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Theme: Biofortification

Alleviating Hidden Hunger: Approaches that work

Despite abundant global food supplies, widespread malnutrition persists in many developing countries. Micronutrient malnutrition is particularly damaging but it can, with relative ease, be eradicated. Published in IAEA Bulletin Volume 45, No.1

Published in 2003, by Eileen Kennedy, Venkatesh Mannar, Venkatesh Iyengar, IAEA

Breeding Crops for Better Nutrition

Fortifying foods and providing supplements are the main strategies used to reduce hidden hunger. However, the reach of these interventions can be quite limited, especially in rural areas of developing countries where most of the poor live. Biofortification is a promising innovation that could help fight hidden hunger especially in rural areas. Published...

Published in 2009, by Yassir Islam, Christine Hotz, IAEA

Golden Rice's Lack of lustre

Addressing vitamin A deficiency without genetic engineering.

Published in 2010, by Greenpeace

HarvestPlus - Le haricot

Des millions d’Africains souffrent de carence en fer ou d’anémie ferriprive. En bas âge, pendant l’enfance et durant l’adolescence, cette carence entrave la croissance physique et l’endurance, le développement mental, ainsi que les capacités d’apprentissage. Pour plus de 300 millions de personnes, le haricot joue un rôle important dans le...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus - Le manioc

La carence en vitamine A accroît le risque de maladies telles que la diarrhée ou la rougeole et, dans les cas sévères, peut même provoquer la cécité chez les enfants. Le manioc est une culture facilement adaptable qui croît dans les sols peu fertiles et qui est capable de supporter les maladies et la sécheresse. C’est pourquoi il s’agit d’un...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus Bean Strategy

Millions of Africans suffer from iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia. During infancy, childhood, and adolescence, this deficiency impairs physical growth and endurance, mental development, and learning capacity. For more than 300 million people, beans are an important part of the diet, especially in regions of Africa and Meso- and South America. The...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus brochure générale

HarvestPlus est un Challenge Program du Groupe consultatif pour la recherche agricole internationale (CGIAR), une alliance au niveau mondial qui mobilise la science pour aider les populations pauvres. HarvestPlus estime qu’en augmentant la teneur en micronutriments des aliments de base consommés à chaque repas, les cultures biofortifiées pourraient...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus Cassava Strategy

Vitamin A deficiency increases the risk of diseases such as diarrhea and measles and, when severe, can even lead to blindness in children. Cassava is an adaptable crop that will grow on marginal soils and is able to withstand disease and drought. For these reasons, it is an important staple food for millions of people around the world, especially among...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus General Brochure

HarvestPlus is a Challenge Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a global alliance that mobilizes science to help the poor. HarvestPlus believes that by increasing the micronutrient content of staple foods consumed at each meal, biofortified crops can be an effective tool in reducing micronutrient malnutrition among poor people.

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus in Africa

In Africa nearly 200 million people are malnourished and at risk of disease, blindness, stunting, and other illnesses due to micronutrient malnutrition. Hunger and poverty in developing countries are closely linked; 75% percent of the world’s ultra poor (those living on less than 50 cents a day) are in Africa. Most poor Africans rely on diets consisting...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus in Asia

According to the World Food Programme, most of the world’s hungry people live in Asia where micronutrient deficiencies are especially serious. Millions of people are at risk of disease from zinc deficiency; children succumb to illness, and can even go blind, from lack of vitamin A; and huge numbers of women, children, and men are weakened by iron deficiency anemia.

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus Maize Strategy

Vitamin A deficiency is widely prevalent in Africa and afflicts millions of children, resulting in morbidity, blindness, and even death. For many millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa (and Latin America) maize is a subsistence crop. Maize is also one of the most genetically diverse crops in the world, and scientists have found varieties that have...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus Pearl Millet Strategy

Iron deficiency, which is widely prevalent in India, impairs children’s physical growth, mental development, and learning capacity. Anemia is often induced by iron deficiency, and when severe it can increase women’s risk of dying in childbirth. Pearl millet is an important cereal crop in arid and semi-arid tropical regions of Asia and Africa. It is a...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus Rice Strategy

Millions of poor people in Asia suffer from hidden hunger, which includes zinc deficiency. Zinc is required for more body functions than any other mineral and is essential for survival. Lack of zinc in the diet inhibits normal growth and development and restricts functioning of the immune system. Rice is the staple food for more than half the world’s...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus Sweet Potato Strategy

Children with vitamin A deficiency are at increased risk of severe morbidity from common childhood infections such as diarrheal diseases and measles. In cases of extreme deficiency, they can become blind. More than 95% of the world’s sweet potato crop is grown in developing countries, where it is the fifth most important food crop. African farmers produce...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

HarvestPlus Wheat Strategy

Zinc is vital to more body functions than any other mineral. In humans it is a component of more than 200 enzyme systems and is required for normal growth and maintenance of body tissues and of the immune system. Zinc, in short, is essential for survival. Wheat is the second most consumed cereal in Asia, after rice. In South Asia, where micronutrient...

Published in 2009, by HarvestPlus

Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies - a Joint Statement - Haiti

A call for support for appropriate infant and young child feeding and caution about unnecessary and potentially harmful donations and use of breast-milk substitutes. Statement given shortly after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Published in 2010, by WHO, UNICEF, WFP

SCN News No 12 - The Role of Care in Nutrition; Specific Deficiencies versus Growth Failure

The three main features of this issue of SCN News are: The role of care in nutrition - The causes of poor child nutrition are undergoing a substantial reassessment with recent understanding of the importance of care. Specific deficiencies versus growth failure - Two types of responses have been identified when a child's intake of an essential nutrient is...

Published in 1995, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition

SCN News No 36 - Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal and Child Undernutrition

This edition of the SCN News is of special relevance for a variety of reasons, not least of which being the recommendations agreed at the 35th Session held in Hanoi in March 2008, hosted by the Government of Vietnam. The 35th Session was aimed at understanding how to accelerate the reduction of maternal and child undernutrition, drawing on the recently...

Published in 2008, by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition