1. Senior Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation Specialist, HarvestPlus
The Role Of Biofortification As Part Of More Diverse Diets In Africa Progress, Challenges, And Opportunities
Bho Mudyahoto
Senior Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation Specialist, HarvestPlus
Sharing highlights from chapter 7 of the ATOR 2015 report
ReSAKSS 2016 Conference | October 20, 2016 | Accra

2. Presentation Outline Introduction Current Evidence Challenges
Opportunities
Key Messages
Point 2 - : breeding; growing; eating

3. Micronutrient Deficiency
Affects 2 billion people worldwide (i.e. 1 in 3) (FAO 2013)
Contributes to the global disease burden
Poor quality diets is one of the major causes
High intake of starchy staple foods
(e.g. rice, maize, cassava)
Low intake of micronutrient-rich foods
(e.g. vegetables, legumes, animal source foods)
High prevalence of micronutrient deficiency Africa
Point 2 - by limiting proper cognitive development, impairing physical development, and increasing susceptibility to infectious diseases.
Segway  In recent years, the global challenge of reducing hidden hunger, and hence improving related health outcomes, through agricultural interventions has received much attention. One solution is biofortification.

4. Global Micronutrient Deficiency
This map details worldwide severity of the most common micronutrient deficiencies—vitamin A, anemia, and zinc—using World Health Organization (WHO) children under 5 prevalence data. Severity was coded using a 3-point weighting system based on levels of public health significance cut-offs (low, moderate, and high). HH is highly prevalent in SSA; Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) is the average daily nutrient intake level estimated to meet the requirements of half of the healthy individuals in a group.

5. Fighting Micronutrient Deficiency
Supplementation
Fortification
Biofortification is a complementary tool to existing nutrition interventions.
Evidence by (Qaim, Stein, and Meenakshi 2007; Meenakshi et al. 2012; Birol et al. 2014; Fiedler and Lividini 2014) show that biofortification is cost-effective and sustainable; most suitable for the poor rural communities with limited dietary diversity  eat staples with low micronutrient levels and have low access to fortified foods: .
Biofortification
Dietary diversity

6. B I O F O R T I F I C A T I O N
Biofortification is a process of increasing the density of nutrients e.g. vitamins and minerals in a crop through plant breeding or agronomic practices, so that the biofortified crops, when consumed regularly, will generate measurable improvement in vitamin and mineral nutritional status.
Generic: Our work: HarvestPlus and its partners are developing and promoting biofortified staple crops through plant breeding to increase the density of vitamins and minerals, sufficient to impact human health and nutrition. [All HarvestPlus crops released by governments to date are conventionally bred.]
Focus on iron, zinc and vitamin A

7. 2016 World Food Prize Laureate
It all started with…
When consumed, can the increase in nutrient levels make a measurable and significant impact on human nutrition?
Can conventional breeding add extra nutrients in the crops without reducing yields? 2 1
Are farmers willing to grow and are consumers willing to eat biofortified crops? 3
Howdy’s three questions
Dr. Howarth Bouis
2016 World Food Prize Laureate

8. After several years of research & delivery…..
Conventional breeding
can add extra
nutrients in crops
without reducing
yields
Extra micronutrients in
biofortified crops can
significantly improve
micronutrient status
of consumers
Yes, we now know that
biofortification is
feasible & effective!
Farmers are willing
to grow and consumers
are willing to eat
biofortified crops
and their products

9. Current Evidence: Breeding of Biofortified Crops

10. Biofortified Crops in Africa
Vitamin A
Cassava
Nigeria & DRC
(2011)
Vitamin A
Maize
Zambia
(2012)
Iron
Beans
Rwanda & DRC
(2012)
Vitamin A
Sweet Potato
Uganda
(2007)
By the end of 2015 over 1.5 million farming households in these countries were reached directly with biofortified planting material

11. Breeding, Testing & Release of Varieties
HarvestPlus/CG/NARS  develop, test & release
NARS release and keep improving nutrient levels and other production traits
Biofortified germplasm  public goods to governments
Over 20 African countries are now developing, testing & releasing several biofortified crop varieties
Name some of the CG (IITA, CIAT, CIMMYT, CIP) centers and NARS (ZARI, NARO, RAB-ISAR) that HarvestPlus is working with
Biofortified germplasm and nutrient-rich breeding lines are developed and made available as public goods to governments
How far has biofortification spread in Africa?

12. Globally, Vitamin A orange sweet potatoes (OSP), iron beans, iron pearl millet, Vitamin A yellow cassava, Vitamin A orange maize, zinc rice, and zinc wheat have been officially released and under production in more than 30 countries and are being tested and grown in more than 50 countries; the key signify biofortified crop and its varietal development pipeline status!

13. Status of biofortified varieties in Africa
crop varieties
Iron beans
Yellow cassava
Orange maize
Orange sweet potatoes
Number of countries tested in 6 8 10
> 14
Number of countries released in 5 7
Number of varieties released 28 31
> 90
OSP  extensively developed
Varietal release  several varieties  variety of trait combination to suit different environments  wide choices by farmers and consumers
More varieties being developed
Source: HarvestPlus (2016)

14. Current Evidence: Nutrition
When consumed regularly and in sufficient quantities biofortified crops can deliver significant % of EAR for iron, zinc, or vitamin A (Li et al. 2010; La Frano et al. 2013; Rosado et al. 2009; Cercamondi et al. 2013)
Efficacy trials for vitamin A crops and iron beans provide good evidence that biofortification improves micronutrient status among target populations
9.5% reduction in prevalence of low serum retinol in women and children due to significant intake of OSP (Hotz et al., 2012)
OSP accounted for more than half of total vitamin A intake – 53% in Uganda and 78% in Mozambique (Hotz et al., 2012)
Randomized controlled trials – proof of concept
These results reveal that biofortification could improve child health (Jones and de Brauw 2015).
In order to complete the effectiveness evidence on all three micronutrients, an iron bean effectiveness study is currently being implemented in Guatemala, and there are plans to conduct a zinc wheat effectiveness study in Pakistan in the coming years.

15. Current Evidence: Reach, Adoption & Consumption

16. Number of households reached in Africa (‘000)
Crop/country 
2012
2013
2014
2015
Vit A cassava, Nigeria
106
360
528
Vit A SP, Uganda 33 76
107
132
Iron beans, Uganda 29 69 43 37
Iron beans, Rwanda
105
609
332
453
Iron beans, DR Congo 60
241
128
175
Vit A cassava, DRC 25 75
180
Vit A maize, Zambia 11
104
110
Total
227
1,137
1,149
1,634
Number of HHR steadily increasing over time; #s are an under estimation because they do not include indirect reach; 2nd and 3rd crop coming up for DRC, Rwanda, Nigeria, Uganda*;

17. Adoption: Socio-Economic Evidence (1)
Orange-Fleshed Sweet potato (OSP) Effectiveness Study in Uganda and Mozambique (de Brauw et al., 2010)
61% (Uganda) and 68% (Mozambique) adoption rate of OSP
Farmers increased % share of OSP in total sweet potato cultivated area and consumers substituted non-OSP varieties for OSP varieties
Intervention cost about US$15–20 per DALY saved  highly cost- effective
Vit A Cassava Consumer Acceptance in Nigeria (Oparinde et al., 2014)
Information on nutritional benefits positivehas an effect on level of acceptance; farmers preferred gari made with vitamin A cassava versus local white gari
How did we define adoption here? DALY……….Disability Adjusted Life Year ………measure of overall disease burden…….number of years lost due to ill-health or disability….
Refer to Zambia VAM: Chibwe et al noted that farmers appreciated the yield, cob size, and cob-filling characteristics of the new varieties, as well as the taste and aroma of orange maize preparations.; in Uganda Farmers liked the sensory attributes & production traits of OSP

18. Adoption: Socio-Economic Evidence (2)
High Iron Beans (HIBs) Impact Assessment Study in Rwanda
28% HIB adoption since 2010 ≈ Half a million HHs
54% continuous or intermittent adopters
Increase in area under HIB over time
12% of total bean output in SB 2015 was HIB
Social networks play a major role in diffusion
41% received first planting material from friend or neighbor
(Asare-Marfo et al., 2016)
Rwanda in 2012 among the first adopters/growers of iron bean varieties (Murekezi et al. 2013); liked the various consumption and production attributes AND 80% would like to plant the HIB in subsequent seasons; information and awareness campaigns are crucial for increased adoption (Chowdhury et al. 2011)

19. Challenges
High phytate content in crops being developed for high iron or zinc  interfere with their absorption
β-carotene levels vs DM content in OSP & VAC
Invisible trait crops  iron and zinc:
Adulteration/falsification along the value chain
Barriers to scale-up
Seed production is a constraint in many countries
Low access by the poor
Seed companies not interested in root & tuber crops
Seed quality control
Refer to the following solutions: Lowering the phytate content of the edible portions of these crops without sacrificing plant health is a proven concept; however, further development is necessary, particularly for legumes; Measures and mechanisms to identify and protect authentic biofortified seed and grain  XRF machines; the importance varietal targeting  by agro-ecological zones for OSP varieties in Uganda; Edutainment:  engender demand iron beans song by Rwanda musicians  Nollywood film
The use of “ambassadors” in the form of community, religious, and school leaders as well as health workers. HarvestPlus and partners work with these “champions”;

20. Opportunities for Scaling Up Biofortification
Wide range of varieties available
Success of the 2nd Global Conference on Biofortification Kigali Declaration
Increased stakeholder interest in Biofortification
HarvestPlus developed an online, interactive BPI tool  a global map
Biofortification Priority Index (BPI) assisting investors
BPI is a COUNTRY-CROP-MN specific tool that ranks each of the seven staple crops according to their suitability for investment in biofortification in 127 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC); BPI calculated by using secondary, country-level data compiled from various sources e.g. FAO, WHO, USDA  3 Sub-indices used to develop BPI (1) The production sub-index (2) The consumption sub-index (3) The micronutrient sub-index

21. BPI for Vit A Maize & HIB
Source: Asare-Marfo et al. (2013)

22. Opportunities for Mainstreaming Biofortification
Integration of biofortification
Crop development programs
National regional & international policies & strategies
International standards  Codex Alimentarius
Mainstreaming of biofortification by CG & NARS
License seed companies to produce & market
A critical mass of partners  WVI, WFP
Engaging partners to ensure enabling environment  CAADP, SUN
Facilitate and strengthen international trade
Integration into international and national crop development programs, crop and food value chains, and national policies and standards.
2014 Kigali Bangladesh, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Uganda highlighted the role of biofortification in their national strategies to end malnutrition by 2025; Panama and Colombia; Rwanda Nutrition Action Plan, the Zambia National Nutrition Strategy, the Nigeria Micronutrient Deficiency Control Guidelines and Agricultural Transformation Agenda

23. Key Messages
Evidence demonstrates that Biofortification is feasible & effective
Conventional breeding can add extra nutrients
Farmers are willing to grow, consumers willing to eat
Added micronutrients can improve nutritional status of consumers
Varietal development, dissemination and utilization challenges exist but are surmountable
PPP at national, regional & global level are key to scaling up biofortification
BPI  useful tool to guide investment in biofortification
Mainstreaming biofortification at institutional, program, policy, regional and global level crucial for sustainability
Adoption rates of 28-68% have been recorded; some useful solutions are already on the shelf e.g. use of XRF machine

24. Thank you!