J.V. Meenakshi

Biofortification: a new tool to reduce micronutrient malnutrition.

Background The density of minerals and vitamins in food staples eaten widely by the poor may be increased either through conventional plant breeding or through the use of transgenic techniques, a process known as biofortification. Objective HarvestPlus seeks to develop and distribute varieties of food staples (rice, wheat, maize, cassava, pearl millet, beans, and sweet potato) that are high in iron, zinc, and provitamin A through an interdisciplinary, global alliance of scientific institutions and implementing agencies in developing and developed countries. Methods In broad terms, three things must happen for biofortification to be successful. First, the breeding must be successful—high nutrient density must be combined with high yields and high profitability. Second, efficacy must be demonstrated—the micronutrient status of human subjects must be shown to improve when they are consuming the biofortified varieties as normally eaten. Thus, sufficient nutrients must be retained in processing and cooking and these nutrients must be sufficiently bioavailable. Third, the biofortified crops must be adopted by farmers and consumed by those suffering from micronutrient malnutrition in significant numbers. Results Biofortified crops offer a rural-based intervention that, by design, initially reaches these more remote populations, which comprise a majority of the under-nourished in many countries, and then penetrates to urban populations as production surpluses are marketed. In this way, biofortification complements fortification and supplementation programs, which work best in centralized urban areas and then reach into rural areas with good infrastructure. Conclusions Initial investments in agricultural research at a central location can generate high recurrent benefits at low cost as adapted, biofortified varieties become available in country after country across time at low recurrent costs.

Plant breeding to control zinc deficiency in India : How cost-effective is biofortification?

OBJECTIVE To estimate the potential impact of zinc biofortification of rice and wheat on public health in India and to evaluate its cost-effectiveness compared with alternative interventions and international standards. DESIGN The burden of zinc deficiency (ZnD) in India was expressed in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost. Current zinc intakes were derived from a nationally representative household food consumption survey (30-day recall) and attributed to household members based on adult equivalent weights. Using a dose-response function, projected increased zinc intakes from biofortified rice and wheat were translated into potential health improvements for pessimistic and optimistic scenarios. After estimating the costs of developing and disseminating the new varieties, the cost-effectiveness of zinc biofortification was calculated for both scenarios and compared with alternative micronutrient interventions and international reference standards. SETTING India. SUBJECTS Representative household survey (n = 119 554). RESULTS The calculated annual burden of ZnD in India is 2.8 million DALYs lost. Zinc biofortification of rice and wheat may reduce this burden by 20-51% and save 0.6-1.4 million DALYs each year, depending on the scenario. The cost for saving one DALY amounts to

Potential impacts of iron biofortification in India

US 0.73-7.31, which is very cost-effective by standards of the World Bank and the World Health Organization, and is lower than that of most other micronutrient interventions. CONCLUSIONS Not only may zinc biofortification save lives and prevent morbidity among millions of people, it may also help accommodate the need to economise and to allocate resources more efficiently. Further research is needed to corroborate these findings.

Biofortification, Crop Adoption and Health Information: Impact Pathways in Mozambique and Uganda

Iron deficiency is a widespread nutrition and health problem in developing countries, causing impairments in physical activity and cognitive development, as well as maternal mortality. Although food fortification and supplementation programmes have been effective in some countries, their overall success remains limited. Biofortification, that is, breeding food crops for higher micronutrient content, is a relatively new approach, which has been gaining international attention recently. We propose a methodology for ex ante impact assessment of iron biofortification, building on a disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) framework. This methodology is applied in an Indian context. Using a large and representative data set of household food consumption, the likely effects of iron-rich rice and wheat varieties are simulated for different target groups and regions. These varieties, which are being developed by an international public research consortium, based on conventional breeding techniques, might be ready for local distribution within the next couple of years. The results indicate sizeable potential health benefits. Depending on the underlying assumptions, the disease burden associated with iron deficiency could be reduced by 19-58%. Due to the relatively low institutional cost to reach the target population, the expected cost-effectiveness of iron biofortification compares favourably with other micronutrient interventions. Nonetheless, biofortification should not be seen as a substitute for other interventions. Each approach has its particular strengths, so they complement one another.

Biofortification of Staple Food Crops

&NA; Biofortification is a promising strategy to combat micronutrient malnutrition by promoting the adoption of staple food crops bred to be dense sources of specific micronutrients. Research on biofortified orange‐fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) has shown that the crop improves the vitamin A status of children who consume as little as 100 grams per day, and intensive promotion strategies improve dietary intakes of vitamin A in field experiments. However, little is known about OFSP adoption behavior, or about the role that nutrition information plays in promoting adoption and changing diet. We report evidence from similar randomized field experiments conducted in Mozambique and Uganda to promote OFSP. We further use causal mediation analysis to study impact pathways for adoption and dietary intakes. Despite different agronomic conditions and sweet potato cropping patterns across the two countries, the project had similar impacts, leading to adoption by 61% to 68% of farmers exposed to the project, and doubling vitamin A intakes in children. In both countries, two intervention models that differed in training intensity and cost had comparable impacts relative to the control group. The project increased the knowledge of key nutrition messages; however, added knowledge of nutrition messages appears to have minimally affected adoption, conditional on assumptions required for causal mediation analysis. Increased vitamin A intakes were largely explained by adoption and not by nutrition knowledge gained, though in Uganda a large share of impacts on vitamin A intakes cannot be explained by mediating variables. Similar impacts could likely have been achieved by reducing the scope of nutrition trainings.