Biofortification offers hope for Africa’s malnourished

Many people who live in Lira district in northern Uganda consider Perpetua Okao a farmer and a life saver—and it is easy to know why. Her neighbour’s son was malnourished and often sickly. But after feeding him a diet of vitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, the boy’s health improved dramatically in just a few days. Ms. Okao is among some 126,000 Ugandan farmers growing the orange-fleshed sweet potato, a new variety of potatoes enriched with vitamin A through biofortification.