When I started growing orange-fleshed sweet potato the other farmers used to think I was silly, as it was a new and unknown crop and the farmers were not sure what to think about it.
The local farmers have seen my achievements over the last few years and so it has been easy to convince them of the benefits of farming orange-fleshed sweet potato, and now they want to learn from me and farm orange-fleshed sweet potato.
I decided to mobilize a group of farmers in the local area. We quickly realized that there was a strong interest in orange-fleshed sweet potato among the wider farming community and at the marketplace.
Since I started farming orange-fleshed sweet potato I have been able to make more money – I have been able to install electricity in my house. I bought a TV and my family and I can now watch the news each day and know what is happening in the world.
Scaling up Sweetpotato through Agriculture and Nutrition (SUSTAIN) is a five-year partnership (2013-2018) coordinated by the International Potato Center (CIP) and financed by the UK Department for International Development to spread the nutrition benefits of biofortified OFSP to more farmers.
The program aims to reach 1.2 million households with children under 5 years across four countries: Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Rwanda through mutually-reinforcing incentives to increase adoption of OFSP, consumption of Vitamin-A-rich foods, and diversification of OFSP utilization.