World Food Prize Awarded To Researchers Who Developed Vitamin A-Enriched Sweet Potato

NPR: How The Humble Orange Sweet Potato Won Researchers The World Food Prize
“…Those orange-fleshed sweet potatoes [for sale] along the road that day represented the triumph of a public health campaign to promote these varieties — which, unlike their white-fleshed counterparts, are rich in Vitamin A. Today, that campaign got some high-level recognition at a ceremony at the U.S. State Department. Four of the main people behind it will receive the 2016 World Food Prize. This prize is billed as the foremost international recognition of efforts to promote a sustainable and nutritious food supply…” (Charles, 6/28).

Reuters: Sweet potato experts win World Food Prize
“…Maria Andrade of Cape Verde, Robert Mwanga of Uganda and American Jan Low, who all are from the Lima, Peru-based International Potato Center, and American Howarth Bouis of the international research group HarvestPlus were honored in a ceremony at the U.S. State Department. Kenneth M. Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, called their work ‘a breakthrough achievement in developing and implementing biofortification’…” (Kushkush, 6/28).

VOA News: Researchers Earn World Food Prize for Combating Malnutrition
“…The team developed and distributed Vitamin A-enriched strains of the orange fleshed sweet potato that could better withstand conditions including drought and disease in Africa. They launched the multi-year effort in a bid to help combat the effects of Vitamin A deficiency, which can contribute to blindness and premature deaths in children and pregnant women…” (Dockins, 6/28).

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