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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Kalyani Raghunathan

Kalyani Raghunathan is Research Fellow in the Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, based in New Delhi, India. Her research lies at the intersection of agriculture, gender, social protection, and public health and nutrition, with a specific focus on South Asia and Africa. 

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experts

Nutrition, Diets, and Health

Moira Angel

Senior Research Analyst

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ORCiD
Angel Moira

Bio

Moira Angel is a Senior Research Analyst with the Nutrition, Diets, and Health Unit, and is based at IFPRI-Washington, DC.

Publications

Publications

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Journal Article

An ex-ante analysis of the impact of biofortified zinc rice on dietary zinc inadequacy: Evidence from Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines

2024De Moura, Fabiana F.; Moursi, Mourad; Angel, Moira Donahue; Angeles-Agdeppa, Imelda; Muslimatun, Siti; Atmarita, Atmarita; Gironella, Glen M.; Boy, Erick; Carriquiry, Alicia
Details

An ex-ante analysis of the impact of biofortified zinc rice on dietary zinc inadequacy: Evidence from Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines

Background: South, East, and Southeast Asia are among the regions of the world with the highest estimated prevalence of inadequate zinc intake. Because populations in those regions eat rice as their main staple, zinc biofortification of rice can potentially improve zinc intake, especially among the most vulnerable. Objectives: We modeled the impact of the consumption of zinc-biofortified rice on zinc intake and inadequacy among women of childbearing age and young children nationally in Indonesia, the Philippines, and at a subnational level in Bangladesh. Methods: We conducted an ex-ante analysis by applying increments of zinc content in rice, from a baseline level of 16 parts per million (ppm) to 100 ppm, and based on rice consumption data to substitute levels of conventional rice with zinc-biofortified rice varying between 10% and 70%. Results: Among all datasets evaluated from these 3 countries, the prevalence of dietary zinc inadequacy at baseline was 94%–99% among women of childbearing age, 77%–100% among children 4–5 y old, and 27%–78% among children 1–3 y old. At the current breeding target of 28 ppm, zinc-biofortified rice has the potential to decrease zinc inadequacy by ≤50% among women and children in rural Bangladesh and among children in the Philippines where consumption of rice is higher compared with Indonesia. Conclusions: Our analysis shows that increasing zinc content in rice ≤45 ppm reduces the burden of zinc inadequacy substantially, after which we encourage programs to increase coverage to reach the highest number of beneficiaries.

Year published

2024

Authors

De Moura, Fabiana F.; Moursi, Mourad; Angel, Moira Donahue; Angeles-Agdeppa, Imelda; Muslimatun, Siti; Atmarita, Atmarita; Gironella, Glen M.; Boy, Erick; Carriquiry, Alicia

Citation

De Moura, Fabiana F.; Moursi, Mourad; Angel, Moira Donahue; Angeles-Agdeppa, Imelda; Muslimatun, Siti; et al. 2024. An ex-ante analysis of the impact of biofortified zinc rice on dietary zinc inadequacy: Evidence from Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Journal of Nutrition 154(8): 2575-2582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.06.010

Country/Region

Bangladesh; Indonesia; Philippines

Keywords

Asia; South-eastern Asia; Oceania; Biofortification; Ex Ante Impact Assessment; Nutrient Intake; Rice; Zinc

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2024.06.010 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Micronutrient intake and prevalence of micronutrient inadequacy among women (15-49 y) and children (6-59 mo) in South Kivu and Kongo Central, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

2020Moumin, Najma A.; Angel, Moira Donahue; Karakochuk, Crystal D.; Michaux, Kristina D.; Moursi, Mourad; Foley, Jen; Boy, Erick
Details

Micronutrient intake and prevalence of micronutrient inadequacy among women (15-49 y) and children (6-59 mo) in South Kivu and Kongo Central, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Iron biofortified beans and carotenoid enriched cassava are proposed as a solution to combat iron and vitamin A deficiencies, respectively, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). To inform the need for biofortified foods, we conducted a survey in 2014 in two provinces of the DRC, South Kivu and Kongo Central. Unexpectedly, women of reproductive age (WRA; 15–49 y) and their children (6–59 m) had a low prevalence of biochemical iron and vitamin A deficiency, based on ferritin and retinol binding protein, respectively. To better understand the lack of biochemical deficiency of these nutrients, we examined the prevalence of inadequate intake for these and other select nutrients. Dietary intake was assessed using 24-hour recalls among 744 mother-child dyads. Repeat recalls on a non-consecutive day were conducted with a subsample of the study population to account for intra-individual variation and estimate usual intake. In WRA, the prevalence of inadequate iron intakes were 33% and 29% in South Kivu and Kongo Central, respecitvely. The prevalence of inadequate vitamin A intakes among WRA was low in South Kivu (18%) and negligible in Kongo Central (1%). Iron inadequacy was highest in infants (6–11 m) at 82% and 64% in South Kivu and Kongo Central, respectively. Among older children (12–59 m) in both provinces, the prevalence of iron inadequacy was similar at ~20%. There was a high prevalence of inadequate zinc intake in women and children (i.e. 79–86% among WRA and 56–91% among children 6–59 m) consistent with our findings of a high prevalence of low serum zinc in the same sample. Dietary data here corroborate the low prevalence of biochemical vitamin A deficiency but not iron. However, any change to the supply of red palm oil (primary source of vitamin A) would dramatically reduce population vitamin A intakes, thus a carotenoid enriched cassava program may be beneficial as a safety net measure. Crops biofortified with zinc also appear warranted. We caution that our findings cannot be extrapolated to the entire Congo where diverse agro-ecological landscape exist or when political and environmental shocks occur which challenge food production.

Year published

2020

Authors

Moumin, Najma A.; Angel, Moira Donahue; Karakochuk, Crystal D.; Michaux, Kristina D.; Moursi, Mourad; Foley, Jen; Boy, Erick

Citation

Moumin, Najma A.; Angel, Moira Donahue; Karakochuk, Crystal D.; Michaux, Kristina D.; Moursi, Mourad; Foley, Jennifer; Boy, Erick; et al. 2020. Micronutrient intake and prevalence of micronutrient inadequacy among women (15-49 y) and children (6-59 mo) in South Kivu and Kongo Central, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). PLoS ONE 15(6): e0223393. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223393

Keywords

Congo, Democratic Republic of; Middle Africa; Western Africa; Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Anaemia; Biofortification; Child Nutrition; Nutrient Intake; Vitamin a Deficiency; Retinol; Nutrition; Trace Elements; Beans; Cassava; Iron

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223393 Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Dietary intake patterns among lactating and non-lactating women of reproductive age in rural Zambia

2019Kaliwile, Chisela; Michelo, Charles; Titcomb, Tyler; Moursi, Mourad; Angel, Moira Donahue; Reinberg, Chelsea; Bwembya, Pheobe; Alders, Robyn; Tanumihardjo, Sherry A.
Details

Dietary intake patterns among lactating and non-lactating women of reproductive age in rural Zambia

Insufficient dietary intake, micronutrient deficiencies, and infection may result in malnutrition. In Zambia, an estimated 14% of women are vitamin A-deficient, ~50% are anemic, 10% are underweight, and 23% are overweight/obese. A cross-sectional survey determined food and nutrient intakes of randomly selected Zambian women (n = 530) of reproductive age (15–49 years). Dietary intake data were collected using interactive multiple-pass 24-h recalls. Carbohydrate, fat, protein, and selected micronutrient intakes were estimated. Prevalence of adequate intakes were determined using the estimated average requirement (EAR) cut-point method and comparisons between lactating and non-lactating women were made by two-sample t-tests. The response rate was 98.7%. Overweight/obesity occurred in 20.7% (95% confidence interval (CI: 17.2, 24.5)). Almost all micronutrient intakes were inadequate, with values between 22.3% and 99.9%. Mean iron intake was >EAR, and 8.2% of women tested (12/146, 95% CI: 4.1, 13.0) were anemic (hemoglobin <115 g/L). Calcium intake was higher in lactating than non-lactating women (p = 0.004), but all intakes need improvement. Vitamin intakes in rural Zambian women are inadequate, suggesting a need for health promotion messages to encourage intake of locally available micronutrient-dense foods as well as supplementation, fortification, and biofortification initiatives. Nutritional support is important because maternal nutrition directly impacts child health.

Year published

2019

Authors

Kaliwile, Chisela; Michelo, Charles; Titcomb, Tyler; Moursi, Mourad; Angel, Moira Donahue; Reinberg, Chelsea; Bwembya, Pheobe; Alders, Robyn; Tanumihardjo, Sherry A.

Citation

Kaliwile, Chisela; Michelo, Charles; Titcomb, Tyler; Moursi, Mourad; Donahue Angel, Moira; Reinberg, Chelsea; Bwembya, Pheobe; Alders, Robyn; and Tanumihardjo, Sherry. 2019. Dietary intake patterns among lactating and non-lactating women of reproductive age in rural Zambia. Nutrients 11(2): 288. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11020288

Country/Region

Zambia

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Southern Africa; Eastern Africa; Nutritional Status; Body Mass Index; Nutrient Intake; Retinol; Nutrition; Food Intake; Dietary Diversity

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11020288 Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Journal Article

Events

Micronutrient Forum: 6th Global Conference
IFPRI at External Event

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October 16 to 20, 2023

Micronutrient Forum: 6th Global Conference

Hybrid Conference: October 16, 2023 – 8:30 AM to October 20, 2023 – 5:00 PM CEST. IFPRI is pleased to participate in this year’s Micronutrient Forum 6th Global Conference, being held at the World Forum in The Hague October 16–20, with a focus on “Nutrition for Resilience (N4R).