HarvestPlus c/o IFPRI2033 K Street, NW • Washington, DC 20006-1002 USATel: 202-862-5600 • Fax: [email protected] • www.HarvestPlus.org
BiofortificationProvitamin A Maize in ZambiaFabiana De Moura, Ph.D.
IFPRIWashington, D.C., U.S.A.
CIATCali, Colombia
An Interdisciplinary Program 200+ scientists, 40+ countries
Consultative Group on Int’l Ag. Research (CGIAR)
Biofortification-breeding food crops that are more nutritious
Photo: D. Marchand
Targeted: poor people eat staples
Photo: IRRI
Sustainable: farmers can save and share
Photo: A.M. Ball
Cost-effective: central one-time investment
Photo: ICRISAT
Supplementation Commercial Fortification
Biofortification
Dietary Diversity
Biofortified Crops for Asia
2012
Pearl MilletIron (Zinc)India
2013
RiceZinc Bangladesh, India
2013
WheatZincIndia, Pakistan
Biofortified Crops for Africa
RELEASED!
2011
CassavaProvitamin ADR Congo, Nigeria
2012
BeansIron DR Congo, Rwanda
2012
MaizeProvitamin AZambia
Sweet PotatoProvitamin AMozambique, Uganda
Nutrition Challenge
Demonstrate the ability of biofortified crops to have an impact on the nutritional and health status of the target population
Nutrition Challenge
Target Level
By how much we need to increase the provitamin A content in the maize
to improve the vitamin A status for their consumers?
% of daily micronutrient requirement to achieve
Approximately 50%
Women Children 4-6 yrs-old
Requirement (EAR) (µg/day) 500 275
Intake of Maize (g/day) 400 200
Retention 50%
Bioavailability 12:1
Baseline content (µg/g) 0-0.5
Additional content (µg/g) +15
INITIAL TARGET LEVEL: 15.0-15.5 µg/g fresh, raw weight 17.0-17.5 µg/g dw
Initial Assumptions
Nutrition Research
Estimate the Target Level
Efficacy Trial
Effectiveness
Development
Evaluation
Maize Intake
Retention
Bioavailability
Nutrition Survey-2009
Vitamin A status
Age/Gender Group
Year Prevalence Notes Information Source
Children ages 6-59 months
1997 65.7% Serum retinol levels <0.7 umol/L
NFNC
Children ages 6-59 months
2003 53% Serum retinol levels <0.7 umol/L
NFNC
Children ages 24-59 months
2009 57% Serum retinol levels <0.7 umol/L Prevalence adjusted for infection using MRDR test was 48%
HarvestPlus Survey
Mkushi and Nyimba districts
Usual Intake of Maize Nyimba (gm) Mkushi (gm) p-value
n Mean (mean+se)
Median n Mean (mean+se)
Median
Reference child
Season 1 (May-June)
175 154.8+5.5 145 208 165+5.9 144 ns
Season 2 (Oct-Dec)
162 183.4+7.7 171 177 195+6.8 183 ns
Total 337
168.5+4.7 153 385 178.9+4.5 174
Younger sibling Season 1 (May-June)
53 70.1+7.2 53 58 67.8+6.9 46 ns
Season 2 (Oct-Dec)
51 106.3+15 78 56 106.1+7.2 108 ns
Total 104
87.8+8.6 64.5 114 86.7+5.3 75.5
Mother/female caret aker
Season 1 (May-June)
169 260.4+9.2 260 205 311.3+10.9 282 0.001
Season 2 (Oct-Dec)
156 256+8.8 242 173 320.8+9.8 315 0.000
Total 325
258.4+6.4 115 378 315.7+7.4 293
Maize Production
• Both hybrid and open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) are reported to be grown.
• Although the relative amounts of each major type of maize seed has not been calculated, the data suggest that providing both hybrids and OPVs may be necessary to reach the majority of rural households.
Retention
CIMMYT study showed 50% exponential decay of provitamin A in maize grain, cobs, and flour after 4 months of storage: – Genotype, storage time and temperature are the most important determinant
of provitamin A retention.
Study at Iowa State University showed 75% retention of provitamin A maize when cooked into porridge
NISIR Study (2011)
4 genotypes considered for release in 2012
Storage: 6 months (0, 3, 5, and 6 mo)-stored as grains and cobs
Milling: samp and maize meal
Cooking: roasted, boiled, nshima, porridge and samp
Bioavailability (Bioconversion)
Provitamin A Maizeb-carotene to Vitamin A 7:1
Li et al. AJCN 2010
More Favorable Bioconversion
Other bioconversion results for biofortified crops
Golden rice 3:1 Biofortified Yellow Maize 3:1
HarvestPlus assumption for
target levels of provitamin A in maize
Assumptions for target levels of provitamin A in maize, updated with
research results % of daily micronutrient requirement to achieve
~50% ~50%
Age/physiological status group
Non-pregnant/non-
lactating women
Children 4-6 yr of age
Non-pregnant/non-lactating women
Children 4-6 yr of age
Estimated average requirement (µg/day)
500 275 500 275
Intake (g fresh weight/day)
400 200 250-300 200
Micronutrient retention after processing
50%
Retention after 4 months storage: 43% Retention after wet milling and cooking:
75% Total cumulative retention: 33%
Bioavailability 12:1 7 :1 Baseline micronutrient content (µg/g dry weight)
0 - 0.5 0 – 0.5
Additional content + 15 + 15
Efficacy Trials in 2012
Mkushi: Population-based approach (JHU)Nyimba: Stable Isotope approach (UWM)
Zambian Collaborators: NFNC and TDRC
HarvestPlus c/o IFPRI2033 K Street, NW • Washington, DC 20006-1002 USATel: 202-862-5600 • Fax: [email protected] • www.HarvestPlus.org
Reaching End Users (REU) Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato Project
Image:www.hki.org
• The HarvestPlus Reaching End Users Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato Project disseminated orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) in Uganda and Mozambique from 2006 to 2009.
• First time that a biofortified crop with a visibly different trait (color) had been deployed on such a large scale.
• Project assessed OFSP adoption rates and whether adoption resulted in improved vitamin A intakes among young children and their mothers.
• 14,000 households in Mozambique and 10,000 households in Uganda were reached.
Project Description
The Project successfully promoted OFSP in Mozambique and Uganda. It resulted in adoption of OFSP by:
•77 percent of project households in Mozambique (compared to 9 percent in the control group)
65 percent of project households in Uganda, (compared to 4 percent in the control group).
Key Findings: Adoption
The REU intervention resulted in a significant increase in total vitamin A intakes among young children, older children, and women in both Mozambique and Uganda.
In both countries, the change in vitamin A intakes in the intervention groups was accounted for by the increased intake of vitamin A from OFSP.
Key Findings: Vitamin A Intakes
Image:www.hki.org