One in three people in the world suffer from hidden hunger, which is caused by a lack of vitamin and minerals, such as vitamin A, zinc, and iron, in the diet. These nutrients are essential, not just for adults, but for children to grow, learn, and build healthy immune systems.
HarvestPlus leads a global effort to make familiar staple foods that people eat every day more nutritious and available to those suffering from hidden hunger. HarvestPlus uses a process called biofortification to breed higher amounts of vitamins and minerals directly into staple foods. These include bean, cassava, orange sweet potato, rice, maize, pearl millet, and wheat.
While biofortified foods can provide better nutrition to all, HarvestPlus’ strategy is targeted to rural areas in regions where hidden hunger is most pervasive: sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. AgroSalud, a program under HarvestPlus, focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean. Most rural households in these regions grow their own food or buy it locally. New, nutrient-rich crops add to dietary diversity and when eaten regularly can provide much-needed vitamins and minerals. Once the nutrients have been bred into the crops, they are fixed. Farmer can thus save the most nutrient-rich seed to grow and eat, year after year, or share these with their neighbors.
Biofortification offers a cost-effective, food-based approach that can complement strategies such as dietary diversity, fortification, and supplementation to improve nutrition and public health.
HarvestPlus is an interdisciplinary program that works with academic and research institutions, civil society organizations, and the public and private sector in more than 40 countries. It attempts to break down silos bringing agricultural, nutrition, and social scientists together to work collectively on reducing hidden hunger. HarvestPlus also collaborates with national biofortification programs in Brazil, China, and India. It is coordinated by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).Founded in 2003 as a CGIAR Challenge Program, it is now part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.
