Dr. Naalamle Amissah, Associate Director for Inclusion, Gender and Diversity and Team Lead for Tissue Culture at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), leads a project aimed at developing Frafra potato (Solenostemon rotundifolius) into a staple food crop in Ghana. 

Frafra potato, is an indigenous tuber crop with potential to address food insecurity and provide a source of income to producers and collectors of its tubers. In Northern Ghana, the tubers are a delicacy used to bridge the hunger gap during the lean season when major staple crops are not available for consumption. Its high nutrient levels and rich protein source makes it a prime candidate for advancement as a staple food crop. 

Dr. Amissah intimated that the key challenges to its production are the lack of improved varieties, insect pests and high postharvest losses. She stressed the need for crop improvement to focus on developing large tuber sizes, increased yields, and processing of tubers into value-added products to encourage its consumption and drive its production. It is imperative that a Frafra potato breeding platform is established to direct pre-breeding and future breeding efforts in the West Africa sub region. 

Realizing the potential of Frafra potato as a food security crop and its current challenges, Dr. Amissah led a team of scientist from the University of Ghana and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) led by Dr. Francis Kusi to determine morphological, agronomic and yield characteristics of Frafra Potato accessions from Northern Ghana and Burkina Faso. Ten top-performing accessions were selected and evaluated across three agro-ecological zones in addition to evaluation on farmer fields in the Upper East, Upper West and Eastern Regions. 

Their collaborative research has established Frafra potato accessions that can serve as the basis for the start of a breeding program. Five Frafra potato accessions have gone through inspection by the National Variety Release and Registration Committee (NVRRC) of Ghana and have been recommended for release. 

Dr. Amissah has indicated that to breed for improved varieties, a better understanding of the Frafra potato genetics is needed. Sequencing of its genome will be valuable for identifying the key genes controlling agronomic traits and in determining variability among the current populations. Application of new breeding technologies developed for other tuber crops will be leveraged with the aim of improving the overall agronomic profile of Frafra potato to develop it into a major food crop.