Relevant information on the challenges and opportunities of the project were considered for the benefit of the project results. In fact, most of the findings from the study were used as the baseline reference for evaluating the impact of the project’s intervention in the project target areas three years later, including activities on seed system, crop sales, marketing, nutrition and food security in general.
This baseline survey was conducted between from July 8 to August 23, 2013, and overall, 396 households were visited in 24 villages distributed across the 8 districts surveyed. Overall, about 90% of the farmers interviewed in the present study had agriculture as the most important activity. Among the farmers who mentioned sweetpotato, only about 12% of the households produced OFSP due to earlier dissemination efforts by IIAM and partners. However, only 2.3% of households’ total landholding was under sweetpotato, while 1.3% was plated with OFSP. Although the high number of farmers producing sweetpotatoes, the area under production is relatively small, with an average of 300 m2 per household. In general, sweetpotato was mostly (79%) produced for consumption, while 21% of the interviewees mentioned the sale.
Overall, farmer-to-farmer exchange of planting material was the most important source of sweetpotato planting material. Most farmers obtain sweetpotato planting material from their own plots (69%). However, some considerable farmers depend on vines from neighbors (23%), and about 7% from relatives. There was not any reference related to the selling of planting material. In seed system, vine conservation is one of the critical activities during the sweetpotato production cycle. Vines must be read for planting even after a long dry season. According to the results from this study, most (65%) of sweetpotato is planted 2-3 after the beginning of the raining season. At this moment, vines must be ready for planting. In general, the majority (94%) of sweetpotato farmers usually conserve their vines. The typical methods of conservation include leave some portions of the plot without harvesting (60%) for later sprouting, establish small fenced plots in lowlands (28%), and conservation in small plots near their houses (15%).
Important to note was the fact that most of the selling of the fresh roots was conducted in local marketplaces (64%) as opposed to the farm gate (6%). This means that most of the farmers had to transport their products to local markets and other places in the urban (30%) areas to sell their produce.
Vitamin A knowledge, farmers’ practices, attitude and perception on sweetpotato was further assessed. One of the most important objectives of this project is to address vitamin A deficiency through the consumption of OFSP. Overall, both male (70%) and female (66%) have heard about vitamin A. Although not important, in general, the results indicate that there were slightly more men than women informed about vitamin A among the respondents of this study. The most important source vitamin A information for the women was the health unit (50%), while for the men was the radio (44%) program aired in local language. In general, the use of radio with programs in local languages is more effective for men than women, while, most of the women can be effectively reached by using the heath unit.
Contributors: International Potato Center (CIP)
Replication data for: Predicting climate-change-caused changes in global temperature on potato tuber moth Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller) distribution and abundance using phenology modeling and GIS mapping
Originating from the Andean region and co-evolved with its food plant, the potato (Solanum sp.), the potato tuber moth Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller) has become an invasive potato pest globally. The hypothesis of our present study was that the future distribution and abundance (damage potential) of this pest will be greatly affected by climate-change-caused changes in temperature. We used a process-based climatic phenology model for P. operculella and applied three risk indices (establishment-, generation, and activity index) in a geographic information system (GIS) environment to map and quantify changes for climate change scenarios of the year 2050 based on downscaled climate-change data of the scenario A1B from the WorldClim database. All applications and simulations were made using the Insect Life Cycle Modeling (ILCYM) software recently developed by The International Potato Center, Lima, Peru. The study concludes that there are three possible main scenarios of changes that may simultaneously occur: (1) the P. operculella damage potential will progressively increase in all regions where the pest already prevails today with an excessive increase in warmer cropping regions of the tropics and subtropics. In regions where P. operculella is established and develops >4 generations per year, economic losses are likely to occur; under the current climate, >4 generations are developed on 30.1% of the total potato production area worldwide, which will increase until the year 2050 to 42.4%, equal to an increase of 2,409,974 ha of potato under new infestation. (2) A range expansion in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere with additionally 8.6% (699,680 ha), 4.2% (32,873 ha), and 2.7% (234,404 ha) of the potato production area under higher risk in Asia, North America, and Europe, with moderate increases of its damage potential. (3) A range expansion in tropical temperate mountainous regions with a moderate increase of its damage potential; e.g., in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru 44,281 ha, 9569 ha, and 39,646 ha of potato will be under new risk of infestation. The ILCYM software allowed a detailed analysis of possible climate-change-induced changes in temperature on P. operculella distribution and damage potential. Further, this tool offers means of overcoming limitations in predictions and mapping experienced with climate data interpolation and resolution by spatial point-by-point simulations at locations of interest. The methodology is proposed as a very helpful tool for adaptation planning in integrated pest management.
Contribute to the Integration of Africa RISING (AR) Activities into Coherent Project Programmes
In collaboration with AR partners, contribute to the integration of R&D activities at project level and the joint planning & implementation of activities. This may include the following:
• In collaboration with Internal Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), plan and carry out nutrient analysis of crop residues suitable as animal feed such as broad beans residues and wheat straw (led by ILRI)
• In collaboration with International Center for tropical agriculture (CIAT), follow up on value chain work on priority crops and livestock and contribute to the development of value chain activities (led by CIAT)
• In collaboration with International Water Management Institute (IWMI), explore the use of small scale irrigation facilities for the production of high value crops such as potato during off season periods (led by IWMI)
• Identification and exploitation of potential synergies between International Potato Center’s (CIP) AR component and the Humid Tropics program
• Explore opportunities with International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and national partners to initiate joint system level research and development (R&D) activities.
About the project
Project title: Contribute to the integration of AR activities into coherent project programmes
Project abstract
In 2014, participatory community analyses (PCA) were undertaken by multi-disciplinary facilitation teams in 8 kebeles in the Amhara, Tigray, Oromia and SNNPR regions, producing a list of priority farming enterprises, their current bottlenecks, as well as farmer-perceived opportunities for improving income, food security and/or reducing overall risks by intensifying farm enterprises. The PCA was carried out in discussions with kebele members and local leaders, with over 250 men, women and young people. Feedback on the results will be given to the farmers and future participatory planning and implementation of activities based on the results of the PCA and feedback sessions.
Project website: http://africa-rising.net
Project start date: 01/01/2014
Project end date : 12/31/2014
Dataset for: MAMA SASHA Cross-sectional Endline Household Survey
A step toward improving the supply of nutrient-rich foods in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was the Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA), a five-year action research project led by the International Potato Centre (known by its Spanish acronym, CIP) designed to improve the food security and livelihoods of poor families by addressing the bottlenecks preventing the full exploitation of sweetpotato’s potential. The agriculture-health linkages proof-of-concept project in Western Province of Kenya, known as Mama SASHA, was one of the SASHA’s proof-of-concept projects. It was implemented in partnership with PATH, a leading non-governmental international organization in health, the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), local agriculture and health government stakeholders in Western Province, and two local implementing NGO agriculture partners, i.e. the Community Research in Environment and Development Initiatives (CREADIS) and the Appropriate Rural Development Agriculture Programme (ARDAP).
The Mama SASHA project was set in Bungoma and Busia counties in Kenya’s Western Province. The overall project goal was to improve the health status of pregnant women and the nutritional status of children up to two years through an integrated OFSP and health service-delivery strategy. The specific objectives included:
1. To understand the costs and benefits of linking an integrated OFSP-focused agricultural-nutritional intervention to a health service-delivery system serving pregnant women, and to delineate the intensity of nutrition intervention required to achieve impact on newborns as well as their mothers.
2. To strengthen aspects of existing information, education, and communication materials and methods for supporting sustainable OFSP production and consumption at both the health facility and community levels; i.e. to improve the knowledge and practices of health workers, agricultural extension agents, and community members on OFSP and vitamin A rich foods.
3. To improve the evidence base on impacts (on sweetpotato production, nutrition, women and child health status, and use of health services) and on sustainability of a delivery system for high-yielding OFSP through community- and facility-based health services, in conjunction with agricultural partners.
A quasi-experimental evaluation design measured the effectiveness of the Mama SASHA project between households and individuals in the intervention and control communities. Project activities were implemented in four intervention and four control health facilities / dispensaries in Bungoma and Busia counties in Western Kenya. Each facility served approximately 10-15 villages. Communities were approximately 30-50 km apart. The four intervention sites receive the full range of nutrition education and communication, outreach, and health services, along with the vouchers. Mama SASHA was integrated into USAID/Kenya AIDS, Population and Health Integrated Assistance Program (APHIA II; then APHIA Plus), which was responsible for improving health services for pregnant women and mother-child pairs across the province. Thus, the four control group facilities offered the standard APHIAplus training and sensitization on Infant and Young Child Nutrition services, but without the pregnant women’s groups, vouchers, or support for the production of OFSP. The two Kenyan agricultural NGOs, ARDAP and CREADIS, each supported the communities affiliated with two health facilities.
Two evaluation methods measured the program benefits over the course of the project. The first was through a two-round cross-sectional household survey of pregnant women and mother-child (under 2 years of age) pairs conducted in four intervention and four control areas. The second was a complementary nested longitudinal cohort study on an initial sub-set of 505 pregnant women and their subsequent offspring in intervention and comparison communities. This dataset focuses on the cross-sectional endline survey’s mother-child pairs at endline. The endline household survey was designed and implemented from March to May 2014 by CIP, PATH, Emory University, the University of Washington, and the University of Toronto, following the 31 months of implementation (from April 2011 through December 2013). Additional evaluation components summarized in this report include operations research (OR) to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the Mama SASHA project during the pilot phase in 2010 and again during implementation of the project and a cost study was conducted alongside project monitoring and evaluation in order to assess the affordability and sustainability of an integrated agriculture and health project. The databases for these additional components will be provided in a separate metadata file.
Methods: Study Site: The cross-sectional endline survey was conducted in from March 2014 through May 2014 in Bungoma and Busia counties of western Kenya. The study sites consist of sub-counties in the Busia and Bungoma counties that were not already participating in the CIP DONATA project, a related agricultural project that promoted OFSP agriculture production in Western Kenya.
Target Populations: The study targeted three populations, i.e. pregnant women, children aged 6-23 months and their mothers/caregivers.
Inclusion criteria: Eligible participants included females 17-45 years of age, residing in the study villages and who are either the biological mother or primary caretaker of a child 6-23 months or who have a confirmed pregnancy (i.e. by health worker).
Exclusion criteria: women who are younger than 17 or older than 45 years of age and who are not in their first or second trimester of pregnancy or the primary caretaker of a child 6-23 months of age are not eligible.
Sample size: The sample size calculation was made to allow for comparison of proportions of VAD among children 6-23 months within intervention and control (i.e. endline versus baseline) and comparisons across intervention and control at the endline survey. The sample size of 1,090 mother-child pairs per provided 90% power to detect a statistically significant 31% decrease in VAD prevalence in the intervention group children compared to the control group given a baseline VAD prevalence of 18.2%. For pregnant women interviews, we estimated that we would require 85 pregnant women per intervention and control to observe significant increases in consumption of vitamin A rich food frequency score.
The survey included interview modules for household characteristics, household food security and dietary diversity, nutrition and health knowledge, attitudes and practices, agriculture and project exposure and uptake. In addition, weight and height were collected for both children and their mothers. Dried blood spot samples were obtained from the children to determine levels of retinol binding protein (an indicator of vitamin A status) and degree of inflammation (C-Reactive protein).
Promotion of Diffused Light Storage
This dataset includes constructed diffused light storage (DLS) number.
About the project
Project title: Promotion of Diffused Light Storage
Project abstract
Storage losses including impaired quality are partly caused by harvested crops not being stored in a product specific manner. Diffused Light Storage (DLS) is a post-harvest technology which uses natural indirect light instead of low temperature to control excessive sprout growth of potato seeds, extend their storage life, reduce the associated storage losses and improve productivity of the potato crop. It is a low cost method which provides a new opportunity for farmers to preserve the quality of seed potato. Quality Declared Planting Material (QDPM) is a value added product and must be stored in DLS.
Project website: http://africa-rising.net
Project start date: 01/01/2014
Project end date : 06/01/2014
Dataset for: Baseline Survey for the OFDA 2016 Mitigating Drought Impacts on Livelihoods in Mozambique through Resilient, Nutritious Sweetpotato Project in the South of Mozambique
This dataset was carried out as the baseline survey for the Mitigating Drought Impacts in Southern Mozambique Through Resilient, Nutritious Sweet potato Project that has been implemented in 13 districts in the southern of Mozambique, namely Matutuine, Boane, Moamba, and Magude in Maputo province, Guija, Mabalane, Massangena, Chigubo, Chiculalacuala, and Mapai in Gaza province, and Funhalouro, Mabote and Govuro in Inhambane province.Primary data of about 1,200 households were collected in all 13 project target districts. The sample size was estimated using the multistage sampling method.
Overall, most of the household demographics were consistent with the findings from the household budget survey 2014/15 carried out by INE in the targeted areas. The number of household members was on average 5. Almost 58% of the households visited during this exercise had a child under 5 years, with an average of two years. The average age of the household heads was 50 years, and most of them had a third-grade education level. Overall, while about 36% of the household heads were women, almost 50% of the household members were female.
The recurrent and extreme events such as floods, droughts, cyclones, extreme temperatures and others are generally the causes of the disruptions of the local cropping systems and in the end food and nutrition insecurity in most of the regions in Mozambique. To better continue to understand and build resilience to these drought related events, some of the climate change related events were evaluated. Overall, 79% of the respondents directly faced droughts related effects at least once in the last five years, 11% already faced the cyclones, and 10% were affected by floods. The districts Mabote (97%), Funhalouro (90%), Massangena (89%), and Chicualacuala (86%) had highest proportion of respondents who have suffered from droughts effects in the last five years. About 22% and 20% of respondents faced floods in Chigubo and Mabalane respectively. Moamba presented relatively higher proportion (17%) of respondents who also were affected by cyclones.
In relation to the damage and effects caused by droughts, almost 44% of the respondents mentioned the loss of their crops, about 28% had their fields destroyed, and nearly 23% had lost their animals by death. Matutuine presented highest proportion of respondents with the crop loss (53%), while Boane had the highest proportion of the respondents with fields destroyed (45%). The district of Chigubo had the highest proportion of animals’ death (31%).
Replication Data for: MAMA SASHA Monitoring Data
A step toward improving the supply of nutrient-rich foods in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was the Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA), a five-year action research project led by the International Potato Centre (CIP) designed to improve the food security and livelihoods of poor families by addressing the bottlenecks preventing the full exploitation of sweetpotato’s potential. The agriculture-health linkages proof-of-concept project in Western Province of Kenya, known as Mama SASHA, was one of the SASHA’s proof-of-concept projects. It was implemented in partnership with PATH, a leading non-governmental international organization in health, the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), local agriculture and health government stakeholders in Western Province, and two local implementing NGO agriculture partners, i.e. the Community Research in Environment and Development Initiatives (CREADIS) and the Appropriate Rural Development Agriculture Programme (ARDAP).
The Mama SASHA project was set in Bungoma county in Kenya’s Western Province. The overall project goal was to improve the health status of pregnant women and the nutritional status of children up to two years through an integrated OFSP and health service-delivery strategy. Mama SASHA was integrated into USAID/Kenya AIDS, Population and Health Integrated Assistance Program (APHIA II; then APHIA Plus), which was responsible for improving health services for pregnant women and mother-child pairs across the 2 counties of Bungoma and Busia Thus, the four control group facilities offered the standard APHIAplus training and sensitization on Infant and Young Child Nutrition services, but without the pregnant women’s groups, vouchers, or support for the production of OFSP. The two Kenyan agricultural NGOs, ARDAP and CREADIS, each supported the communities affiliated with two health facilities.
This meta-data focuses on the monitoring data collected over the 5 year period of the intervention. Briefly, the intervention was conducted at two levels with health facilities and communities, the facility catchment area being randomly assigned to either four intervention areas or control areas. In the intervention catchment areas: (1) Health workers (HWs) at the facilities were trained in nutritional benefits of OFSP and vitamin A rich foods in general and nutrition for pregnant and lactating mothers, including topics on breastfeeding and complementary child feeding practices. They subsequently provided pregnant women who came for antenatal and postnatal care services with key nutrition education messages (implemented using a flip-chart with clear designs and messages), including information about OFSP and vouchers to access OFSP vines from community level planting material decentralized vine multipliers (DVMs). (2) At the community level, community health workers (CHWs) were trained in the same topics as HWs, and pregnant women clubs were set up with monthly dialogue sessions facilitated by CHWs. The pregnant women were supplied with OFSP vines if they presented the vouchers to DVMs who were trained in OFSP rapid vine multiplication technique and OFSP production issues. The monitoring data covered activities at both the health and community levels through a collection of forms as highlighted in Impact Pathway document.
Disclaimer: Due to the weakness in assigning unique antenatal care (ANC) number for the beneficiaries, the data therefore inherited that weakness in government system and presented challenges during analysis.
Replication Data for: Distributions, ex situ conservation priorities, and genetic resource potential of crop wild relatives of sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., I. series Batatas]
Crop wild relatives of sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., I. series Batatas] have the potential to contribute to breeding objectives for this important root crop. Uncertainty in regard to species boundaries and their phylogenetic relationships, the limited availability of germplasm with which to perform crosses, and the difficulty of introgression of genes from wild species has constrained their utilization. Here, we compile geographic occurrence data on relevant sweetpotato wild relatives and produce potential distribution models for the species. We then assess the comprehensiveness of ex situ germplasm collections, contextualize these results with research and breeding priorities, and use ecogeographic information to identify species with the potential to contribute desirable agronomic traits. The fourteen species that are considered the closest wild relatives of sweetpotato generally occur from the central United States to Argentina, with richness concentrated in Mesoamerica and in the extreme Southeastern United States. Currently designated species differ among themselves and in comparison to the crop in their adaptations to temperature, precipitation, and edaphic characteristics and most species also show considerable intraspecific variation. With 79% of species identified as high priority for further collecting, we find that these crop genetic resources are highly under-represented in ex situ conservation systems and thus their availability to breeders and researchers is inadequate. We prioritize taxa and specific geographic locations for further collecting in order to improve the completeness of germplasm collections. In concert with enhanced conservation of sweetpotato wild relatives, further taxonomic research, characterization and evaluation of germplasm, and improving the techniques to overcome barriers to introgression with wild species are needed in order to mobilize these genetic resources for crop breeding.
Replication Data for: Marando Bora Project Baseline Survey
The Marando Bora (MB) project was implemented by the International Potato Center (CIP) in collaboration with 12 other partners in the Lake Zone region, Tanzania from October 2009 to June 2012. The project’s aim was to improve the quantity and quality of food for 150,000 Tanzanian households in the Lake Zone region by strengthening the availability and accessibility of quality planting material of improved and local sweetpotato varieties. The specific objectives of the MB project were to provide: i) high yielding and consumer preferred sweetpotato varieties; ii) orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OSFP) varieties with adequate supplies of beta-carotene to tackle Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) problem; iii) disease free planting materials for increased root and vine production; iv) timely access to vines for early planting; v) training for decentralized vines multipliers (DVMs) and farmers about vines conservation and maintenance of vine quality; vi) communication products to enhance awareness about benefits of using disease-free vines, benefits of OFSP varieties, and sources of quality sweetpotato vines. The MB project’s theory of change (TOC) was to improve food and nutrition security and enhance farmers’ incomes by implementing several activities including production and distribution of clean planting materials; training farmers’ about vines conservation; training of farmer multipliers and provision of improved white and orange fleshed SP varieties among others.
The Marando Bora Baseline survey objective was to address the main problems associated with sweetpotato vine availability and distribution by developing a sustainable seed system for sweetpotato. It used voucher and mass distribution strategies to address these problems. Using decentralized vine multipliers in the communities and mass distribution, the project ensured timely access to planting vines at the beginning of the rainy season.
Reaching end users (REU) socioeconomic endline survey 2009, Mozambique
Between 2006 and 2009, HarvestPlus conducted the Reaching End Users (REU) project in Mozambique and Uganda. The objective of the project was to distribute the first biofortified crop with high micronutrient density, provitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP). HarvestPlus selected regions of Uganda and Mozambique for this initiative because in these areas of each country white- or yellow-fleshed sweet potato is either the staple crop (Uganda) or an important secondary source of starch (Mozambique). The project strategy involved conducting a coordinated three-pronged approach to encourage adoption and consumption of OFSP including: (i) vine distribution and agricultural extension (seed systems), (ii) demand creation through nutrition trainings; and (iii) trainings in marketing and product development. HarvestPlus planned to reach over 10,000 farming household in each country, but also wanted to use this opportunity to learn about how the impact and cost-effectiveness of integrated dissemination strategies of differing intensity. The data were used for a rigorous impact evaluation and cost-effectiveness study of the REU OFSP project conducted from 2006-2009 in Mozambique, and the 2012 data were collected to understand how adoption and dietary intakes had evolved.
HarvestPlus collaborated with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Potato Center (CIP) to design and implement a randomized-controlled evaluation during the implementation of the REU project in each country. The point of intervention for the REU project included local farmer groups in Uganda and more loosely organized community or church-based groups in Mozambique. Before the intervention, these groups were sampled for the evaluation study and group members with young children were randomly selected for the evaluation household sample. Baseline surveys were conducted in the sampled church groups in Mozambique in 2006. The baseline included a detailed socioeconomic and agricultural survey as well as a nutrition and dietary intake survey. The dietary intake survey included 24-hour dietary recall interviews to measure intakes of vitamin A and other nutrients of target groups of young children and women in the sample. As a basis for identifying impact through the evaluation, sampled farmer groups or church groups were randomly assigned into one of three intervention arms: the intensive 2-3 year intervention (Model 1), a less intensive intervention with reduced activity after the first year (Model 2) and a Control group. In 2009, endline surveys were conducted in Mozambique, and in 2012, the communities were visited a third time, three years after the intervention had left.