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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.

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researcher spotlight

Samuel Benin

Samuel Benin is the Acting Director for Africa in the Development Strategies and Governance Unit. He conducts research on national strategies and public investment for accelerating food systems transformation in Africa and provides analytical support to the African Union’s CAADP Biennial Review.

Where we work

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Where we work

IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

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TOPIC

Biofortification

More than 2 billion people around the world suffer from the effects of inadequate vitamins and minerals, causing micronutrient deficiencies or “hidden hunger”. Hidden hunger weakens immune systems, leaving people vulnerable to infections and contributes to stunting, blindness, anemia, poor pregnancy outcomes, and developmental impairments in children; it prevents people, economies, and countries from reaching their full potential. Biofortification enriches the staple crops most eaten by hundreds of millions of smallholder farmer families with higher levels of vitamin A, iron, zinc, and climate-smart traits through conventional breeding practices and agronomic techniques to improve human nutrition and resilience to crises.

HarvestPlus, a global leader in biofortification, works across the CGIAR as part of IFPRI to develop and promote nutrient-enriched crops—including vitamin A cassava, zinc rice, and iron beans. Biofortified varieties are being scaled up in over 40 particularly vulnerable countries: as of 2023, over 100 million people in farming households were benefiting from eating them. Evidence from randomized controlled studies show that eating biofortified crop generates direct and indirect health benefits, including improved nutritional status, improved cognitive performance, and decreased common infections.

… read more

Biofortification has been endorsed as a proven and cost-effective solution to improve public health nutrition by the African Union, the World Food Prize, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, and national governments across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

IFPRI’s biofortification research is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2, and the CGIAR Impact Areas on Nutrition, Health, and Food Security; Poverty Reduction, Livelihoods, and Jobs; and Climate Adaptation and Mitigation.

biofortification

topics

Publications

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Book Chapter

Plant-source foods: Leveraging crops for nutrition and healthy diets

2024Boy, Erick; Brouwer, Inge D.; Foley, Jennifer; Palacios, Natalia; Scott, Samuel P.; Taleon, Victor
Details

Plant-source foods: Leveraging crops for nutrition and healthy diets

Addressing the urgent need for food systems to support sustainable healthy diets will require a major improvement in the availability of and access to affordable, nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in low- and middle-income countries, along with increased consumer demand for healthy diets. Plant-source foods are key components of sustainable healthy diets. This chapter examines food crops that could be leveraged to improve health outcomes, describes production systems and their role in providing populations access to highly nutritious crops, and presents examples of evidence-based technologies that improve the nutritional content of crops, especially for vulnerable populations.

Year published

2024

Authors

Boy, Erick; Brouwer, Inge D.; Foley, Jennifer; Palacios, Natalia; Scott, Samuel P.; Taleon, Victor

Citation

Boy, Erick; Brouwer, Inge D.; Foley, Jennifer; Palacios, Natalia; Scott, Samuel P.; and Taleon, Victor. 2024. Plant-source foods: Leveraging crops for nutrition and healthy diets. In Global food policy report 2024: Food systems for healthy diets and nutrition. Chapter 6, Pp. 54-61. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141888

Keywords

Nutrition; Healthy Diets; Food Crops; Food Consumption; Biofortification; Food Processing

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Book Chapter

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Journal Article

Preventing and controlling zinc deficiency across the life course: A call to action

2024Lowe, Nicola M.; Hall, Andrew G.; Broadley, Martin R.; Foley, Jennifer; Boy, Erick; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.
Details

Preventing and controlling zinc deficiency across the life course: A call to action

Through diverse roles, zinc determines a greater number of critical life functions than any other single micronutrient. Beyond the well-recognized importance of zinc for child growth and resistance to infections, zinc has numerous specific roles covering the regulation of glucose metabolism, and growing evidence links zinc deficiency with increased risk of diabetes and cardiometabolic disorders. Zinc nutriture is thus vitally important to health across the life course. Zinc deficiency is also one of the most common forms of micronutrient malnutrition globally. A clearer estimate of the burden of health disparity attributable to zinc deficiency in adulthood and later life emerges when accounting for its contribution to global elevated fasting blood glucose and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Yet progress attenuating its prevalence has been limited due, in part, to the lack of sensitive and specific methods to assess human zinc status. This narrative review covers recent developments in our understanding of zinc’s role in health; the impact of the changing climate and global context on zinc intake; novel functional biomarkers showing promise for monitoring population-level interventions; and solutions for improving population zinc intake. It aims to spur on implementation of evidence-based interventions for preventing and controlling zinc deficiency across the life course. Increasing zinc intake and combatting global zinc deficiency requires context-specific strategies and a combination of complementary, evidence-based interventions including supplementation, food fortification, and food and agricultural solutions such as biofortification, alongside efforts to improve zinc bioavailability. Enhancing dietary zinc content and bioavailability through zinc biofortification is an inclusive nutrition solution that can benefit the most vulnerable individuals and populations affected by inadequate diets to the greatest extent.

Year published

2024

Authors

Lowe, Nicola M.; Hall, Andrew G.; Broadley, Martin R.; Foley, Jennifer; Boy, Erick; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.

Citation

Lowe, Nicola M.; Hall, Andrew G.; Broadley, Martin R.; Foley, Jennifer; Boy, Erick; and Bhutta, Zulfiqar A. 2024. Preventing and controlling zinc deficiency across the life course: A call to action. Advances in Nutrition 15(3): 100181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100181

Keywords

Zinc; Micronutrient Deficiencies; Deficiency Diseases; Biofortification; Nutrition

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100181 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

Bioaccessibility and bioavailability of biofortified food and food products: Current evidence

2024
Huey, Samantha L.; Mehta, Neel H.; Konieczynski, Elsa M.; Bhargava, Arini; Friesen, Valerie M.; Boy, Erick; Krisher, Jesse T.; Mbuya, Mduduzi; Monterrosa, Eva C.; Nyangaresi, Annette M.
…more Mehta, Saurabh
Details

Bioaccessibility and bioavailability of biofortified food and food products: Current evidence

Biofortification increases micronutrient content in staple crops through conventional breeding, agronomic methods, or genetic engineering. Bioaccessibility is a prerequisite for a nutrient to fulfill a biological function, e.g., to be bioavailable. The objective of this systematic review is to examine the bioavailability (and bioaccessibility as a proxy via in vitro and animal models) of the target micronutrients enriched in conventionally biofortified crops that have undergone post-harvest storage and/or processing, which has not been systematically reviewed previously, to our knowledge. We searched for articles indexed in MEDLINE, Agricola, AgEcon, and Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International databases, organizational websites, and hand-searched studies’ reference lists to identify 18 studies reporting on bioaccessibility and 58 studies on bioavailability. Conventionally bred biofortified crops overall had higher bioaccessibility and bioavailability than their conventional counterparts, which generally provide more absorbed micronutrient on a fixed ration basis. However, these estimates depended on exact cultivar, processing method, context (crop measured alone or as part of a composite meal), and experimental method used. Measuring bioaccessibility and bioavailability of target micronutrients in biofortified and conventional foods is critical to optimize nutrient availability and absorption, ultimately to improve programs targeting micronutrient deficiency.

Year published

2024

Authors

Huey, Samantha L.; Mehta, Neel H.; Konieczynski, Elsa M.; Bhargava, Arini; Friesen, Valerie M.; Boy, Erick; Krisher, Jesse T.; Mbuya, Mduduzi; Monterrosa, Eva C.; Nyangaresi, Annette M.; Mehta, Saurabh

Citation

Huey, Samantha L.; Mehta, Neel H.; Konieczynski, Elsa M.; Bhargava, Arini; Friesen, Valerie M.; Boy, Erick; et al. 2024. Bioaccessibility and bioavailability of biofortified food and food products: Current evidence. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 64(14): 4500-4522. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2142762

Keywords

Biofortification; Micronutrients; Staple Crops; Breeding; Agronomic Practices; Genetic Engineering; Bioavailability; Literature Reviews; Iron; Vitamin a; Zinc

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2142762 Source record

Project

Agriculture for Nutrition and Health

Record type

Journal Article

Blogs

Scaling nutrient-enriched staple crops with the HarvestPlus program: Reaching 100 million people in 20 years
IFPRI Blog
 | 
November 01, 2023

Scaling nutrient-enriched staple crops with the HarvestPlus program: Reaching 100 million people in 20 years

By Jenny Walton, Eleanor Jones, and Alix Underwood

Addressing the global problem of hidden hunger.

ENRICH project: Educating communities on the benefits of biofortified crops and nutrition-smart agriculture
IFPRI Blog
 | 
October 24, 2023

ENRICH project: Educating communities on the benefits of biofortified crops and nutrition-smart agriculture

By Penina Muoki and Brian McNamara

Twenty years of HarvestPlus programs have a lasting impact.

From theory to practice: The latest in program implementation and effectiveness at #MNF2023
IFPRI Blog
 | 
October 11, 2023

From theory to practice: The latest in program implementation and effectiveness at #MNF2023

By Mduduzi Mbuya and Deanna Olney

Navigating the complexities of diet and nutrition solutions.

Events

Accelerating the End of Hunger and Malnutrition
Series/Special Event

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November 28 to 30, 2018

Accelerating the End of Hunger and Malnutrition

Improving food security and nutrition is critical to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, but the world is not on track to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030. How can we accelerate progress in transforming our agri-food systems to meet the needs of the hungry and malnourished? This global learning event will bring together decision makers, […]

African Green Revolution Forum 2018
IFPRI at External Event

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September 5 to 8, 2018

African Green Revolution Forum 2018

IFPRI will participate in the African Green Revolution Forum 2018 on September 5-8 at Kigali Convention Centre, Rwanda.   First established in 2010, the AGRF is considered the world’s most important and impactful forum for African agriculture, pulling together a range of critical stakeholders in the African agriculture landscape to discuss and commit to programs, investments, […]

30th International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE)
IFPRI at External Event

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July 28 to August 2, 2018

30th International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE)

IFPRI is participating extensively in the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) 30th Conference of Agricultural Economists. The (IAAE) is a worldwide association of agricultural economists and others concerned with agricultural economic problems, including problems related to the use of renewable resources and the environment. Its broad goal is to make a difference through the following: IFPRI Participants: Pre-Conference Workshops  […]

News

February 17, 2019 | In the News

Fighting Hidden Hunger: ‘Our Mission Is 90% Of Crops Must Be Biofortified’ (IndiaSpend)

IndiaSpend interviewed HarvestPlus CEO Howarth Bouis at the accelerating the end of Hunger and Malnutrition conference in Bangkok regarding increased implementation of biofrotified crops to fight vitamin and nutrient deficiencies.

October 22, 2018 | In the News

An innovative method for boosting nutrition (Live Mint)

Live Mint published an op-ed by Associate Research Fellow Samuel Scott who discussed the innovative method of distributing biofortified staple foods to curb iron deficiency and anemia issues in India by ease of access, affordability, and scalability within the socio-cultural context. 

Our experts

Erick Boy

Erick Boy

Chief Nutritionist, HarvestPlus, Innovation
Policy and Scaling

Ramesh CV

Ramesh CV

Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Innovation
Policy and Scaling

Ester Jimmy

Ester Jimmy

Research Associate, Innovation
Policy and Scaling