Orange sweet potato not a “magic bullet”

They are no magic bullet, but next to a more diverse diet, they may prove to be the most cost-effective approach to reducing hidden hunger.

This statement may well be something of a breakthrough, which is why I think it deserves some prominence here. In the battle against malnutrition there has long been a general needless opposition among supplements, biofortification (by genetic engineering and conventional breeding) and dietary diversity. Each has its place, and if we are highly biased towards dietary diversity, it is because we think it is the most sustainable option, with plenty of spin-off benefits. To hear IFPRI and HarvestPlus suggest that orange-fleshed sweet potatoes may actually be less cost effective than dietary diversity in fighting malnutrition is music indeed.

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