Kenya leads eastern africa with release of climate-adaptive and nutritious purple-fleshed sweetpotato variety

The International Potato Center (CIP) has collaborated with Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) to release the KC Sweet Purple variety of sweetpotato in an effort to tackle ongoing climate challenges facing farmers in Kenya. Originally known as TU-82-155, the purple-fleshed, climate-resistant and nutritious variety made its way to  Kenya from Ghana in 2018. It is well embraced by farmers in Ghana, where it was released by Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) as   ‘SARI-DIEDI’. Diedi means “collect and eat” in the Dagbanli language in Ghana, a phrase resonating with the joy of collecting and enjoying the harvest. Recognizing its immense potential in contributing to food and nutrition security, CIP and KALRO collaborated to bring this game-changing variety to Kenya, where it was then known as ‘TU-PURPLE’. To ensure its reliability and performance in different agroecologies, the purple-fleshed variety has undergone rigorous testing through the National Performance Trials, a collaborative effort by KALRO and CIP. After proving its exceptional qualities including taste, nutritional value, and high yield, this extraordinary variety has now been officially released in Kenya, under the name ‘KC-SWEET PURPLE’.