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Journal ArticleDOI

Biofortification: Progress toward a more nourishing future

TL;DR: The results of efficacy and effectiveness studies, as well as recent successes in delivery, provide evidence that biofortification is a promising strategy for combating hidden hunger.
About: This article is published in Global Food Security.The article was published on 2013-03-01. It has received 332 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Biofortification.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed evidence of nutritional effects of programs in four sectors (agriculture, social safety nets, early child development, and schooling) and found that the nutritional effect of agricultural programs is inconclusive.

1,181 citations

01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: Evidence of nutritional effects of programmes in four sectors--agriculture, social safety nets, early child development, and schooling, is reviewed, finding that nutrition-sensitive programmes can help scale up nutrition-specific interventions and create a stimulating environment in which young children can grow and develop to their full potential.
Abstract: Acceleration of progress in nutrition will require eff ective, large-scale nutrition-sensitive programmes that address key underlying determinants of nutrition and enhance the coverage and eff ectiveness of nutrition-specifi c interventions. We reviewed evidence of nutritional eff ects of programmes in four sectors—agriculture, social safety nets, early child development, and schooling. The need for investments to boost agricultural production, keep prices low, and increase incomes is undisputable; targeted agricultural programmes can complement these investments by supporting livelihoods, enhancing access to diverse diets in poor populations, and fostering women’s empowerment. However, evidence of the nutritional eff ect of agricultural programmes is inconclusive—except for vitamin A from biofortifi cation of orange sweet potatoes—largely because of poor quality evaluations. Social safety nets currently provide cash or food transfers to a billion poor people and victims of shocks (eg, natural disasters). Individual studies show some eff ects on younger children exposed for longer durations, but weaknesses in nutrition goals and actions, and poor service quality probably explain the scarcity of overall nutritional benefi ts. Combined early child development and nutrition interventions show promising additive or synergistic eff ects on child development—and in some cases nutrition—and could lead to substantial gains in cost, effi ciency, and eff ectiveness, but these programmes have yet to be tested at scale. Parental schooling is strongly associated with child nutrition, and the eff ectiveness of emerging school nutrition education programmes needs to be tested. Many of the programmes reviewed were not originally designed to improve nutrition yet have great potential to do so. Ways to enhance programme nutrition-sensitivity include: improve targeting; use conditions to stimulate participation; strengthen nutrition goals and actions; and optimise women’s nutrition, time, physical and mental health, and empowerment. Nutrition-sensitive programmes can help scale up nutrition-specifi c interventions and create a stimulating environment in which young children can grow and develop to their full potential.

1,131 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Given the strength of the evidence, attention should now shift to an action-oriented agenda for scaling biofortification to improve nutrition globally and to reach one billion people by 2030.

626 citations


Cites background from "Biofortification: Progress toward a..."

  • ...This article extends the previously published theoretical framework for biofortification (Bouis et al., 2011b) and supporting evidence (Saltzman et al., 2013, 2015) to discuss delivery experiences and an action-oriented agenda for scaling biofortification to improve nutrition globally....

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  • ...The methodology for determining cost-effectiveness and specific case studies are discussed in greater depth elsewhere (Saltzman et al., 2013; Lividini and Fiedler, 2015; Asare-Marfo et al., 2013; de Brauw et al., 2015)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The biofortified food crops, especially cereals, legumes, vegetables, and fruits, are providing sufficient levels of micronutrients to targeted populations and hold a bright future to address the malnutrition challenge.
Abstract: Biofortification is an upcoming, promising, cost-effective, and sustainable technique of delivering micronutrients to a population that has limited access to diverse diets and other micronutrient interventions. Unfortunately, major food crops are poor sources of micronutrients required for normal human growth. The manuscript deals in all aspects of crop biofortification which includes-breeding, agronomy, and genetic modification. It tries to summarize all the biofortification research that has been conducted on different crops. Success stories of biofortification include lysine and tryptophan rich quality protein maize (World food prize 2000), Vitamin A rich orange sweet potato (World food prize 2016); generated by crop breeding, oleic acid, and stearidonic acid soybean enrichment; through genetic transformation and selenium, iodine, and zinc supplementation. The biofortified food crops, especially cereals, legumes, vegetables, and fruits, are providing sufficient levels of micronutrients to targeted populations. Although a greater emphasis is being laid on transgenic research, the success rate and acceptability of breeding is much higher. Besides the challenges biofortified crops hold a bright future to address the malnutrition challenge.

371 citations


Cites background from "Biofortification: Progress toward a..."

  • ...Producing nutritious and safe foods, sufficiently and sustainably, is the ultimate goal of biofortification (34)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Micronutrient fertilization is most effective in combination with NPK, organic fertilizers and improved crop varieties, highlighting the importance of integrated soil fertility management.

201 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Objective HarvestPlus seeks to develop and distribute varieties of food staples 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.
Abstract: BackgroundThe 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 pr...

671 citations


"Biofortification: Progress toward a..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Biofortified staple foods cannot deliver as high a level of minerals and vitamins per day as supplements or industrially fortified foods, but they can help by increasing the daily adequacy of micronutrient intakes among individuals throughout the lifecycle (Bouis et al., 2011)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Scientific evidence shows biofortification as being important in the armamentarium for controlling micronutrient deficiencies and the challenge is to get producers and consumers to accept biofortified crops and increase their intake of the target nutrients.
Abstract: Deficiencies of vitamin A, iron, and zinc affect over one-half of the world's population. Progress has been made to control micronutrient deficiencies through supplementation and food fortification, but new approaches are needed, especially to reach the rural poor. Biofortification (enriching the nutrition contribution of staple crops through plant breeding) is one option. Scientific evidence shows this is technically feasible without compromising agronomic productivity. Predictive cost-benefit analyses also support biofortification as being important in the armamentarium for controlling micronutrient deficiencies. The challenge is to get producers and consumers to accept biofortified crops and increase their intake of the target nutrients. With the advent of good seed systems, the development of markets and products, and demand creation, this can be achieved.

627 citations


"Biofortification: Progress toward a..." refers background in this paper

  • ...the dimensions of which are and cost-effective way (Bouis, 1999; Nestel et al., 2006; Pfeiffer and McClafferty, 2007; Qaim et al., 2007; Meenakshi et al., 2010)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For biofortification to succeed, product profiles developed by plant breeders must be driven by nutrition research and impact objectives and that nutrition research must understand that the probability of success for biofortified crops increases substantially when product concepts consider farmer adoption and, hence, agronomic superiority.
Abstract: Micronutrient malnutrition, the so-calied hidden hunger, affects more than one-half of the world's population, especially women and preschool children in developing countries. Despite past progress in controlling micronutrient decencies through supplementation and food fortification, new approaches are needed to expand the reach of food-based interventions. Biofortification a new approach that relies on conventional plant breeding and modern biotechnology to increase the micronutrient density of staple crops, holds great promis for improving the nutritional status and health of poor populations in both rural and urban areas of the developing world. HarvestPlus, a research program implemented with the international research institutes of the CGIAR, targets a multitude of crops that are a regular part of the slaple-based diets of the por and breeds them to be rich in iron, zinc, and provitamin A. This paper emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary research and addresses the key research issues and methodological considerations for success. The major activities to be undertaken are broadly grouped into research related to nutrition research and impact analysis, and research considerations for delivering biofortified crops to end-users effectively. The paper places particular emphasis on the activities of the plant breeding and genetics component of this multidisciplinary program. The authors argue that for biofortification to succeed, product profiles developed by plant breeders must be driven by nutrition research and impact objectives and that nutrition research must understand that the probability of success for biofortified crops increases substantially when product concepts consider farmer adoption and, hence, agronomic superiority.

557 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Integrated promotion of orange-fleshed sweet potato can complement other approaches and contribute to increases in vitamin A intake and serum retinol concentrations in young children in rural Mozambique and similar areas in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract: Vitamin A deficiency is widespread and has severe consequences for young children in the developing world. Food-based approaches may be an appropriate and sustainable complement to supplementation programs. Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is rich in b-carotene and is well accepted by young children. In an extremely resource poor area in Mozambique, the effectiveness of introduction of OFSP was assessed in an integrated agriculture and nutrition intervention, which aimed to increase vitamin A intake and serum retinol concentrations in young children. The 2-y quasiexperimental intervention study followed households and children (n ¼ 741; mean age 13 mo at baseline) through 2 agricultural cycles. In y 2, 90% of intervention households produced OFSP, and mean OFSP plot size in intervention areas increased from 33 to 359 m 2 . Intervention children (n ¼ 498) were more likely than control children (n ¼ 243) to eat OFSP 3 or more d in the last wk (55% vs. 8%, P , 0.001) and their vitamin A intakes were much higher than those of control children (median 426 vs. 56 mg retinol activity equivalent, P , 0.001). Controlling for infection/inflammation and other confounders, mean serum retinol increased by 0.100 mmol/L (SEM 0.024; P , 0.001) in intervention children and did not increase significantly in control subjects. Integrated promotion of OFSP can complement other approaches and contribute to increases in vitamin A intake and serum retinol concentrations in young children in rural Mozambique and similar areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. J. Nutr. 137: 1320‐1327, 2007.

536 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Consumption of OFSP improves vitamin A status and can play a significant role in developing countries as a viable long-term food-based strategy for controlling vitamin A deficiency in children.

384 citations