Benefits and Trade-Offs of Smallholder Sweet Potato Cultivation as a Pathway toward Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will shape national development plans up to 2030. SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger) and 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) are particularly crucial for the poor, given they target the basic human needs for development and fundamental human rights. The majority of poor and malnourished people in the developing world live in rural areas and engage in farming as a key part of their livelihoods, with food and agriculture at the heart of their development concerns. Crops that can provide both food and energy without detrimental impacts on soil or water resources can be particularly beneficial for local development and smallholder farmers. Sweet potato, in particular, is starting to attract growing attention from researchers and policymakers as it has the potential to address these global problems and promote a sustainable society. We systematically review the literature to assess how sweet potato can support smallholder farmers to make progress towards the SDGs. We find that sweet potato has important untapped potential to advance progress, particularly linked to its versatility as a crop and its multiple end-uses. However, further research is paramount in order to better recognise and harness its potential to address the issues of food, nutrition and energy security in the context of a changing global climate. Further investigation is also needed into the trade-offs that occur in the use of sweet potato to support progress towards the SDGs.

Sustainable sweetpotato production in the United States: Current status, challenges, and opportunities

“…In 2014, Masango (2014) published a master's thesis on WUE in orange-fleshed sweetpotato in South Africa under rain shelters with different irrigation regimes and stated WU ranged from 298 to 478 mm. WUE ranged from 64.8 to 97.5 kg•ha −1 •mm −1 , while Afzal et al (2021) put WU at 500 mm on average worldwide. Gomes and Carr (2003a) measured WU from well-watered crops as 800 mm during the rains and 550 mm during the dry season, while the WU for the rain-fed crops was 360 and 180 mm, respectively.…”

“…WUE ranged from 64.8 to 97.5 kg·ha −1 ·mm −1 , while Afzal et al. (2021) put WU at 500 mm on average worldwide. Gomes and Carr (2003a) measured WU from well‐watered crops as 800 mm during the rains and 550 mm during the dry season, while the WU for the rain‐fed crops was 360 and 180 mm, respectively.…”

Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) Phenotypes: From Agroindustry to Health Effects

“…Roots and tubers (R&T) are the third most important food crop after cereals and legumes. R&T with the highest production value are cassava ( Manihot esculenta ), potato ( Solanum tuberosum ), yam ( Dioscorea alata ), and SP [ 42 ]. SP can grow in many soils and environmental conditions and demand few agricultural resources, and grow rapidly (3–5 months), depending on the genotype-by-environment interaction [ 14 , 43 , 44 ].…”

Growth, yield and quality of selected sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [l.] Lam.), lines under varying soil moisture conditions

“…Sweet potato is the seventh most important food crop in the world in terms of production. Due to its' outstanding nutritional value and production potential per unit time, it has a high potential to sustain the increasing global population and minimize malnutrition and hunger (Afzal et al, 2021). Sweet potatoes are considered among other major crops as plants that produce the most human-edible energy, as much as 194 MJ ha −1 day −1 (Burbano-Erazo., et al 2020).…”