Dr Sunette Laurie is a Specialist Researcher at the ARC-VIMP. She holds an MSc in Agronomy and PhD in Plant Breeding from the University of Free State. Dr Laurie is Team Leader of the sweet potato biofortifcation and technology transfer program, which also incorporates a crop-based approach to address malnutrition through vegetable production and nutrition education. Research facets include the breeding of improved cultivars, cultivation research of sweet potato, tunnel production of a variety of vegetables, product development, postharvest studies, coordinating research trials, and training farmers in crop production. Dr Laurie is the author or co-author of 69 peer-reviewed scientific papers, two books, six technical reports, and two book chapters, and she has made 199 presentations at local and international scientific conferences. Dr Laurie has released 19 sweet potato cultivars