A new tool enables policymakers to measure the reach of biofortification programs
Biofortification programs have expanded rapidly worldwide, creating a need for reliable measures of how many people consume nutrient-enriched crops.
- biofortification
Key takeaways
•Biofortification programs have expanded rapidly worldwide, creating a need for reliable measures of how many people consume nutrient-enriched crops.
•A new peer-reviewed tool developed by HarvestPlus and partners provides the first standardized, replicable way to estimate the reach and national coverage of biofortified foods.
•This tool estimates that 177-293 million people in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nigeria consumed biofortified foods in 2023.
Biofortification—increasing the nutritional value of crops through selective breeding—helps to reduce or prevent micronutrient deficiencies, a major public health problem globally.
Promotion and delivery of biofortified crops, including iron-enriched beans and vitamin A-enriched orange sweet potato, began about a decade ago. Since then, a number of countries have embraced these crops and scaling has occurred rapidly, especially in the last five years.
This accelerated scaling has created challenges for policymakers and program managers who need data to fully understand the national reach of biofortification programs. Yet, a reliable, standardized method for estimating how many people are consuming biofortified foods did not exist.