Empirical Investigation of the Effect of Biofortified Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato on Vitamin A Status of Children in Kebbi State

Vitamin A deficiency affects millions of Nigerian children, and biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) offers a dietary-based solution that can be integrated into smallholder farming and household diets as an affordable and sustainable intervention. This study empirically evaluated the effect of OFSP consumption on dietary vitamin A intake and biochemical vitamin A status indicators in children aged 6 to 59 months in Argungu LGA, Kebbi State, North West Nigeria. A randomised controlled feeding trial was conducted over 90 days with 100 children assigned to an OFSP-supplemented feeding group (n=50) and a standard diet control group (n=50). Baseline and end-line dietary recall, serum retinol, and modified relative dose response (MRDR) were measured. Results showed that OFSP consumption increased mean dietary provitamin A intake from 124 to 387 micrograms retinol activity equivalents per day in the intervention group. Serum retinol improved significantly in the intervention group (from 0.74 to 0.98 micromol L-1, p < 0.001) with no significant change in the control group. MRDR ratio improvement confirmed improved vitamin A stores in 74 percent of intervention group children. No adverse effects were observed. The study provides empirical evidence for OFSP efficacy under Sahelian dietary conditions and recommends scaled OFSP production and consumer education programmes through the Kebbi State Ministry of Agriculture and Health as complementary investments for addressing child vitamin A deficiency. Keywords: biofortified sweet potato, vitamin A, child nutrition, Kebbi State, OFSP feeding trial