UK invests in six super crops to help beat global hunger

By Charles Kazooba

The UK government granted £30 million to HarvestPlus to develop and deliver six nutritious crops to several million farming households in Africa and Asia.

Six nutritious crops are now being developed through the use of conventional breeding methods: vitamin A-rich cassava and maize, iron-rich beans and pearl millet, and zinc-rich wheat and rice.

The first three crops are targeted to Africa and the rest to South Asia. In 2012, new varieties of the first four crops were launched, with wheat and rice expected to follow this year.

While it takes time to produce the amount of seed necessary to meet demand, up to half a million farmers will be growing these nutritious crops by year end.

HarvestPlus is now poised to get these crops into the hands of millions more farmers in Africa and Asia over the next five years, working through partnerships with both the public and private sector.

Two HarvestPlus partner seed companies signed on to the 'Global Nutrition for Growth Compact' launched at the UK event, making a firm commitment to improving nutrition through their seed lines. These companies were Nirmal Seeds (India), which produces iron-rich pearl millet, and Seed Co (Zambia), which produces vitamin A-rich maize.

"Our sweet spot is reaching rural farming communities, who still suffer the most from poor nutrition," said Dr. Howarth Bouis, Director of HarvestPlus.

"Most of them are farmers who rely heavily on staple food crops to feed their families. The seed sector has a crucial role to play in getting nutritious seeds that are also high-yielding to farmers. In many cases, farmers can also save and share their seeds, or stem cuttings, with other famers in their social networks. Our experience shows that this informal diffusion can really help to spread these crops far and wide."

HarvestPlus will also conduct more research to demonstrate how these new food crops can improve nutrition when eaten, especially for women and children, and in a cost-effective manner.

Nigeria, Rwanda, India and other countries are beginning to incorporate this new food-based approach into their overall strategies for improving nutrition. As more evidence is generated, more countries are likely to follow suit.

The UK has supported HarvestPlus, an international program of CGIAR, since its start in 2003. HarvestPlus leads a global effort to improve nutrition and public health by developing and disseminating staple food crops that are rich in vitamin A, zinc, and iron.

More than 2 billion people worldwide do not get enough of these crucial nutrients in their diets.

HarvestPlus is pioneering an approach to improve nutrition by directly increasing the amounts of nutrients in seeds through plant breeding. Farmers plant these seeds and reap a healthier harvest, often providing more than half of the daily dose of vitamins and minerals needed by their families.

The first nutritious crop, developed by African scientists and released in partnership with the Internal Potato Center (CIP), was the orange sweet potato, which has been effective in providing up to 100 per cent of daily vitamin A needs for young children. 

kazcharlie@yahoo.com