POTATO FLAKES IN GUINEA-BISSAU US Potato Board, May, 2012

COUNTRY FACTS  Guinea-Bissau is a small West- African country, placed between Guinea-Conakry and Senegal  Surface: 36,125 km² (nearly 14,000 sq mi)  Population: 1,600,000 people  The country's per-capita gross domestic product is one of the lowest in the world – 1,144 US$ in 2011  The life expectancy for a child born in 2008 was 49 years  Guinea-Bissau has a history of political instability since gaining independence and no elected president has successfully served a full five- year term.  IPHD distributes the Potato Flakes within an USDA Program – FFE 024 for over than 105,000 children US Potato Board, May, 2012

WHAT POTATO FLAKES MEAN FOR GUINEA-BISSAU?  Many of the children come to school without eating anything  Part of them receive only a meal at their homes  Thus, the potato flakes offered within the school canteens completes the daily menu for the children together with the other products offered by the USDA program  The better food offers a better resistance against the deseases  Moreover, the meals encourage the children to attend the school regularly Within the frame of the current Food for Education Program developed in Guinea-Bissau, the last weighting of the children was done on 2,000 children from the total number of 105,262 beneficiaries. Following the results, the conclusions are: 57.2% present a normal weight 31,4% present a light lower weight (thus, being vulnerable for malaria and having difficulties in walking long distances to the school) 11.4% have a very low weight. US Potato Board, May, 2012

A study conducted by US Potato Board in Guinea-Bissau ( ) revealed a very stable and universal improvement in height and weight but as well as a good impact on the symptoms of diarrheia. The study was done on three groups: A group receiving dehy in the daily school meals A group receiving other products for school meals (Rice, Beans, Vegetable Oil, Tomato Paste, Iodized Salt) A control group The results show that the diarrhea was generally decreased in the dehy group while it was generally increased in the groups not receiving dehy. US Potato Board, May, 2012

Recipes Mainly, there are 4 recipes (with some variations):  Water, potato flakes, salt  Water, potato flakes, sugar  Water, potato flakes, concentrated juice (powder)  Water, potato flakes, salt, margarine and/or powder milk The proportion between potato flakes and water is about 1/4. The recipes depend on the means of each school in order to complete the needed ingredients. US Potato Board, May, 2012

There are several ways of serving the PF plate: as a breakfast, taking into account that almost all the children come to the school without eating anything before as an accompaniment of the rice or rice with pinto beans as the only plate There are schools serving it once or twice a week and other schools serving it in smaller portions on every day. Usually, it is served warm. US Potato Board, May, 2012

Source of ingredients The salt is provided by IPHD up to this school year. Only a small amount of schools have contributions from the parents in order to enrich the recipe with sugar and some other ingredients. Sometimes, some of the children bring with them sugar, margarine or powder milk and mix their own meals. A few schools succeed to provide supplementary ingredients by the mean of some other donors (i.e. congregations). The children bring the wood for cooking. US Potato Board, May, 2012

Cooking benefits It is the fastest plate used in the school canteens of IPHD. It takes about 30 minutes (depending on the quantity to be cooked) comparing to the rice and pinto beans which require a longer cooking time. It requires less wood for cooking. US Potato Board, May, 2012

Storage There are no problems regarding the storage. In the IPHD warehouse and as well as in the school storage rooms, the bags are kept separated by the floor by the mean of wooden pallets. The potato flakes are very well packed. The bags are resistant and there are not problems regarding the humidity. The only small inconvenient is that the 20 kilo bags need more storage space comparing to the other products due to the air kept inside. US Potato Board, May, 2012

Acceptance The children like very much the potato flakes. The plate is on the second position in the top of the preferences since the rice is considered as the national food. The children prefer it mostly in the sweet variant (with sugar or concentrated juice powder) but they like also the salted variants. US Potato Board, May, 2012