Stories tagged: HarvestPlus

To End Hidden Hunger, Partnerships Across Sectors for Biofortification are Key

By Maggie Kamau-Biruri, Head of Partnerships at HarvestPlus. 

After more than a decade of steady decline, world hunger is again on the rise, according to a 2017 report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. As the need to address growing malnutrition rates grows more pressing, global leaders tackling this challenge must consider engaging in public, private and government partnerships to maximize the reach of critical nutrition programs.

One of the most common forms of malnutrition plaguing the world’s population is micronutrient deficiency, a phenomenon that occurs when people may have enough to eat but lack the micronutrients that are critical to living healthy and productive lives. Currently, micronutrient deficiency, also known as hidden hunger, affects more than 2 billion people worldwide.

The micronutrients most lacking in diets around the world include vitamin A, zinc and iron, according to the World Health Organization. Most frequently, these deficiencies lead to cognitive and physical stunting, blindness, lower resistance to disease, fatigue and even death.

Vitamin A deficiency alone affects 190 million preschool-aged children in rural areas around the globe, 5.2 million of which suffer from night blindness. Meanwhile, zinc deficiency claims the lives of roughly 116,000 a year.

Many African countries are currently endowed with the so-called demographic dividend, a large and growing cohort of young people, estimated at 200 million strong, according to the United Nations. This dividend, if well tapped, has strong potential to bring innovation and energy to Africa’s economy. However, the risk of losing this opportunity is real, with many of the children’s early years threatened by lack of micronutrients needed for body and brain development. Countries cannot take advantage of their demographic dividend if their children are stunted and unable to achieve their full potential.

Affected countries in Asia and Africa see an average annual GDP loss of 11 percent because of the effects of hidden hunger. And worldwide, malnutrition costs the global economy as much as $3.5 trillion USD, or $500 per individual, according to a report from the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition.

One proven solution that is playing an important role in addressing hidden hunger throughout the world is biofortification, an agricultural and technological innovation that draws on conventional breeding processes to boost the levels of micronutrients in staple crops.

The consumption of biofortified foods improves vitamin and mineral levels and is proven to reduce chronic diseases stemming from undernutrition, such as anemia and chronic diarrhea.

In one recent study, young women attending university in Rwanda who consumed daily meals that incorporated high-iron beans experienced complete reversal of their iron deficiency and significant improvement in their cognitive recall in just over four months. Similarly, iron-rich pearl millet reversed iron deficiency in school-aged children in India in only six months.

HarvestPlus, a nonprofit within the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, has played a critical role in developing and scaling out biofortified crops, in association with several international research partners. Today, more than 150 varieties of 12 nutrient-rich crops that meet farmers’ demands for yield, quality and climate tolerance are being grown in 60 countries.

Through coordinated efforts among dozens of research institutes, nonprofit organizations, private companies and local country partners, biofortified crops are currently being consumed by 26 million people and are steadily improving nutrition and health around the world. Still, too many people continue to suffer. To ensure that biofortified crops reach people in critical need of micronutrients, HarvestPlus set a goal to reach 1 billion people with biofortified crops by 2030.

Over the next 12 years, the jump from 30 million consumers to 1 billion will require a coordinated effort rooted in ongoing cooperation and the establishment of lasting partnerships between the private, public and government sectors. Luckily, this process is already underway.

Relationships with local country governments have played an instrumental role in reaching rural populations lacking access to foods rich in micronutrients. To date, several countries ranging from Bangladesh to Brazil have incorporated biofortification in their national strategies for reducing malnutrition.

There are now models for how these partnerships can successfully reach farmers and consumers. In Nigeria, the Youth Agripreneurs program works with farmers throughout Africa to provide biofortification training. The program, operated by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and supported by organizations such as HarvestPlus and others, was initially developed to combat high youth unemployment rates throughout Africa, a challenge that many expect to remain at the forefront in the continent over the next 30 years.

Through the Youth Agripreneur initiative, youth are trained in emerging agribusiness trends —simultaneously tackling unemployment, food and nutrition security. As youth continue to play a growing role in scaling out biofortification, it is likely that their generations will carry on the legacy of biofortification as a valuable tool in the effort to end hidden hunger and as a lucrative investment for farmers.

In addition to scaling out access to improved nutrition, the adoption of biofortification by national governments has given biofortification a stamp of approval as an effective solution to hidden hunger, which has encouraged new private sector investment in bringing biofortified food to more people.

Beyond governmental support, private sector engagement is a critical component of scaling out biofortification. By engaging private companies, such as those that produce seeds or food manufacturers, to use biofortified seeds or crops both farmers and consumers have increased access to biofortified seeds, crops and finished food products.

In Nigeria, biofortified food products have become readily available in supermarkets with the support of companies like Niji-Lukas, a local Nigerian corporation. Niji-Lukas produces vitamin A garri and vitamin A fufu, traditional Nigerian dishes that have been made with biofortified vitamin A maize and are now sold in grocery stores throughout the country. Further developing these types of partnerships will help bring biofortified seeds and products to new markets and expand the reach of biofortification.

National government and private sector support are vital to helping more farmers and consumers access biofortified seeds and crops, but partnerships within the public sector are integral to encouraging farmers to grow biofortified seeds and educating consumers on the benefits of eating biofortified crops. Success with farmers and consumers in these areas is often reliant on training and support schemes.

As the biofortification movement continues to spread it will be vital to engage the private sector as a critical player along the value chain. Working both with SMEs at country level, multinationals around the world while supporting farmers to view farming as a viable business. With more than 30 million people consuming crops across the globe, biofortification is well on its way to becoming a sure pathway to ending hidden hunger.

This post originally appeared on the Chicago Council’s Global Food for Thought blog.

 

Will Brazilian Millennials Look to a Future in the Fields?

The rural workforce in Brazil is getting younger, according to recent research. Meet the Gen-Y agripreneurs changing the face of farming in Brazil. By Raphael Marques da Silva, on behalf of HarvestPlus.

The economic crisis in Brazil has chosen millennials–the most apt generation for building the future of the country–as its main victim. According to a survey on Millennials and the Nem Nem Generation, conducted by the Standard Intelligence Center in partnership with MindMiners, about 25% of young people between 18 and 32 years old are unemployed.

At the same time, the average age of Brazilian farmers has fallen from 48 (2013) to 46 years old (2017), while the presence of women in the field increased by 7% according to another recent study. These farmers are also showing higher levels of education and tech savviness.

The study, managed by the Brazilian Rural Marketing and Agribusiness Association, highlighted that 21% of the interviewed farmers had an advanced degree, with an emphasis on agronomy (42%), veterinary medicine (9%) and corporate administration (7%).

And unlike farmers from previous generations, the majority are online and regularly use social media as a means of communication, with nearly all of them using Whatsapp (96%), while 67% interact with Facebook and 24% with YouTube.

These studies reflect the fact that Brazil is in the midst of a socio-economic change in which the rural communities, long seen as lagging behind, are catching up to the city.

Priorities among farmers are shifting too, with producers turning towards suppliers who are dedicated to environmentally sustainable practices. With a more engaged, connected and familiar rural environment, farmers in the countryside are increasingly foregoing large urban centers that are plagued by a cruel recession.

Data and trends gathered from these studies point to a Generation Y that is more sustainability-focused, ideological and even scientific. 

Breeding more vitamins and minerals in the semi-arid

Valdileia Silva, 21, is an agricultural technician and an example of the new female farmer. The daughter of rural producers from the city of Oeiras-PI, Valdileia works with her father, Luís Costa e Silva, on the family farm. She is enthusiastic about the innovative measures being implemented in their field, such as solar energy irrigation and cultivation of biofortified crop varieties. Solar irrigation has helped save energy and water, and biofortified crops – made available to family famers like Valdileia through the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and the HarvestPlus research program – have provided more minerals and vitamins.

Valdileia with one of her 11 brothers. (Photo: Tarcila Viana)

“Biofortified products have helped us generate income, since they are widely accepted in Oeiras and neighboring cities. By growing them, I can meet the demands of the Food Acquisition Program (PAA), created by the State to encourage family farming, and earn more money. I deliver to eight schools in Piauí and 14 in the municipality, not counting requests from other cities,” she says, proud of her role in contributing to the regional economy. She is also creating jobs: “I employ two young people on my property, both of whom came from agricultural school and were unemployed.”

Values from the field

For Joni Knapp, 20, a technician in agriculture and the environment, his experience in the city lacked “contact with the earth” and he never felt quite at home.

“The values ​​from the countryside, including the importance of health and knowing what you produce, encouraged me to return to the field,” says Joni, who lives in the municipality ​​of Campina das Missões, in Rio Grande do Sul.

His family business involves producing milk through a cooperative to then pasteurize the product. Combining sustainability and innovation comes naturally to the young farmer. His hunger for knowledge has kept him in touch with a cheese producer in the region who is experienced in enriching the product with micronutrients. According to Joni, dialogue with elders is fundamental, but it’s something that often does not exist in the field, leading young people to leave.

“Young people are hesitant to take over the family business because many believe in the myth that the city is a perfect place. Parents often do not interact with their children, and conflict with their parents, even more so than low wages, motivates many to move to urban centers.”

Sugar cane: National wealth

“Youth today do not have “jeitinho brasileiro” – a Brazilian expression for improvising solutions but also for avoiding or shaping rules – says Mauricio Palazzo, 32. “Today, we study the rules and we comply with them.”

An administrator and farmer, Mauricio is critical of the old “jeitinho” and believes the new generation who work in the fields has shown an increasing commitment to environmental and occupational safety concerns.

Mauricio is the secretary of Socicana – Guariba Sugar Suppliers Association in São Paulo, where 60% of the country’s sugarcane is cultivated.

“Sugarcane gives me a stable income compared to other crops, but I still plant soybeans and peanuts as a form of crop rotation.”

Mauricio Palazzo (Photo: Ewerton Alves/Neomarc)

Like any farmer, Maurício sees a lot of potential in agriculture. This optimism is crucial because volatility is part of the daily life of a farmer. Uncontrollable factors such as climate and pests can compromise an entire harvest, and it is up to the farmer to be resilient, and to return to the next season with more experience and better safety measures.

 

Lívia Gonçalves de Souza (Photo: Ewerton Alves/Neomarc)

Lívia Gonçalves de Souza, 32, is also part of the Sugar Suppliers Association. She graduated in agronomy and makes a good living planting sugarcane.

The rural entrepreneur who speaks with pride about the recognition she has already won among regional producers for having entered the market early and proven herself capable. She has also gained much credibility for her use of agricultural practices like precision agriculture.

“Today, your technical degree is of no use if you’re not a good manager of your property,” she said.

Agriculture-Livestock Integration in the Amazon

“I completed two years of study in Administration before returning to the countryside,” says João Ricardo Carvalho, who runs two farms in Pará, in the north of Brazil. “I always participate in courses and lectures, because the intention is to strengthen our Integrated Crop-Livestock systems to produce more with less space.”

The technique diminishes the impact on the environment by taking advantage of the same area at different times of the year though rotation or succession. The practice enhances the preservation of natural resources and increases the potential for greater stability and income.

Research corporations in Brazil such as Embrapa have proven that this model contributes to improving soil quality, diversifying income alternatives. Diversifying means of production also increases local food security.

Like other young farmers, João is continuously trying to recast the image of a farmer in Brazil. It is with this same sentiment that he has been rebuilding Fazenda Janaína, his property located in Pará,

Looking forward

Brazil’s cultural diversity is reflected in both the city and the countryside. Optimism is the word of the moment to characterize the agricultural sector, with the export of commodities being the main activity responsible for giving “oxygen” to the economy. The countryside is getting younger, with more women in the workforce, and a prevailing entrepreneurial spirit. Taking all business models to scale is a challenge, but the aspirations of Brazil’s millennial generation, and its commitment to seeking a livelihood through farming, is encouraging.

10 Ways Agriculture is Improving Lives in Asia

In this latest instalment of our “Supporter Spotlight” series, we take a trip to Asia to learn about the innovative projects Farming First supporters are working on all over the continent to improve food security and farmers’ lives.

1. Fintrac: Beating Drought with Smart Water Management in Cambodia

When the rains did not come in 2015, one group of farmers in the northeastern province of Pursat not only survived, but thrived. They had banded together to form a Water User Group, that managed farmer access to the Polyum Canal. By maximising efficiency and eliminating conflict around water use, and using good agricultural practices taught by the Cambodia HARVEST program, group members have increased their productivity from an average of 2,500 kilograms per hectare to more than 4,000. As a result, their household incomes have increased by 536 percent! Read more >>

2. GAIN: Meet the Wheatamix Women in India

Through funding from the Bestseller Foundation, GAIN is working in the states of Karnataka and Bihar in India to improve the nutrition and lives of groups of semi-literate women. These women are trained to run their own factories producing a quality blended complementary food product called ”Wheatamix” in Bihar and “Shakhti Vita” in Karnataka. This complementary food product, fortified with vitamins and minerals, has the potential to reach thousands of women, adolescents and children in the region. Read more >>

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3. CropLife: An Indian Farmer Perspective on Biotechnology

In this interview with CropLife International, Balwinder Singh shares his experience of planting an insect-resistant strain of cotton. “I was lucky to be part of the trial when Bt cotton came to India, and when I saw the benefits of this technology; I was the first person to say, this is what is going to save us,” he said. “I took a gamble, and took an additional 50 hectares of land on lease to sow Bt cotton.  It has paid off and my family is enjoying a decent living.” Read more >>

4. IPNI: Healthier Soils Make Indian Farmers More Maize

Access to water has created a challenge for many Indian farmers, increasing interest in alternative crops to flooded rice. Working in West Bengal, research staff at the International Plant Nutrition Institute have focused on developing a rice-maize rotation as an alternative to rice to address the water challenge. Research showed that adding potassium, phosphorus, sulphur and zinc in order to grow maize effectively added US$80 – $290/ha to the farmer’s income. Not only was the maize yield increased, but similar responses were recorded in the rice in these on-farm trials. Read more >>

5. CNFA: Building a Network for Agro-Input Services in Bangladesh 

CNFA implements the USAID-funded Agro-Inputs Project (AIP) to improve the knowledge of and access to quality agricultural inputs for farmers in Bangladesh. CNFA provides trainings and technical assistance on business management and ethics, basic agronomics, safe use and handling of pesticides and other related topics to 3,000 agro-input retailers. Of this, 300 women-retailers are specifically targeted. These agro-input retailers are expected to serve 1 million smallholder farmers, impacting more than 5 million individuals across 20 southern districts of Bangladesh, generating more than $100 million in sales. Read more >>

6. Livelihoods: Mangroves Restore Agricultural Land in Indonesia 

In 1987, Northern Sumatra had 200,000 hectares of mangroves. Today, less than half of that amount remains, with only 83,000 hectares standing. This Livelihoods project has restored mangrove forests, and as a result, increases the safety of the local population. Replanting coastal mangroves significantly buffers coastal communities from future tsunamis akin to that of the 2004 tsunami. Mangrove forests also help to restore vital agricultural land. Additionally, this project generates new sources of economic income. Local villagers are able to increase their revenues by selling the by-products of the mangroves such as fish, mollusks, batik dye and honey. Read more >>

livelihoods

7. HarvestPlus: Iron Pearl Millet Enriches Diets in India

Iron deficiency is rampant in India, affecting 7 out of 10 children. It impairs mental development and learning capacity, increases weakness and fatigue, and may increase the risk of women dying during childbirth. HarvestPlus is working with partners to promote varieties of pearl millet rich in iron, to help combat malnutrition. Read more >>

8. iDE: Saving Time and Earning Money Through Water Access in Nepal 

Rural villages in Nepal lack several basic services, but the primary issue for many is access to water. Multiple-Use Water Systems (MUS) are an improved approach to water resource management, which taps and stores water and distributes it to households in small communities to meet both domestic and household agricultural needs. In addition to dramatically decreasing the workload of women and girls, MUSs provide benefits in health and sanitation, as well as enabling communities to improve their decisions on the allocation of water resources. “After we got the water it was easy to grow vegetables,” says Kamala Pariyar, a rural farmer in Dikurpokhari. “I used to ask my husband for money to buy basic things. Now, by selling the vegetables, I can earn 600 rupees a day. I have enough money.” Read more >>

9. World Vision: Mangrove Planting Revitalizes Philippine Fishing Community

When a fishing village in the western part of Leyte in the Philippines was struggling to catch enough to feed their families, World Vision helped to implement a mangrove planting initiative. Each family was provided with an average of 1,000 mangrove stalks to plant in the area near their house, to provide a safe habitat of various species of fish, where they can lay their eggs without being disturbed by double net fishing. There is now abundant fish for catching once more, and the community is protected from the risk of typhoons. Read more >>

world-vision

10. IFA: Combatting Iodine Deficiencies Through Fertigation

Globally it is estimated that 2.2 billion people in the world are at a risk of iodine deficiency, which causes a wide range of physiological abnormalities, mainly related to defective mental development and brain damage. The content of iodine in food depends on the iodine content of the soils in which crops are grown. In Xinjiang Province, in the North West of China, the soil is particularly poor in iodine with an associated high infant-mortality rate. A project was put in place to supply the water irrigation system with iodine using an iodine fertilizer dripping technique, called fertigation. With this technique, the iodine from the treated water is absorbed by the soil and progresses through plants, animals and humans that eat the iodine-rich plants. Thanks to this project, rates of infant mortality halved and local livestock production increased by 40% in the first year! Read more >>

Do you have an inspiring story about Asian agriculture? Tweet @FarmingFirst and tell us about it!

NOV92016
Nutritious Food Fair: You are what you eat

9th-11th November 2016

Calabar, Nigeria

The 2016 Nutritious Food Fair is a three-day event that will bring together stakeholders in international & national research institutions, agriculture, health, education, science & technology and trade & commerce, including government representatives, development & donor agencies, small, medium and large scale food industries, input dealers, seed companies, researchers, farmers, processors, consumers, entertainment and media, among others. An estimated 5,000 people will participate in the event. Read more >>

#IamAg! Meet Victor, a Food Scientist at HarvestPlus

This is the fourth post in our new series “I am Agriculture”, that showcases the many careers available to young people in agriculture. Today’s post comes from Victor Taleon, who works on biofortified crops at the research centre HarvestPlus.

When I was in primary school in Guatemala, I wanted to be a mechanical engineer working for Ferrari. During those years, I enjoyed classes on general natural sciences. Living in a small town in Guatemala, I was always aware of the agriculture in my surroundings. In middle school, I chose to study agriculture among other practical technical classes, mostly because it was outdoors and not because I was passionate about it.

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14 Ways Agriculture is Reducing Poverty

“Only by putting the poorest in charge of their own lives and destinies, will absolute poverty and deprivation be removed from the face of the earth.”

These words came from Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, 2015 winner of the prestigious World Food Prize, which was announced this summer. To celebrate the prize giving in Des Moines this October at the Borlaug Dialogue, we are delving into the ways our supporters around the world are using agriculture as a means to empower the poorest in the latest instalment in our “content mash-up” series.

Read on to find out how farmers are being helped to graduate to more sustainable livelihoods… Continue reading