Sweetpotato Action for Security & Health in Africa

Speaker Bio

Robert Mwanga- 2016 World Food Prize Laureate

Dr. Robert Mwanga, 2016 World Food Prize laureate, has over 30 years of experience working with research and development teams. In Uganda, he led collaborative multiple-trait improvement of sweetpotato, breeding for increased provitamin A-rich orange-fleshed cultivars to alleviate vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) under the Vitamin A for Africa (VITAA) initiative, Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA) project of the International Potato Center (CIP), and HarvestPlus. His work led to the release of 28 sweetpotato cultivars some of which have been widely promoted to combat VAD; using modern methods has improved the efficiency of sweetpotato breeding in SSA.