The Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative has announced that the ‘Excellence and Innovation in Sweetpotato: Communication for Change Award’ will take place for a second year in 2018.

The annual award was established last year with a generous endowment from Dr. Jan Low, a principle scientist at the International Potato Center and a recipient of the World Food Prize in 2016, to recognize the best sweetpotato communication product.

This year the prize will be awarded for the best communication product related to sweetpotato that was produced in 2017 (January-December), with the winner to receive an award of US$500. The award will be presented to the lead publisher and is intended to be split among the co-publishers.

Orange-fleshed sweetpotato is rich in Vitamin A which is essential for young bodies, improving their vision and protecting them from illness. Photo: H.Rutherford/CIP

The main criteria to assess submissions will be: originality, quality, appropriateness for key audiences, and the results of the communications product and/or its contribution towards the impact of your organization, program or project. The competition is open to all individuals who work under the Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI) umbrella. This includes staff from national agricultural research institutes, non-governmental organizations and private sector partners who work on sweetpotato, as well as staff from CGIAR Centers and Research Programs.

The deadline to receive applications is 15 August, 2018. The winner will be announced during the SPHI annual meeting, to be held 24-27 September 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya.

SPHI is a multi-partner, multi-donor initiative that seeks to reduce child malnutrition and improve smallholder incomes in 10 million African families by 2020 through the effective production and expanded use of sweetpotato.

More information including eligibility requirements, judging criteria and entry forms can be found here on the SPHI website.