What is required to scale-up and sustain biofortification? Achievements, challenges and lessons from scaling-up Orange-Fleshed Sweetpotato in Sub-Sahara Africa

Abstract

This review presents results of the ex-post survey on Reaching Agents of Change (RAC) project, highlighting experiences, lessons, challenges and recommendations for scaling up orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). The RAC project was a three-and halfyear initiative (2011 and 2015), implemented in three primary countries, namely Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria, and to a lesser extent Ghana and Burkina Faso. The project advocated for policy change and increased investments to scale-up the orangefleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) to combat vitamin A deficiency. RAC planned to generate new investments totaling US$ 18 million for OFSP activities in the three years of its life but exceeded this target by 20%. RAC further expected to benefit at least 600,000 households directly and is currently on track, having reached 309,974 direct beneficiaries (of whom 20.3% were women). The RAC experience demonstrated a potential scaling-up model for biofortified crops based on the hypothesis that scaling up can be achieved through supportive policies (and investments), strong institutional capacities and appropriate innovative technologies working through a partnership of governmental and non-governmental organizations and civil society.

Keywords

• Capacity development
• Orange-fleshed sweetpotato
• Policy
• Scaling-up