IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i2p552-d477009.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Nouman Afzal

    (WWF Pakistan, Lahore 54600, Pakistan)

  • Stavros Afionis

    (School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
    School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK)

  • Lindsay C. Stringer

    (Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5NG, UK)

  • Nicola Favretto

    (School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

  • Marco Sakai

    (Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5NG, UK)

  • Paola Sakai

    (School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Nouman Afzal & Stavros Afionis & Lindsay C. Stringer & Nicola Favretto & Marco Sakai & Paola Sakai, 2021. "Benefits and Trade-Offs of Smallholder Sweet Potato Cultivation as a Pathway toward Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:552-:d:477009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/552/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/552/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johns, Timothy & Eyzaguirre, Pablo B., 2007. "Biofortification, biodiversity and diet: A search for complementary applications against poverty and malnutrition," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 1-24, February.
    2. Daryanto, Stefani & Wang, Lixin & Jacinthe, Pierre-André, 2016. "Drought effects on root and tuber production: A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 122-131.
    3. Walker, Thomas S., 2000. "Reasonable expectations on the prospects for documenting the impact of agricultural research on poverty in ex-post case studies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 515-530, August.
    4. Ellis, Frank & Bahiigwa, Godfrey, 2003. "Livelihoods and Rural Poverty Reduction in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 997-1013, June.
    5. Netsayi N. Mudege & Sarah Mayanja & Tawanda Muzhingi, 2017. "Women and men farmer perceptions of economic and health benefits of orange fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) in Phalombe and Chikwawa districts in Malawi," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(2), pages 387-400, April.
    6. Fulgence Dominick Waryoba & Li Jing, 2019. "Consumption Uncertainty Reduction Among Sweet Potato Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 11(1-2), pages 132-147, January.
    7. Casey Stevens & Norichika Kanie, 2016. "The transformative potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 393-396, June.
    8. Amigun, Bamikole & Musango, Josephine Kaviti & Stafford, William, 2011. "Biofuels and sustainability in Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 1360-1372, February.
    9. Christiaensen, Luc & Demery, Lionel & Kuhl, Jesper, 2011. "The (evolving) role of agriculture in poverty reduction--An empirical perspective," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 239-254, November.
    10. Mazuze, Feliciano M., 2007. "Analysis of Adoption of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potatoes: The Case Study of Gaza Province in Mozambique," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 55868, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    11. Sergio Gomez y Paloma & Laura Riesgo & Kamel Louhichi, 2020. "The Role of Smallholder Farms in Food and Nutrition Security [Le rôle des petites exploitations agricoles dans la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle]," Post-Print hal-02611174, HAL.
    12. Sergio Gomez y Paloma & Laura Riesgo & Kamel Louhichi (ed.), 2020. "The Role of Smallholder Farms in Food and Nutrition Security," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-42148-9, March.
    13. Schut, Marc & van Paassen, Annemarie & Leeuwis, Cees & Bos, Sandra & Leonardo, Wilson & Lerner, Anna, 2011. "Space for innovation for sustainable community-based biofuel production and use: Lessons learned for policy from Nhambita community, Mozambique," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5116-5128, September.
    14. Alwang, Jeffrey & Gotor, Elisabetta & Thiele, Graham & Hareau, Guy & Jaleta, Moti & Chamberlin, Jordan, 2019. "Pathways from research on improved staple crop germplasm to poverty reduction for smallholder farmers," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 16-27.
    15. Paola Sakai & Stavros Afionis & Nicola Favretto & Lindsay C. Stringer & Caroline Ward & Marco Sakai & Pedro Henrique Weirich Neto & Carlos Hugo Rocha & Jaime Alberti Gomes & Nátali Maidl de Souza & No, 2020. "Understanding the Implications of Alternative Bioenergy Crops to Support Smallholder Farmers in Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, March.
    16. Simler, Kenneth R., 2010. "The short-term impact of higher food prices on poverty in Uganda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5210, The World Bank.
    17. repec:fpr:2020br:19(11 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Ohajianya, D.O. & Ugochukwu, Albert I., 2011. "An Ordered Probit Model Analysis of Transaction costs and Market Participation by Sweet Potato Farmers in South Eastern Nigeria," 85th Annual Conference, April 18-20, 2011, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 108936, Agricultural Economics Society.
    19. Schmidt, Johannes & Leduc, Sylvain & Dotzauer, Erik & Schmid, Erwin, 2011. "Cost-effective policy instruments for greenhouse gas emission reduction and fossil fuel substitution through bioenergy production in Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3261-3280, June.
    20. Dalila Cervantes-Godoy & Joe Dewbre, 2010. "Economic Importance of Agriculture for Poverty Reduction," OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers 23, OECD Publishing.
    21. Castañeda, Andrés & Doan, Dung & Newhouse, David & Nguyen, Minh Cong & Uematsu, Hiroki & Azevedo, João Pedro, 2018. "A New Profile of the Global Poor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 250-267.
    22. TerAvest, Dan & Wandschneider, Philip R. & Thierfelder, Christian & Reganold, John P., 2019. "Diversifying conservation agriculture and conventional tillage cropping systems to improve the wellbeing of smallholder farmers in Malawi," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 23-35.
    23. Luc Christiaensen & Lionel Demery & Jesper Kühl, 2010. "The (Evolving) Role of Agriculture in Poverty Reduction," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-036, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    24. Mersie Ejigu, 2008. "Toward energy and livelihoods security in Africa: Smallholder production and processing of bioenergy as a strategy," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(2), pages 152-162, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Matli, Mankaba M.W & Senyolo, Mmapatla P. & Nhundu, Kenneth & Belete, Abenet, 2023. "Enhancing smallholder sweet potato production and reducing susceptibility to inefficiencies in South Africa," 2023 Seventh AAAE/60th AEASA Conference, September 18-21, 2023, Durban, South Africa 364838, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    2. Lin, Yu-Pin & Hsu, Chia- Chuan & Wuryandani, Shafira & Yang, Feng-An, 2024. "A decision-making framework based on rain-fed crop suitability, water scarcity, and economic benefits for determination multiple-crop rotation strategy," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tomich, Thomas P. & Lidder, Preetmoninder & Coley, Mariah & Gollin, Douglas & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Webb, Patrick & Carberry, Peter, 2019. "Food and agricultural innovation pathways for prosperity," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1-15.
    2. William Adzawla & Prem S. Bindraban & Williams K. Atakora & Oumou Camara & Amadou Gouzaye, 2022. "Economic Viability of Smallholder Agriculture in the Savannah and Transitional Zones of Ghana: Implications of Farm Output Commercialization and Farm Diversification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Urquía-Grande, Elena & Rubio-Alcocer, Antonio, 2015. "Agricultural infrastructure donation performance: Empirical evidence in rural Ethiopia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 245-254.
    4. Abro, Zewdu Ayalew & Alemu, Bamlaku Alamirew & Hanjra, Munir A., 2014. "Policies for Agricultural Productivity Growth and Poverty Reduction in Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 461-474.
    5. Urquía-Grande, Elena & Cano-Montero, Elisa I. & Pérez-Estébanez, Raquel & Chamizo-González, Julián, 2018. "Agriculture, nutrition and economics through training: A virtuous cycle in rural Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 707-716.
    6. Oluwatobi Joshua OLOFIN & Adeleke Gabriel AREMO (Ph.D) & Olabode Philp OLOFIN (Ph.D) & Oluwafemi Olawale OKUNADE, 2023. "Neighborhood Effect, Agricultural Development and Poverty Level in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(5), pages 705-726, May.
    7. Van, Germinal, 2020. "The Effect of Economic Sectors on the National Income of West African Economies from 2010 to 2019: A Multiple Regression Analysis," MPRA Paper 102417, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Satis Devkota & Mukti Upadhyay, 2013. "Agricultural Productivity and Poverty Reduction in Nepal," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(4), pages 732-746, November.
    9. Professor Never Assan, 2025. "Climate-Smart Smallholder Dairy Farming in the Global South: Integrating Gender Equity for Methane Mitigation," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(6), pages 5708-5724, June.
    10. Jha, Priyanka & Schmidt, Stefan, 2021. "State of biofuel development in sub-Saharan Africa: How far sustainable?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    11. Raymond Mugandani & Liboster Mwadzingeni & Paramu Mafongoya, 2021. "Contribution of Conservation Agriculture to Soil Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-11, September.
    12. Sabrine Dhahri & Anis Omri, 2020. "Are international capital flows really matter for achieving SDGs 1 and 2: ending poverty and hunger?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(4), pages 731-767, November.
    13. Wieck, Christine & Rudloff, Bettina & Heucher, Angela, "undated". "Agri-investments and public spending in selected vulnerable countries – will they contribute to reduce food insecurity?," Discussion Papers 163043, University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics.
    14. von Fintel, Dieter & Pienaar, Louw, 2016. "Small-Scale Farming and Food Security: The Enabling Role of Cash Transfers in South Africa's Former Homelands," IZA Discussion Papers 10377, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Sarah Ephrida Tione, 2020. "Agricultural Resources and Trade Strategies: Response to Falling Land-to-Labor Ratios in Malawi," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-32, December.
    16. Nichols, Carly E. & Kumari, Nidhi, 2025. "Centering the body in agricultural development: Bridging conceptualizations of bodies-as-mechanism and bodies-as-affective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).
    17. Shaeden Gokool & Maqsooda Mahomed & Richard Kunz & Alistair Clulow & Mbulisi Sibanda & Vivek Naiken & Kershani Chetty & Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, 2023. "Crop Monitoring in Smallholder Farms Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Facilitate Precision Agriculture Practices: A Scoping Review and Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    18. Thalía Turrén-Cruz & Miguel Ángel López Zavala, 2021. "Framework Proposal for Achieving Smart and Sustainable Societies (S 3 )," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
    19. Isaac Doku, 2022. "Are Developing Countries Using Climate Funds for Poverty Alleviation? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(6), pages 3026-3049, December.
    20. Swarna Sadasivam Vepa & Vinodhini Umashankar & R.V. Bhavani & Rohit Parasar, 2014. "Agriculture and Child Under-Nutrition in India: A State Level Analysis," Working Papers 2014-086, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:552-:d:477009. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.