. Plant foods: Beta carotene and other carotenoids in plant into
vitamin A in the body. Vit A found in palm oil, orange fleshed
sweetpotato and yellow and orange fruits (mango, papaya) and
vegetables (pumpkin, carrots and green and leafy vegetables). Plant
source is more bio-available than other.
3. Artificial fortified foods: Different Vit A mixed foods

11. Why Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato !
OFSP one of the most nutrient-rich food crops in the world.
Sweetpotato is mostly edible – one can eat the leaves, roots, and vines. Its varieties
offer a wide range of skin and flesh color, from white, yellow-orange to deep purple.
Just 125g a day of fresh roots from most orange-fleshed varieties contain enough
beta-carotene to provide the daily pro-vitamin A needs of a preschooler. Even at low
yield (6 t/ha), just 12 decimal (500 m2
) of land can generate an adequate annual
supply of vitamin A for a family of five. That is why OFSP is often called as a
powerhouse of Vitamin A.
Sweetpotato is a resilient crop is known as the classic food security crop. It can be
grown in marginal growing conditions (e.g., dry spells, poor soil) with minimum
labor, irrigation and chemical fertilizers.

12. Empowering Women:
-Helping women making important decisions on food and nutritaion
security at household
-women can earn nearly BDT 8000 to 10000 by selling OFSP vine
cuttings and roots produced from only 5 decimal (200sq.m) of land
and also meet up an adequate supply of leafy vegetable for a family
within 7 months.
-Strengthen women’s intra-household bargaining power that
contributes to nutrition, health, better education

13. Income
A campaign just to eat a boiled OFSP root for breakfast as
supplementary would greatly improve vitamin A intakes and create
market opportunities. Supported by an effective nutrition awareness
campaign, OFSP roots sell at a higher price than white fleshed roots.
Use of OFSP in processing industry can substitute for potato in making
chips and crisps and partial substitute for wheat flour in bakery
produces. OFSP products have a golden color that make it easy of
marketing campaigns to promote them as Vitamin A enriched
products, thus increasing demand

15. Women Enterprise
Development !Activity Target
No.
Vine required When needed
Home Garden 3500 1,40,000 May 2013
OFSP Demonstration 4500 45,00,000 November 2013
SP Nursery establishment 300 3,00000 May- June 2013
Total vine cuttings required 49,40,000
The project is extending quality planting materials, technology,
and nutrition messages among the targeted households and
school children. Over a four year period, the project intends to
reach 50,000 households with OFSP.

16. Home Garden
A woman gardener working in
her garden
A typical home garden with
trellis at the periphery

18. OFSP offers low glycemic index and
high antioxidants, regular
consumption of leaves and roots
minimizes the risk of diabetic, cancer
and heart disease.

19. OFSP is a great source of nutrition with
cheap investment;
a cheap nutritious solution for developing
countries needing to grow more food on less
area for rapidly multiplying populations.

20. Thanks