The Poor, Malnutrition, Biofortification, and Biotechnology

Abstract

While less apparent than outright hunger or obesity, the lack of essential vitamins and minerals in people’s diets is one of the leading contributors to the global burden of disease. Current interventions, such as supplementation or fortification, are being implemented with varying success, but—while important—overall progress in the fight against micronutrient malnutrition has been limited. Biofortification, the breeding of crops for higher contents of vitamins and minerals, is a new approach to complement existing interventions. This chapter gives an overview of the problem of micronutrient malnutrition and how it is measured; it briefly discusses current micronutrient interventions, and then presents the reasoning behind biofortification before it examines the feasibility of biofortifying crops and summarizes studies on their potential impact and economic justification. After listing current biofortification programs, the chapter looks into the political controversy surrounding genetic engineering in agriculture and how it relates to biofortification; it then concludes with an assessment of the current status of biofortification and its potential.

Which Choice of Delivery Model(s) Works Best to Deliver Fortified Foods?

“…The HarvestPlus program now has eight focal countries (Bangladesh, DR Congo, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia). Cumulatively, more than 150 biofortified varieties of 10 crops have been released in 30 countries to date bred through conventional plant breeding rather than transgenic (genetically modified) which has faced stiff opposition with respect to food consumption [13,60].…”

“…Although some studies suggest that there is a major acceptance hurdle with acceptance of genetically modified biofortified crops, other studies have shown that: genetically modified crops did not generally encounter major reluctance from poor consumers as was the case in China for folate GM-rice and multi-micronutrient GM-rice (provitamin A, folate, and zinc) [51]. However, willingness to pay has been found to be higher with conventionally bred cassava (compared to GM-cassava according to [60,69]).…”

Selenium Biofortification in Rice - A pragmatic perspective

“…Those who suffer from hunger due to insufficient energy intake are easily recognizable because it causes wasting and stunting, however, lack of nutrients, may not be visible, but may have serious health consequences (Stein, 2014). Serious health consequences have been reported in low selenium areas of China and Eastern Siberia, where selenium deficiency causes endemic Keshan disease in the Keshan region of China.…”

Biofortified Maize Can Improve Quality Protein Intakes among Young Children in Southern Ethiopia

“…Genetic biofortification, in which the nutritional contribution of food crops is increased through plant breeding, is an agricultural strategy to reduce nutrient deficiencies, particularly among rural populations in developing countries [1]. This strategy requires that a crop biofortified with a specific nutrient is targeted to a population that is both deficient in that nutrient and likely to consume the biofortified crop in sufficient quantities to reduce the deficiency.…”