Current global challenges in malnutrition and other development goals call for integrated, multi-sectoral approaches focusing on the entire food system, leading to healthier and sustainable diets for all. Among these challenges is micronutrient deficiency, known as “hidden hunger.” Micronutrients—vitamins and minerals needed in only very small quantities but with huge impacts on human health and development—are a key component of healthy diets.

With shifts in food access, eating habits, and climate, hidden hunger is an increasingly common serious health problem for billions of people globally, including in situations of food excess. Unfortunately, most food system approaches pay too little attention to micronutrients, and the global health and development community lacks a basic understanding of how food systems can contribute to the micronutrient quality of diets.

Join the Micronutrient Forum and IFPRI for this seminar about why micronutrients are an essential part of development landscapes.

Keynote Speaker

• Saskia Osendarp, Executive Director, Micronutrient Forum (Presentation)

Panelists

• Robert Bertram, Chief Scientist in Bureau for Food Security, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 
• Erick Boy, Head of Nutrition, HarvestPlus
• Roland Kupka, Senior Adviser, Nutrition Section, UNICEF (via video)
• Marie Ruel, Director of Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division, IFPRI
• Kristin Sundell, Senior Advocacy Specialist, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) 

Moderator

• Rajul Pandya-Lorch, Director of Communications and Public Affairs & Chief of Staff in the Director General’s Office, IFPRI