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Promoting rapid and sustained adoption of biofortified crops: What we learned from iron-biofortified bean delivery approaches in Rwanda.

ABSTRACT: Micronutrient deficiencies, also known as hidden hunger, affect two billion people worldwide, curtailing their ability to lead healthy, productive lives. Biofortified staple crops, bred to be rich in micronutrient content, are a cost-effective and scalable solution to alleviating micronutrient deficiency, particularly among rural households who consume what they produce. Delivery of biofortified planting material in Rwanda began in 2012, and it is important to learn from the efforts undertaken to date to inform the design of higher impact - lower cost delivery strategies for scaling up these crops. In this paper, we use a nationally representative household survey of bean producers and delivery data from seven consecutive seasons and apply duration analysis to estimate the impact of different delivery approaches on household time to adoption, disadoption and readoption of iron-biofortified beans in Rwanda. Proximity to formal delivery via sales of small packets of planting material quickens adoption and readoption, while delivery of larger quantities of planting material to small-scale producers within a village slows disadoption of iron-biofortified beans. Informal dissemination within social networks and access to extension are also major drivers of rapid adoption. In addition, households whose main decision maker for bean production is a woman, has some formal education, and more years of experience growing beans disadopt iron-biofortified beans more slowly than other households. These findings provide evidence that current efforts to promote iron-biofortified crops have been successful and are expected to inform future development of sustainable and cost-effective delivery models for biofortified crops in Rwanda and elsewhere.

SUBMITTER: Vaiknoras K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6472331 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Promoting rapid and sustained adoption of biofortified crops: What we learned from iron-biofortified bean delivery approaches in Rwanda.

Vaiknoras Kate K Larochelle Catherine C Birol Ekin E Asare-Marfo Dorene D Herrington Caitlin C

Food policy 20190201

Micronutrient deficiencies, also known as hidden hunger, affect two billion people worldwide, curtailing their ability to lead healthy, productive lives. Biofortified staple crops, bred to be rich in micronutrient content, are a cost-effective and scalable solution to alleviating micronutrient deficiency, particularly among rural households who consume what they produce. Delivery of biofortified planting material in Rwanda began in 2012, and it is important to learn from the efforts undertaken t ...[more]

PMID: 31007359

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Project description:Staple food crops tend to be low in micronutrients; therefore, individuals whose diets rely heavily on them can suffer from micronutrient deficiency. Biofortification addresses this issue through the breeding of staple crops that are micronutrient-dense and high yielding. One such crop is iron-biofortified beans. Ten iron-biofortified bean varieties were released between 2010 and 2012 in Rwanda, a country with high rates of bean production and consumption, to address iron deficiency. This study evaluates the effect of the most widely adopted of these varieties, RWR2245, on household yield, land cultivated under beans, bean consumption, purchases, and sales. Because the adoption decision could be endogenous, we use a control function approach to quantify the impacts of adoption. RWR2245 provides a yield gain of 20%-49% over traditional bush bean varieties. In our preferred model specification, we find that over a 12-month period, growing RWR2245 for at least one out of two annual growing seasons increases the length of time beans are consumed from own production by 0.64 months (19-20 days), reduces the length of time beans are purchased for consumption by 0.73 months (22-23 days), and increases the probability of selling beans by 12%. Adoption can thus improve household nutrition via two channels: primarily by increasing iron intake via substituting biofortified harvested beans for less nutrient-dense beans from the market, and additionally by increasing household income that can be spent on nutritious foods through the reduction in bean purchases and increased likelihood of selling beans. Moreover, the sale of iron-biofortified beans implies the availability of iron-dense food in markets, also benefiting households that purchase beans. These findings are promising for the continued adoption of iron-biofortified beans in Rwanda and elsewhere and provide evidence that biofortified crops are an effective investment for nutrition, food security, and poverty reduction.

Project description:Background: Sweetpotato and potato are fast-maturing staple crops and widely consumed in low- and middle-income countries. Conventional breeding to biofortify these crops with iron could improve iron intakes. To our knowledge, iron absorption from sweetpotato and potato has not been assessed.Objective: The aim was to assess iron absorption from regular and iron-biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato in Malawi and yellow-fleshed potato and iron-biofortified purple-fleshed potato in Peru.Methods: We conducted 2 randomized, multiple-meal studies in generally healthy, iron-depleted women of reproductive age. Malawian women (n = 24) received 400 g regular or biofortified sweetpotato test meals and Peruvian women (n = 35) received 500 g regular or biofortified potato test meals. Women consumed the meals at breakfast for 2 wk and were then crossed over to the other variety. We labeled the test meals with 57Fe or 58Fe and measured cumulative erythrocyte incorporation of the labels 14 d after completion of each test-meal sequence to calculate iron absorption. Iron absorption was compared by paired-sample t tests.Results: The regular and biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato test meals contained 0.55 and 0.97 mg Fe/100 g. Geometric mean (95% CI) fractional iron absorption (FIA) was 5.82% (3.79%, 8.95%) and 6.02% (4.51%, 8.05%), respectively (P = 0.81), resulting in 1.9-fold higher total iron absorption (TIA) from biofortified sweetpotato (P < 0.001). The regular and biofortified potato test meals contained 0.33 and 0.69 mg Fe/100 g. FIA was 28.4% (23.5%, 34.2%) from the regular yellow-fleshed and 13.3% (10.6%, 16.6%) from the biofortified purple-fleshed potato meals, respectively (P < 0.001), resulting in no significant difference in TIA (P = 0.88).Conclusions: FIA from regular yellow-fleshed potato was remarkably high, at 28%. Iron absorbed from both potato test meals covered 33% of the daily absorbed iron requirement for women of reproductive age, while the biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato test meal covered 18% of this requirement. High polyphenol concentrations were likely the major inhibitors of iron absorption. These trials were registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03840031 (Malawi) and NCT04216030 (Peru).

Project description:Biofortification is a plant breeding method that introduces increased concentrations of minerals in staple food crops (e.g., legumes, cereal grains), and has shown success in alleviating insufficient Fe intake in various human populations. Unlike other strategies utilized to alleviate Fe deficiency, studies of the gut microbiota in the context of Fe biofortification have not yet been reported, although the consumption of Fe biofortified staple food crops has increased significantly over time. Hence, in this study, we performed a 6-week feeding trial in Gallus gallus (n = 14), aimed to investigate the alterations in the gut microbiome following administration of an Fe biofortified bean-based diet (biofortified, BFe) versus a bean based diet with poorly-bioavailable Fe (standard, SFe). Cream seeded carioca bean based diets were designed in an identical fashion to those used in a recent human clinical trial of Fe biofortified beans in Rwanda. We hypothesized that the different dietary Fe contents in the beans based diets will alter the composition and function of the intestinal microbiome. The primary outcomes were changes in the gut microbiome composition and function analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We observed no significant changes in phylogenetic diversity between groups. There were significant differences in the composition of the microbiota between groups, with the BFe group harboring fewer taxa participating in bacterial Fe uptake, increased abundance of bacteria involved in phenolic catabolism, and increased abundance of beneficial butyrate-producing bacteria. Additionally, depletion of key bacterial pathways responsible for bacterial viability and Fe uptake suggest that improvements in Fe bioavailability, in addition to increases in Fe-polyphenol and Fe-phytate complexes due to biofortification, led to decreased concentrations of cecal Fe available for bacterial utilization. Our findings demonstrate that Fe biofortification may improve Fe status without negatively altering the structure and function of the gut microbiota, as is observed with other nutritional methods of Fe supplementation. These results may be used to further improve the efficacy and safety of future biofortification efforts in eradicating global Fe deficiency.

Dataset Information

Promoting rapid and sustained adoption of biofortified crops: What we learned from iron-biofortified bean delivery approaches in Rwanda.

Publications

Promoting rapid and sustained adoption of biofortified crops: What we learned from iron-biofortified bean delivery approaches in Rwanda.

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