Globally, anemia is a public health problem affecting mostly women of reproductive age (WRA, n = 452) and children aged 6-59 months (n = 452) from low-and lowermiddle-income countries. This cross-sectional study assessed the prevalence and determinants of anemia in WRA and children aged 6-59 months in rural Zimbabwe.The venous blood sample was measured for hemoglobin utilizing a HemoCue machine. Anthropometric indices were assessed and classified based on World Health Organization standards. Socioeconomic characteristics were assessed. The median (±inter quartile range (IQR)) age of WRA was 29 ± 12 years and that for children was 29 ± 14 months. The prevalence of anemia was 29.6% and 17.9% in children and WRA, respectively, while the median (±IQR) hemoglobin levels were 13.4 ± 1.8 and 11.7 ± 1.5 g/dl among women and children, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess determinants of anemia. Anemia in children was significantly associated with maternal anemia (odds ratio (OR) = 2.02; 95% CI 1.21-3.37; p = .007) and being a boy (OR = 0.63; 95% CI 0.41-0.95; p = .029), while anemia in WRA was significantly associated with the use of unimproved dug wells as a source of drinking water (OR = 0.36; 95% CI 0.20-0.66; p = .001) and lack of agricultural land ownership (OR = 0.51; 95% CI 0.31-0.85; p = .009). Anemia is a public health problem in the study setting. The positive association between maternal and child anemia reflects the possibility of cross-generational anemia. Therefore, interventions that focus on improving preconceptual and maternal nutritional status may help to reduce anemia in low-income settings.

There is a need for the agricultural technical vocational education and training curriculum in Zimbabwe to be reformed so that it can respond to changes in farmer demographics, the expanding roles of agricultural extension officers (AEOs), changes in technology and climate change. The current agriculture curriculum was developed for a different context altogether; therefore, it now lacks relevance to the prevailing socio-economic, political and environmental changes. There is a need for the curriculum to respond to the evolving needs of farmers, AEOs and institutions providing agricultural extension, and to match the changes in AEOs’ occupation role profiles. This article draws on curricular documents from five institutions involved in the agricultural extension curriculum and policy, together with 22 respondents, with the aim of exposing gaps in the agricultural extension curriculum. In addition, the article explores the ways in which the curriculum can be reimagined to meet the needs of small-scale farmers, AEOs and emerging agricultural developments and digital technologies. The authors advance what might be the processes of change in the curriculum, highlighting the weaknesses of the current curriculum as well as what a more responsive curriculum for Zimbabwe should look like in the light of both local and international expectations. In so doing, it contributes to a wider international debate about agricultural education reform.

Agronomic biofortification, encompassing the use of mineral and organic nutrient resources to improve micronutrient concentration in staple crops, is a potential strategy to promote production and access of micronutrient-dense foods at farm-level. However, the heterogeneity of smallholder farming landscapes presents challenges on implementing agronomic biofortification. Here, we test the effects of zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se) containing fertilizer on micronutrient concentration of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) and teff ( Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) grown under different landscape positions and with different micronutrient fertilizer application methods; in the western Amhara region of Ethiopia. Field experiments were established in three landscape positions at three sites, with five treatments replicated across five farms per landscape position and over two cropping seasons (2018 and 2019). Grain Zn concentration ranged from 26.6-36.4 mg kg -1 in wheat and 28.5-31.2 mg kg -1 in teff. Grain Se concentration ranged from 0.02-0.59 mg kg -1 in wheat while larger concentrations of between 1.01-1.55 mg kg -1 were attained in teff. Larger concentrations of Zn and Se were consistently attained when a foliar fertilizer was applied. Application of ⅓ nitrogen (N) yielded significantly larger grain Se concentration in wheat compared to a recommended N application rate. A moderate landscape effect on grain Zn concentration was observed in wheat but not in teff. In contrast, strong evidence of landscape effect was observed for wheat and teff grain Se concentration. There was no evidence for any interaction of the treatment contrasts with landscape position except in teff where an interaction effect between landscape position and Se application was observed. Our findings indicate an effect of Zn, Se, N, landscape position, and its interaction effect with Se on grain micronutrient concentration. Targeting of micronutrient fertilizer application in ongoing agronomic biofortification interventions is likely to be influenced by landscape position and more so by micronutrient fertilizer application method and N fertilization.

Regenerative Agriculture (RA) is used to describe nature-based agronomic approaches that aim to build soil health and crop resilience, minimize negative environmental outcomes, and improve farmer livelihoods. A benefit that is increasingly attributed to crops grown under RA practices is improved nutritional content. However, we do not know the extent to which RA influences crop nutritional quality and under what management approaches and context, can such effects be realized. A scoping review of recent literature (Web of Science, 2000–2021) was carried out to assess the evidence that RA approaches improve crop micronutrient quality. Papers included combinations of agronomic approaches that could be defined as Regenerative: “Organic Inputs” including composts and manures, cover crops, crop rotations, crop residues and biochars; “Reduced Tillage”, “Intercropping”, “Biostimulants” e.g. arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; plant growth promoting bacteria, and “Irrigation”, typically deficit-irrigation and alternate wetting and drying. The crop types reviewed were predetermined covering common sources of food and included: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), Rice (Oryza sativa L.), Maize (Zea mays L.), Pulses (Fabaceae), Alliums (Allium spp.), and “other” crop types (30 types). This scoping review supports a potential role for RA approaches in increasing the concentrations of micronutrients in the edible portions of several crop types under specific practices, although this was context specific. For example, rice grown under increased organic inputs showed significant increases in grain zinc (Zn) concentration in 15 out of 16 studies. The vitamin C concentration of tomato fruit increased in ~50% of studies when plants were grown under increased organic inputs, and in 76% of studies when plants were grown under deficit irrigation. Overall, the magnitude and reproducibility of the effects of RA practices on most crop nutritional profiles were difficult to assess due to the diversity of RA approaches, geographical conditions, and the limited number of studies for most crops in each of these categories. Future research with appropriate designs, improved on-farm surveillance and nutritional diagnostics are needed for better understanding the potential role of RA in improving the quality of food, human nutrition, and health.