IFPRI – International Food Policy Research Institute

Purpose

Foods grown from biofortified seeds provide a high dose of vitamin A, zinc, and iron – the essential nutrients needed to maintain a healthy and diversified diet. Biofortification is also a cost-effective and innovative nutrition solution to micronutrient deficiency or hidden hunger, which affects over 2.5 billion people globally and contributes to increased acute malnutrition in 173 million adults and 11.6 million children in food-insecure regions globally. This Global Affairs Canada-funded four-year Expanding Nutrients in Food Systems (ENFS) project aims to increase the consumption of nutritious biofortified food by over 11 million men, women, and children in food-insecure regions across Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Project activities will also increase the consumption of biofortified foods by vulnerable women, girls, and children under five and household income by women and women-led small to medium-sized enterprises. Beneficiaries of this project will benefit from strengthened gender equality in decision-making and control over the use of biofortified seeds and food.