A large-scale intervention to introduce orange sweet potato in rural Mozambique increases vitamin A intakes among children and women

• Published in: British journal of nutrition Vol. 108; no. 1; pp. 163 - 176
• Main Authors: Hotz, Christine, Loechl, Cornelia, de Brauw, Alan, Eozenou, Patrick, Gilligan, Daniel, Moursi, Mourad, Munhaua, Bernardino, van Jaarsveld, Paul, Carriquiry, Alicia, Meenakshi, J. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 14.07.2012
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Color; Crops; Crops, Agricultural; Developing Countries; Diet; Diet Surveys; Dietary Surveys and Nutritional Epidemiology; Feeding Behavior; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Infant; Ipomoea batatas - chemistry; LDCs; Male; Mozambique; Nutrition; Nutritional Status; Potatoes; Risk reduction; Rural Population; Vegetables; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vitamin A; Vitamin A - administration & dosage; Vitamin A - chemistry; Vitamin A - pharmacology; Vitamin A Deficiency - diet therapy; Vitamin A Deficiency - prevention & control; Womens health; Mozambique; Randomised effectiveness studies; Vitamin A; Mozambique; Orange sweet potato; Human; Rural environment; Vitamin; Orange; Retinol; Potato; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Female; Child
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114511005174

β-Carotene-rich orange sweet potato (OSP) has been shown to improve vitamin A status of infants and young children in controlled efficacy trials and in a small-scale effectiveness study with intensive exposure to project inputs. However, the potential of this important food crop to reduce the risk of vitamin A deficiency in deficient populations will depend on the ability to distribute OSP vines and promote its household production and consumption on a large scale. In rural Mozambique, we conducted a randomised, controlled effectiveness study of a large-scale intervention to promote household-level OSP production and consumption using integrated agricultural, demand creation/behaviour change and marketing components. The following two intervention models were compared: a low-intensity (1 year) and a high-intensity (nearly 3 years) training model. The primary nutrition outcomes were OSP and vitamin A intakes by children 6–35 months and 3–5·5 years of age, and women. The intervention resulted in significant net increases in OSP intakes (model 1: 46, 48 and 97 g/d) and vitamin A intakes (model 1: 263, 254 and 492 μg retinol activity equivalents/d) among the younger children, older children and women, respectively. OSP accounted for 47–60 % of all sweet potato consumed and, among reference children, provided 80 % of total vitamin A intakes. A similar magnitude of impact was observed for both models, suggesting that group-level trainings in nutrition and agriculture could be limited to the first project year without compromising impact. Introduction of OSP to rural, sweet potato-producing communities in Mozambique is an effective way to improve vitamin A intakes.