African scientists are working with an alternative for baked products. The increases in wheat prices are primarily responsible.
African food systems are currently working in earnest to create initiatives that will diversify ingredients used in staple goods like bread and chapati by replacing up to 60% of wheat flour in Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
The key takeaway for other African nations is that sweet potatoes and potatoes are more than just crisis crops that can tide over the poorest for three months in between harvests. Instead, by avoiding an overreliance on a few key commodities, these core crops can serve as the foundation of a wholesome, diverse, and robust food system that can resist the shockwaves of market crises.
Sweet potatoes have a wide range of advantages, making them a resilient food source, but increasing output and realising its full potential will take more money and effort.
Thanks to cutting-edge technologies, potato and sweet potato can be preserved longer than other perishable goods and ingredients.
For instance, OFSP puree may be preserved for three to six months without refrigeration thanks to food technologists’ fine-tuned methods using inexpensive, locally accessible preservatives. This gives Africa a consistent and long-term source of food that may be used for its daily bread.
The International Potato Center (CIP) food scientists are closely collaborating with private sector partners in Kenya to develop the technology for making shelf-stable purée using microwave processing and aseptic packaging, which allows it to be stored for an extended period of time.
Just 125 grams of sweet potato provide the daily vitamin A needs of a child aged five or younger, and at least half of its content is retained after baking.
Additionally, sweet potato puree reduces the amount of fat and added sugar used in most recipes by 50% and 90%, respectively, making it a healthier choice that tackles the increase in diet-related sickness.
New methods for breeding, growing, and processing sweet potatoes also open up new prospects for farmers and agribusiness professionals. Because they mature quickly, can fill in the void between cereal harvests, and offer readily available and reasonably priced calories, staple crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes have traditionally been considered emergency crops for the poorest.
Euro-Ingredients Limited, OFSP puree has been successfully commercialized in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, and Burkina Faso and piloted in Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, The Gambia, South Africa, and Mozambique, creating new markets for farmers and new jobs for young people.
Organi Limited in Kenya, for example, buys from nearly 200 smallholder farmers of whom at least half are women while Tehilah Bakery and Value Addition Centre in Malawi buys fresh roots from more than 1,000 farmers in eight districts.