Food scarcity drives surge in sweet potato cultivation in Plateau

S Sweet potato is among the leading root crops being cultivated in large quantities by farmers in Plateau.
Some farmers on Thursday in Jos said the current food scarcity and economic realities had forced many of them to cultivate the crop in large quantities.
In some communities, residents had also planted the crop on available spaces within their homes.
A farmer, Jonah Mahanan, said the increasing demand for sweet potatoes had forced most farmers in the state to cultivate the crop in large quantities.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria that the surge in demand for the crop is due to its enormous health benefits and disease resistance.
“Sweet potatoes have become a more viable and profitable option for farmers, especially in this hardship; the demand is also on the high side, and farmers earn more cultivating it,” he said.
Rhoda John, a farmer and primary school teacher, attributed the surge to the current economic realities in the country.
She argued that the inability of most Nigerians to afford yam and Irish potato had made sweet potato a suitable alternative.
Shaibu Khaya of the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Kuru, near Jos, maintained that aside from the health benefits, sweet potato is environmentally friendly, particularly with the current climate change being experienced.
Recently, the Justice Development and Peace Caritas (JDPC) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos had inaugurated a project aimed at boosting sweet potato production in Plateau.