Biofortification is a process of increasing the density of vitamins and minerals in a crop through plant breeding, transgenic techniques, or agronomic practices. Biofortified crops to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition. The long journey of biofortified foods foodstuff sa. Grafting fruit trees such as mango, avocado and citrus, propagating bamboo and other high value tree crops, help to halt deforestation. In the spring of 2016, the national academies of science, engineering and medicine nas issued a report confirming. Are the micronutrients in the biofortified food crops bioavailable absorbed and utilized when consumed by the target population groups. Harvestplus is growing staple crops saturated with essential nutrientsvitamin a, zinc, and ironto drive down rates of hidden hunger and developmental deficiencies. This paper brings together evidence on consumer acceptance of biofortified crops on 5 crops across 7 countries in africa, asia and latin america. Biofortification capitalizes on the consistent daily intake of food staples, thus indirectly targeting lowincome households who cannot afford a more diverse diet. If the progmo forces can succeed in continuing to hide their geneticengineered foods within the definition of biofortification and in using its appealing, naturalsounding name to sell their gmo foods, then consumers will be deceived on a worldwide scale.
Howarth bouis, jan low, margaret mcewan, sherry tanumihardjo 1 1 howarth bouis h. One step closer to a world free of hunger and malnutrition. Finally, multistakeholder platforms are crucial to scaling up the early uptake and success of. The second aim is to summarize the key findings of. Biofortification, the process of enriching the nutrient content of crops as they grow, provides a sustainable solution to malnutrition worldwide, because other methods, such as diversifying peoples diets or providing dietary supplements, have. Developing country consumers acceptance of biofortified foods 557. The focus was simply this to increase production of staples so no one would go hungry. Consumer acceptance is measured in terms of their sensory evaluation and economic valuation of biofortified varieties visavis. Vitamin, or micronutrient, malnutrition is a substantial contributor to disease. Improved seeds, such as qpm, improve nutrition for the rural. After fulfilling the households food needs, surplus biofortified crops make. The combination of high yielding and high nutrient crop varieties is referred as biofortified food crops.
Biofortification differs from ordinary fortification because it focuses on making plant foods more nutritious as the plants are growing, rather than having nutrients added to the foods when they are being processed. Enhanced awareness of and increased organizational action for biofortification among key stakeholder groups farmer organizations, marketers, processors, consumer groups 2. Two agronomically competitive hybrids with up to 90 percent of the iron target increment, developed at icrisat, have been identified as leads for secondwave commercializationrelease. With almost one person in four being undernourished in africa, what do recent experiences tell us about the role that biofortified foods can play in ensuring nutritious and safe food for the continent. A workshop hosted by harvestplus was held in april 2019 in new delhi to discuss ways to increase the scale, reach and impact of naturally nutritious biofortified foods in india by working in partnership with the food industry. Micronutrient malnutrition affects more than half of the world population, particularly in developing countries. Concept note for oneday workshop developing biofortified. 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 life cycle bouis et al. Jul 18, 2017 boosting health with biofortified foods.
Nutritionsensitive food system requires moving beyond traditional definition of food system to include policies for food availability and access at macro. 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. After fulfilling the households food needs, surplus biofortified crops make their way into. Emerging research from 8 human trials conducted in the past decade with staple food crops that have been biofortified by traditional plant breeding methods were presented in. Protests block advancement of super bananas and golden rice kenrick vezina june 23, 2014 these plantains could be engineered to fight vitamin a deficiency credit. Once improved lines are developed, nutritional efficacy studies and socioeconomic. Improving nutrition through biofortification biokemisk. Biofortification increasingly mainstreamed in national nutrition programs and. The poor eat large amounts of food staples to acquire dietary energy and to keep. Second, it is an agricultural intervention targeted to rural areas where more than seventyfive percent of the poor in developing countries live, and where access to supplements, fortified foods and other urbanbased interventions are limited. In the past 8 years, several studies were undertaken to understand consumers acceptance of foods made with biofortified staple crops.
Utilisation of provitamin a biofortified maize in ovambo. Proceedings of the workshop biofortified food working. Biofortification differs from ordinary fortification because it focuses on making plant foods more nutritious as the plants are growing, rather than having nutrients. Pdf micronutrient malnutrition is known to affect more than half of the worlds population and considered to. Mali and burkina faso the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies indicates that burkina faso and mali, like other west african countries located in the semiarid and arid zones, would benefit considerably from a biofortification of the.
There is no nutritional difference between gmos and their nongmo counterpart, unless the nutritional content of the gm crops has been intentionally modified, like high oleic soybeans, or biofortified crops, such as golden rice. Its the first human trial of a banana thats been genetically engineered to contain higher levels of beta carotene, the nutrient that our. Developing country consumers acceptance of biofortified foods core. To increase micronutrient consumption, many countries fortify their food with these vitamins. Jul 09, 2014 the long journey of biofortified foods. So conventional breeding ensures a faster route to getting biofortified crops into the hands of farmers. Feb 12, 2008 much of the worlds population relies on a few staple foods rice, maize, wheat, and cassava that are poor sources of essential nutrients.
Stronger plants, stronger science, and stronger communication. The objective of this study was to evalueted the iron absorption from biofortified beans with the use of stable isotopes to provide. Biofortified has many resources about biotechnology and other issues in food and agriculture, including infographics and the genetic engineering risk atlas. Progress 040104 to 033109 outputs progress report objectives from ad416 the overall focus of the project is to use modern breeding approaches to improve iron, zinc, and provitamin a content in six staple food crops important to the developing world maize, wheat, rice, bean, cassava, and sweet potato. Nowadays, more than 20 million people involved in farm households in developing countries are growing as well as consuming biofortified food crops 9,10. After the initial investment of developing fortified crops, no extra. Biofortified crops can be developed by traditional breeding methods, provided there is sufficient genetic variation in crop populations for the desired trait such as high protein content. Biofortification is the idea of breeding crops to increase their nutritional value. Aug 10, 2015 looking beyond golden rice, there are a large number of biofortified staple crops in development table 1. Processing can improve the bioavailability of carotenoids by disrupting the food matrix but could also result in carotenoid losses. Emerging research from 8 human trials conducted in the past decade with staple food crops that have been biofortified by traditional plant breeding methods were presented in this symposium.
Micronutrientenriched staple plant foods, either through traditional plant breeding methods or through molecular biological techniques, are powerful intervention tools that target the most vulnerable people resourcepoor women, infants and children 1,2. In this endeavour, different biofortification approaches such as agronomic or fertifortification, breeding, biotechnological, physiological, microbial etc. An estimated 32% of africas population is vitamin a deficient average consumption of sweet potato is 200ggyday estimated biofortification contribution. Unfortunately, major food crops are poor sources of micronutrients required for normal human growth. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the world food prize, often referred to as the nobel prize. The special advantage of biofortification as opposed to industrial fortification is that as the plants are bred to be rich in micronutrients, the investment.
Biofortification, the process of breeding nutrients into staple food crops, is a cost. Us foods online will walk you through the order exception process, so youll know exactly what products youll be receiving. This manual will be used by the palestinian ministry. Ore is a nonprofit organization working with development projects to improve the environmental, agricultural and economic conditions in haiti with fruit trees, improved seeds and marketing programs. While many biofortified crops are acceptable to farmers and consumers without further information about their nutrition traits, nutrition information helps ensure that the biofortified foods are integrated into child diets birol et al. A2z is proud to announce the completion of the manual of methods for determining micronutrients in fortified foods mainly wheat flour, which can also be applied to bread and other fortified foods such as cerealbased products, milk and edible oil. One sustainable agricultural approach to reducing micronutrient malnutrition among people at highest risk i. The proportion of children consuming foods rich in vitamin a increases with age, and. Evidence and lessons learned linking agriculture and nutrition. The success of biofortified staple crops depends on whether they are accepted and consumed by target populations.
The results of these studies are expected to aid in the development of biofortified crops that consumers like, as well as in the development of. Together, world vision and harvestplus wo rk to improve nutrition for hundreds of millions of people around the world who suffer from hidden hunger. Many of these crops are designed to supply other micronutrients, notably vitamin e in corn, canola, and soybeans, as well as increased iron availability in rice and corn. The use of conventional breeding techniques and biotechnology to improve the micronutrient quality of staple crops is a new strategy to address micro. Foode explore how food is transformed by humans, share recipes you can make, and discuss how science connects to society. Much of the worlds population relies on a few staple foods rice, maize, wheat, and cassava that are poor sources of essential nutrients.
This can be done either through conventional selective breeding, or through genetic engineering. Bfi is an independent educational taxexempt nonprofit organization incorporated in wisconsin. Signup to receive email updates with latest news, publications, research results, events, and policy seminars. In addition to providing energy in the form of calories, our food also supplies us with essential vitamins and other nutrients to keep us healthy. Gmo crops there is no nutritional difference between gmos and their nongmo counterpart, unless the nutritional content of the gm crops has been intentionally modified, like high oleic soybeans, or biofortified crops, such as golden rice in the spring of 2016, the national academies of science, engineering and medicine nas issued a report confirming the safety of gmos and also their. Future goals include quickening the pace of breeding to bring more biofortified crops to market. Improving nutrition through biofortification biokemisk forening. The plant science industry is working to improve public health worldwide.
Concerted international and national fortification and supplementation efforts to curb the scourge of micronutrient malnutrition are showing a positive impact, alas without reaching the goals set by international organizations. Does the biofortified crop contribute 30% ear of provitamin a, iron or zinc to target population. Could biofortified crops be the key to solving global hunger. Biofortified staple crops, when consumed regularly, will generate measureable improvements in human health and nutrition. The resulting biofortified food is known as golden rice. This was achieved through feeding indigenous chickens on the pabm with the expectation that the chicken carcass would have increased concentrations of vitamin a. Studies on iron biofortified maize linkedin slideshare. All biofortified varieties combine competitive grain yield and consumer.
Trade and institutions division 20072010 and a postdoctoral re search fellow. Pdf biofortified crops to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition. Jun 07, 2018 the resulting biofortified food is known as golden rice. Sep 20, 2017 in 2014, world vision participated in the 2nd global conference on biofortification getting nutritious foods to people in kigali, rwanda, and two colleagues were interviewed for the conference impressions video 3. Challenges for developing biofortified staple foods and determining their impact on micronutrient status christine hotz and bonnie mcclafferty abstract background. Chairperson haas,jere douglas minor member hoekenga,owen additional member miller,dennis d. This thesis is dedicated to god almighty, who gave me the strength, grace, favour and the opportunity to complete this work and to my wonderful husband, stevie odunitan wayas and our children, ayomide and oluwajomiloju. Scientific testing methods are usedsuchthat data collected. Therefore, biofortified foods are more easily integrated into the livelihoods and diets of the poor. May 15, 2015 the success of biofortified staple crops depends on whether they are accepted and consumed by target populations. Biofortification puts a solution in the hands of farmers, combining the. In 20, we achieved 501c3 taxexempt status as ein 455503492. Developing country consumers acceptance of biofortified.
World vision integrates biofortified nutritious crops into comprehensive food and nutrition security efforts in countries with high burdens of hunger and malnutrition, in partnership with harvestplus. Biofortification is not a panacea in itself but a very important complement to dietary variety and to supplementation. Nutritionsensitive food system requires moving beyond traditional definition of food system to include policies for food availability and access at macro level and also intrahousehold distribution and individual. Biofortification is an upcoming, promising, costeffective, and sustainable technique of delivering micronutrients to a population that has limited access to diverse diets and other micronutrient interventions.
Breeding strategies for biofortified staple plant foods to. Pdf the chapters presented in this book biofortification of food crops depict how agricultural technological interventions have true role in. These tools should be fully exploited by the nutrition and public health communities to combat micronutrient malnutrition. Biofortification, the process of enriching the nutrient content of crops as they grow, provides a sustainable solution to malnutrition worldwide, because other methods, such as diversifying peoples diets or providing dietary supplements, have proved. Boosting health with biofortified foods croplife international. Frontiers biofortified crops generated by breeding. Sustainable way to alleviate malnutrition to make awareness among the stakeholders and consumers. The upcoming 2016 world food prize will honour contributions in the field of biofortification. Developing country consumers acceptance of biofortified foods. The manuscript deals in all aspects of crop biofortification which includes.
Because foods that are high in micronutrients such as vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meats are expensive, resource. The premise of biofortification is that a diverse diet rich in micronutrients is out of reach of many of the worlds poor. Seventyfive percent of children age 623 months consumed foods rich in vitamin a during the day or night preceding the survey. Back in the 60s, the green revolution changed the way we looked at food, both in terms of growing and eating. Harvestplus is the global leader in biofortification and has been leading biofortification efforts in india for nearly a decade. In 2012, we incorporated in the state of wisconsin as a nonprofit corporation, changing our name from biofortified to biology fortified, inc. Staple crops biofortified with increased vitamins and. Biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than during processing of the crops into foods.
Harvestplus, she was a research fellow with ifpris markets. Crop breeders and scientists continue to learn more about how plants acquire, synthesize, and store micronutrients for our foods. I discovery, 20032008, highiron genotypes were used to initiate crosses to combine. Are biofortified staple food crops improving vitamin a and. The first step in the process is to analyze a group of specimens from the genebank at the international potato center cip to choose which ones have the highest concentrations of iron and zinc. Then, we cross those varieties with other specimens to get a new generation of biofortified potatoes to combat malnutrition. Mali and burkina faso siasm for biofortification am ong researchers once they were familiarized with the concept. Can biofortified foods help africa achieve food security. These are being multiplied by two commercial seed companies, nirmal seeds and shakti vardhak, for commercialization as tls in 2014.