Bio-fortification
By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko
Ibadan, Nov. 14, 2019 (NAN) The Head of Nutrition, Harvestplus Ibadan, Dr Erick Boy-Gallego, on Thursday, said the intake of bio-fortified crops (vitamin A cassava, vitamin A maize and orange sweet potato) could tackle malnutrition, especially in children.
Boy-Gallego said this at the ongoing 2019 Nutritious Food Fair, organised by Harvestplus and partners at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Harvestplus and partners use a process called bio-fortification to conventionally breed
staple food crops that are richer in essential vitamins and minerals.
The nutritionist emphasised that bio-fortification was an evidence-based intervention to tackle micronutrient malnutrition in Nigeria and the world at large.
He added that bio-fortification, through researchers’ findings, was a complementary tool in the nutrition intervention’s toolkit to fight malnutrition.
According to him, bio-fortified vitamin A maize can provide 50 percent of daily vitamin A needs, while vitamin A cassava can provide 100 percent of daily vitamin A needs, and iron beans 80 percent of daily needs.
He added “Iron pearl millet improves the iron status and cognitive performance in adolescents, vitamin A maize improves night vision of children and orange sweet potato improves vitamin A deficiency status, while reducing diarrhoea in children.
“Bio-fortified crops are high-yielding and are virus resistant, unlike other ordinary crops that poor farmers grow and eat, as they requires minimum
behaviour change and causes no loss in crop yield.
“Bio-fortification is strongly endorsed as a nutritional strategy by African Development Bank and other agriculture and health stakeholders across the globe.”
NAN reports that Harvestplus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting bio-fortified food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals.
It also provides global leadership on bio-fortification evidence and technology, while its staple crops are naturally bio-fortified and not genetically modified. (NAN)
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Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde, Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu and ‘Wale Sadeeq