To address the menace of malnutrition arising from micronutrient deficiency, policymakers and media practitioners must step up and support ongoing efforts to make biofortified crops available to resource-poor farmers, experts have said.
“We need to work together and ensure that these crops are widely disseminated to the farmers who need them most… policymakers therefore have a key role to play,” says Robert Asiedu, IITA Director for Western Africa during the HarvestPlus-organized media planning meeting in Ibadan.
Rampant in most of the developing world, micronutrient malnutrition or hidden hunger has assumed public health significance as it substantially affects the nutritional status, health, and development of a significant percentage of the population in many countries. These deficiencies compromise growth and accentuate morbidity, mortality, brain damage, and reduced cognitive and working capacities in both children and adults.
To tackle the menace, researchers are mainstreaming biofortification in breeding programs, and this has resulted in the development of improved varieties.
In Nigeria the development and release of provitamin A cassava and maize provides hope for the vulnerable, and elsewhere biofortified sweetpotato, pearl millet, and beans are being disseminated for the same purpose.
Paul Ilona, Country Manager for HarvestPlus, Nigeria, explained that vitamin A deficiency is among the leading causes of preventable blindness in children, with more than four million pre-school aged children having visible eye damage due to vitamin A deficiency; and that close to 20 million pregnant women in developing countries including Nigeria, are vitamin A deficient.
Working with partners, Ilona and his team disseminated provitamin A cassava varieties to 106,000 households in 2013, and plans to exceed this number in 2014.
He called on the media to help disseminate messages that would raise awareness and spark greater adoption and consumption of the varieties in the communities.
Although there are other strategies to combat the scourge of vitamin A deficiency such as fortification, dietary diversity, and consumption of supplements (drugs), Ilona said that biofortification offered a better option when viewed in the context of sustainability and cost.
He explained that the adoption and consumption of vitamin A cassava was an effective strategy to reduce malnutrition especially in the rural areas.
For more information, please contact: Godwin Atser, Western and Central Africa Regional Communications Officer, g.atser@cgiar.org
About IITA www.iita.org
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research for development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
Contributed by
Recent stories