gears and light bulb
2020
Globally, 30-40% of food is lost in the time between harvest and market - and this post-harvest food loss is exacerbated for a widely-cultivated, nutritionally dense staple crop, the humble sweet potato. Currently, limited long-term storage methods, sweet potato weevil infestations, and a lack of information about preservation innovations have led to widespread losses, at approximately 50-80% in certain regions. SweetPotential has identified three high-impact, high-feasibility solution directions to maximize gains in food security - streamlining a curing process and low-tech storage setup, introducing a low-cost, non-toxic weevil insecticide, and exploring value-added sweet potato transformations for increased longevity and consumption. Contact SweetPotential at ashwinitkonda@gmail.com.