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Biofortification in Africa

Evidence of Success and Vision for Scaling Up

ReSAKSS 2016 Conference Side EventOctober 18, 2016 | Accra, Ghana

Session Line-up

I. Introduction Prof Ruth Oniang’o (Chair)

II. Nutrition and Impact EvidenceDorene Asare-Marfo

III. Crop Releases and DeliveryBho Mudyahoto

IV. Partnerships for Scale UpNelson Ojijo-Olang’o

V. DiscussionDr. Lawrence Haddad (Discussant)

INTRODUCTION

Prof Ruth K. Oniang’oEditor-in-Chief, African Journal of Food, Agriculture,

Nutrition and Development (AJFAND) Founder, Rural Outreach Program (ROP) Africa

NUTRITION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT

EVIDENCEDorene Asare-Marfo

Program Manager and Senior Research AnalystHarvestPlus-IFPRI, Washington DC

Global Micronutrient Deficiency

Hidden Hunger

Affects 2 billion people worldwide (i.e. 1 in 3) (FAO 2013)

Contributes to the global disease burden of children

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)

Strategies for Tackling Hidden Hunger

Supplementation Fortification

Biofortification

Dietary diversity

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 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.

Sweet PotatoVitamin A

Uganda(2007)

Biofortified Crops in Africa

MaizeVitamin A

Zambia(2012)

BeansIron

Rwanda & DRC(2012)

CassavaVitamin A

Nigeria & DRC(2011)

3

1 2

It all started with…

Dr. Howarth Bouis2016 World Food Prize Laureate

Are farmers willing to grow and are

consumers willing to eat biofortified

crops?

Can conventional breeding add extra

nutrients in the crops without

reducing yields?

When consumed, can the increase in

nutrient levels make a measurable and

significant impact on human nutrition?

1

3

2Can conventional

breeding add extra nutrients in the crops without

reducing yields?

Are farmers willing to grow and are

consumers willing to eat biofortified

crops?

When consumed, can the increase in

nutrient levels make a measurable and

significant impact on human nutrition?

Is biofortification

feasible & effective?

Is Biofortification Feasible and Effective?

H+ Socio-

Economic & Nutrition

Research

Targeting for impact

Measuring impact

Testing for impact

Targeting for Impact

NutritionWhat micronutrient levels

do biofortified varieties need to have to be able

to meet nutritional estimated daily requirements?

Socio-economicWhere should we introduce [which]

biofortified crops for biggest impact?

Consumption, retention and bioavailability (absorption) studies

Biofortification Priority Index (BPI)

Testing for Impact

NutritionWhen biofortified crops

are consumed in a controlled setting, can the increase in nutrient

intake levels make a measurable and

significant impact on micronutrient deficiency

status?

Socio-economicAre farmers willing to grow and consumers

willing to eat biofortified crops?

Efficacy Trials/Studies Farmer Field Day Evaluations

Farmer Feedback StudiesConsumer Acceptance Studies

Testing: Nutrition Evidence

• Vitamin A Maize Efficacy study - Zambia (Gannon et al., 2014)

– Children aged 5-7

– Total body stores of vitamin A increased significantly for treatment group for three months

– Beta carotene in maize is an efficacious source of vitamin A

• Iron Beans Efficacy study - Rwanda (Haas et al., 2016)

– Young women aged 18-27

– Significant increase in iron status after consuming biofortified beans for six months

– Iron biofortified beans are an efficacious source of iron

Testing: Socio-Economic Evidence

• Vit A Maize (VAM) Farmer Feedback study - Zambia (Diressie et al, 2016)

– Farmers who planted VAM

– Feedback from farmers was very positive and informative• Growers liked the production and consumption traits of VAM• Majority want to plant VAM in subsequent seasons and want 4X more seed

• Vit A Cassava Consumer Acceptance - Nigeria (Oparinde et al., 2014)

– Rural consumers in Oyo state

– Hedonic testing for vitamin A (light and dark yellow) gari vs white gari

– Information on nutritional benefits has an effect on level of acceptance• Without information, light yellow gari is preferred • With information, higher preference for deep-colored yellow gari

Measuring Impact

NutritionWhen biofortified crops are consumed as usual,

(i.e. uncontrolled setting), can the increase in nutrient intake levels reduce micronutrient

deficiency?

Socio-economicIs biofortification cost-

effective?-------

What is the rate of adoption of biofortified

crops?

Effectiveness Studies

Impact Assessment Studies

Population Level

Measuring: Nutrition Evidence

Orange Sweet Potato (OSP) Effectiveness Study in Uganda and Mozambique

• OSP significantly increased vitamin A intake among women and children 9.5% reduction in prevalence of low serum retinol (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)

• Reduced prevalence (by 11.5 percentage points) and frequency (by 0.6 days) of diarrhea in children under-five (Jones and de Brauw, 2015)

• OSP can improve child health by reducing vitamin A deficiency (Jones and de Brauw, 2015)

Measuring: Socio-Economic Evidence (1)

Orange Sweet Potato (OSP) Effectiveness Study in Uganda and Mozambique

(de Brauw et al., 2010)

• 61% (Uganda) and 68% (Mozambique) of beneficiary households adopted OSP

• Farmers increased share of OSP in total sweet potato cultivated area and consumers substituted white or yellow SP varieties for OSP

• Intervention cost about US$15–20 per Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) saved highly cost-effective

High Iron Beans (HIBs) Impact Assessment Study in Rwanda (Asare-Marfo et al., 2016)

• 28% HIB adoption since 2010 ≈ Half a million HHs in Rwanda

• 54% continuous or intermittent adopters

• Farmers increase area planted to 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

Measuring: Socio-Economic Evidence (2)

1

3

2Can conventional

breeding add extra nutrients in the crops without

reducing yields?

Are farmers willing to grow and are

consumers willing to eat biofortified

crops?

When consumed, can the increase in

nutrient levels make a measurable and

significant impact on human nutrition?

The Research has proven that:

Conventional breeding can increase the nutrients in the crop

When consumed, nutrient levels can make a measurable and significant impact

Farmers are willing to grow, and consumers are willing to eat biofortified crops

The Potential of Biofortified Crops

“Biofortified crops are going to be game-changers with dealing with the issue of malnutrition in

our world today.”

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank

BREEDING AND DELIVERING

BIOFORTIFIED CROPS IN AFRICA Bho Mudyahoto

Senior Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation SpecialistHarvestPlus-IFPRI, Kampala

What We Now Know About Breeding and Delivery of Biofortified Crops in

Africa• Breeding can add extra nutrients to crops

• Farmers are willing to grow and consumers are willing to eat biofortified crops

• More African countries have embraced biofortified crops and biofortification as a strategy to reduce malnutrition

• Carefully identified indicators and good coordination are crucial for tracking reach and impact for biofortification initiatives

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

Status of Biofortified Varieties in Africa

Iron beans

Yellow cassava

Orange maize

Orange sweet potato

Number of countries tested in 6 8 10 > 14

Number of countries released in 6 5 7 > 14

Number of varieties released 28 10 31 > 90

Source: HarvestPlus (2016)

Delivering Released Varieties to Farmers

• Active delivery operations in DRC, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia Zimbabwe, Tanzania & Kenya*

• H+ delivers through partners use commercial and non-commercial delivery channels:– Zambia – private commercial seed companies multiply & market direct – Uganda & Rwanda – partners & Individual smallholder farmers– Also through governments, NGO/CBO with or without H+

• Indirect reach farmer to farmer diffusion for non hybrid varieties

*HarvestPlus partnership countries

Measuring What We Report• HarvestPlus’ 3 legged Monitoring, Learning and Action

(MLA) systema. Implementation monitoring 5 process & 10 output level

indicators b. Outcome monitoring 10 outcome level indicators

monitoring surveys c. MLA models 10 outcome & 3 impact indicators

• Feeding data into MLA models application/use

• Impact Assessments 10 outcome & 3 impact level indicators qualitative variables

Number of Households Reached in Africa (‘000)

Crop/country 2012 2013 2014 2015 Vitamin A cassava, Nigeria 0 106 360 520

Vitamin A OSP, Uganda 33 76 107 132

Iron beans, Uganda 29 69 43 37

Iron beans, Rwanda 105 609 332 480

Iron beans, DR Congo 60 241 128 175

Vitamin A cassava, DR Congo 0 25 75 180

Vitamin A maize, Zambia 0 11 104 110

Total 227 1,137 1,149 1,634

• 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

• Seed production is a constraint in many countries– Low access by the poor– Commercial seed shun root & tubers crops – Seed quality control is challenging

Challenges:15yrs of research, delivery & learning

Concluding Remarks• The HarvestPlus/CG/government/private sector and farmers

tremendous progress in Africa develop, test, release

• Commercial and non-commercial channels for delivery of PM

• More households are growing and eating biofortified crops each year in target countries

• More countries are developing and releasing biofortified crop varieties without direct support from HarvestPlus sustainability

• Variable identification, systematic data collection and analysis and good coordination of M&E systems crucial for successful measurement of progress & results for biofortification initiatives

PARTNERSHIPS FOR SCALING UP BIOFORTIFIED

FOODS

Nelson Ojijo Olang’oLead Specialist Capacity Development

FARA, Nairobi

Partnerships for Biofortification

Phase of Biofortification Type of Partnership

Development of biofortified crop technologies

For technical feasibility (breeders, agronomists, funding)

Efficacy and effectiveness testing For nutritional impact (nutritionists, food scientists, processors)

Adoption, scaling up, sustainability For scalability & sustainability(See next figure)

Framework for Scaling Up

Adapted from: Cooley, L. and Linn, J. F. (2014)

Africa’s Commitment to Nutrition

• African Union Commission (AUC)– Malabo Declaration III 3(d) – Africa Regional Nutrition Strategy (2005 – 2015 & 2016 – 2025)– African Task Force on Food and Nutrition Development (ATFFND) – The Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) studies

• NEPAD– Food & Nutrition Program– NEPAD Food Security and Nutrition Expert Panel

• Regional Economic Communities

• FARA and SROs

Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement

Partnerships & the CAADP RF 2014 - 2024

Agriculture contribution to economic growth and inclusive

development

Agricultural Transformation & Sustained Growth

Strengthened systemic capacity for effective execution and

delivery of results

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Improved food security & nutrition (Ind: underweight, stunting, wasting)

Increased production & productivity(of nutrient-enhanced crops)

Partnerships & alliances within and across sectors (for scaling up nutrition)

Partnerships in Scaling Up

Public Private

Partnerships for Scalability• Sweet Potato for Health Initiative (SPHI): 10 million

households in 10 years– Dissemination of New Agricultural Technologies in Africa (DONATA)

(2008 – 2015): OFSP– Sweet potato Action for Security and Health in Africa - SASHA I and

II (2010 - 2019) including Mama SASHA on OFSP – Reaching Agents of Change (2011 – 2014) on OFSP

• Building Nutritious Food Baskets, BNFB (2016 – 2018): testing a model for multi-crop approach to scaling up – Orange sweet potato, yellow cassava, high iron/zinc beans, orange

maize (CIP, IITA, H+, FARA, CIMMYT, CIAT, national partners)

Partnerships for Sustainability (1)

We need action at policy, private sector and beneficiary levels:

– Mainstreaming of biofortification initiatives in government policies

– Private sector commitment and involvement in biofortification – development, production, processing, marketing, and promotion

– Increased nutritional knowledge and changed consumption habits of consumers

Partnerships for Sustainability (2)

Key partnerships would include:• Biofortified crop development – mainstreaming

by national and CG Centers (Kigali declaration of 2014)

• Partnerships with Private Seed Companies

• Aid/Grants - Development partners including biofortification in their programs

• Food Industry - Local and International companies processing biofortified foods

The Work Ahead

Forging NARS/CGIAR partnerships :

– For Zinc rice and Zinc wheat varieties

– For Iron Pearl Millet and Zinc/Iron sorghum in Sahelian countries

– To increase regional capacity to develop additional nutrient-rich staple food varieties;

– To strengthen public and private seed systems and policies to fuel supply and demand for more nutritious crops

Call To Action

• Explicit indicators needed to track nutritional outcomes at Levels II & III of the CAADP RF (2014 – 2024)

• Urgent need for African policy makers to:– Include biofortification in key agriculture, health and nutrition

strategies at national, regional, and global levels.

– Mandate biofortification within National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS)

– Support inclusion of Biofortification definition into CODEX and National Standards

Acknowledgements

DISCUSSION

Dr. Lawrence HaddadExecutive Director, Global Alliance for Nutrition (GAIN)