Biofortifying Crops to Combat Malnutrition and Food and Nutritional Insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean

Who are we?

AgroSalud is a consortium of partner institutions that aims to reduce malnutrition and improve food and nutritional security in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) through the consumption and production of biofortified crops and food products derived therefrom. Unlike the varieties currently planted and consumed in LAC, biofortified crops are crops with higher nutrient content and improved agronomic characteristics due to traditional plant breeding methods.

AgroSalud works to improve the nutritional content and agronomic characteristics of crops important in LAC such as rice, beans, maize, and sweet potato. Together with its partners in different countries, AgroSalud carries out research in agronomy, nutrition, post-harvest technologies, and social sciences to gather data that can be used to study the impact of biofortified crops and serve as a decision-making tool.

Who forms part of AgroSalud?

The project, financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), is led by five international organizations located in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru that work with researchers in at least 13 LAC countries. These organizations are:

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), Brazil International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia Latin American and Caribbean Consortium to Support Cassava Research and Development (CLAYUCA), Colombia International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico International Potato Center (CIP), Peru

AgroSalud carries out activities in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, , , , , Haiti, , Mexico, , and Peru. What are our objectives?

To develop, evaluate, disseminate, and promote biofortified crops. To increase, using traditional plant breeding methods, the contents of iron and zinc in maize, rice, beans, and sweet potato; tryptophan and lysine in maize; and beta-carotene in sweet potato, cassava, and maize. To measure the nutritional, economic, and agronomic impact of these crops on producers and consumers. To determine the relevance and social, economic, and financial viability of investing in the research and development of biofortified food products as well as in their production, transformation, and consumption.

Our main activities

Comprehensive research to ensure that producers and consumers have access to seed and food products with improved nutritional content and broad acceptance.

Advances made so far Crop lines with high nutrient levels identified and crossed with lines containing superior agronomic characteristics, and then tested under different environmental conditions.

Observation nurseries established with potential crop varieties and sources of genes to launch breeding programs in different LAC countries. Open-pollinated yellow and white maize varieties with high tryptophan and lysine contents evaluated in Colombia's coffee-growing area and departments of Cauca, Nariño, and Valle del Cauca. A maize hybrid, 'Mazorca de Oro', and an open-pollinated maize variety, 'Nutrader', released by the Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology INTA in that country. These varieties, with double the levels of lysine and tryptophan than conventional maize, were developed, tested, and released with support from CIMMYT and AgroSalud.

Six maize lines identified, with high beta- carotene content (up to 550% higher than that of conventional maize).

Black bean lines identified that not only have 20% more iron than traditional bean varieties, but are also resistant to drought and bean golden yellow mosaic virus. Rice lines identified that have double the iron content (between 5 and 6 ppm) of conventional rice lines. Field trials conducted in Colombia to better understand climate and soil factors affecting the iron and zinc contents of rice grain. Work carried out in collaboration with Colombia's National Rice Federation FEDEARROZ.

Clean facility built at CIAT headquarters in Colombia for processing rice samples. This laboratory is equipped to polish and mill rice with minimal mineral contamination.

84 high-yielding, orange-fleshed sweet potato clones identified, with high dry matter, beta-carotene, iron, and zinc contents, as compared with other sweet potato varieties. Technologies to develop food products from biofortified crops selected, adapted, and validated by post-harvest specialists from EMBRAPA and CLAYUCA. These include extrusion and bakery processes to produce flour and prepare foods such as breads and pastas.

Study of the geographical dimensions of the biofortification strategy to identify malnutrition 'hot spots' and sites where priority AgroSalud crops are grown.

Advances made so far

Suitable sites in LAC for AgroSalud activities identified. Cartographic models developed and several country maps constructed, taking into account variables such as:

Nutritional indicators (biochemical, anthropometric) Crop production (area harvested) Socioeconomic variables (unsatisfied basic needs, UBN; extreme poverty) Crop consumption Location of agronomic trials and population density Actions to assess the nutritional impact of biofortified crops and identify project target sites. These take into account how widespread the crops are, the nutritional status of the local population, and other variables.

Advances made so far

Food and nutrition assessment for five departments of Colombia (Atlántico, Cauca, Nariño, Sucre, and Valle del Cauca), commissioned by AgroSalud and carried out by the Colombian Foundation to Promote Nutritional and Food Security.

Food and nutrition assessment for two departments of Nicaragua (Madriz and Nueva Segovia) and for the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), commissioned by AgroSalud and carried out by nutritionist María de la Aurora Suárez.

Assembly of AgroSalud's Nutritional Quality Laboratory initiated at CIAT headquarters in Colombia. The laboratory will be capable of estimating the relative amount of nutrients in biofortified crops and food products derived therefrom that are absorbed by the human body.

Protocol developed, using dietary data, to assess the nutritional impact in several LAC countries of consuming maize biofortified with tryptophan and lysine.

Nutritional impact of consuming biofortified beans, with higher contents of iron and zinc, and biofortified maize, with higher contents of tryptophan and lysine, in preschool children assessed collaboratively by the Universidad del Valle (Valle del Cauca, Colombia), the Foundation for Agricultural Research and Development FIDAR, the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology FONTAGRO, CIAT, and AgroSalud Course held on “Methods for Evaluating Sensory Characteristics and Consumer Acceptability of Biofortified Crops and Food Products”, with the participation of researchers and students from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Evaluation of the potential economic and agronomic impact of biofortified crops in several LAC countries.

Advances made so far To predict the potential impact of consuming biofortified crops, secondary data gathered and analyzed to estimate the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Protocol prepared to evaluate the acceptability, acceptance, and impact of biofortified crops at the farmer level with the collaboration of researchers from INTA in Nicaragua, the National Agricultural Technology Center (CENTA) in El Salvador, and the Universidad Nacional Agrícola in Honduras.

Promotion of varieties among small farmers and production of seed for validation and dissemination.

Advances made so far Within the seed promotion and production activities carried out so far, the following were carried out in different Nicaraguan localities:

Seed of maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties, with high contents of tryptophan and lysine, delivered to farmers for the planting of 2200 diffusion plots. Work carried out in collaboration with INTA.

Small-scale planting of 11.3 tons of trytophan- and lysine-biofortified maize by 521 small farmers, using a non-conventional seed production system. Work carried out in collaboration with four

Nicaraguan NGOs: Foundation for Rural Research and Development (FIDER), Caritas-Matagalpa, Caritas-, and Caritas-Estelí.

Using a participatory research approach, on-farm evaluation in 12 Nicaraguan locations of four bean lines with improved iron content, in 2 locations of one rice line with improved iron content, and in 32 locations of 10 orange-fleshed sweet potato clones, with high beta-carotene content. Nine pre-validation trials of a rice line with high iron content established in Siuna in Nicaragua's RAAN.

48 validation plots of 3 cream-colored cassava clones established in Nicaragua.

In other Central American countries, advances were also made in the following activities: 12 nurseries of bean lines with high mineral content established: two in Costa Rica, two in El Salvador, three in Honduras, and five in Nicaragua. 73 trials involving new maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties, with high contents of tryptophan and lysine, established: 29 in El Salvador, 6 in Guatemala, 26 in Honduras, and 12 in Nicaragua.

Forging of alliances with public and private entities and NGOs participating in the development, evaluation, dissemination, or promotion of biofortified crops. This work has been coupled with the widespread diffusion of the project to strengthen ties with different stakeholders and target audiences.

Advances made so far

Alliances formed in the different countries where the project is carried out to support plant breeding research efforts and impact assessments, including the following

Tropical Agricultural Research Center CIAT, Bolivia

National Agricultural Technology Center CENTA, El Salvador

Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research CORPOICA

National Rice Federation FEDEARROZ, Colombia

Foundation for Agricultural Research and Development FIDAR, Colombia

Dominican Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute IDIAF, Grain Program, Dominican Republic

Rice Research Institute IIA, Cuba Inational Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (NIFAP), Mexico

Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA)

Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment (ORE), Haiti

Universities in Colombia

Universidad del Valle. Universidad Industrial de Santander. Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

Universities in Costa Rica

Universidad Nacional.

Universities in the United States

University of Connecticut. Yale University.

Universities in Honduras

Escuela Panamericana Zamorano.

Universities in Nicaragua

Instituto Politécnico de la Salud de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma. Universidad Centroamericana. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua (UNAN). Crop biofortification as a sustainable intervention to reduce micronutrient and protein deficiency and for the improvement of food security in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On the AgroSalud website, you will find general information on the project, as well as presentations in Spanish, English and Portuguese on: ?Biofortified crops. ?Evaluations of nutritional impact. ?Biofortification in Latin America and the Caribbean. ?Guidelines for carrying out nutritional studies. ?The role of agriculture in health. ?On-line catalogue with nutritional and geographic information for several Latin American and Caribbean countries. ?Biofortification experiences and studies in diverse Latin American and Caribbean countries. ?Publications. ?Thesis and internship results. ?For 11 countries, state-level maps indicating the population at nutritional risk.

The objective of AgroSalud is to improve human health in Latin America and the Caribbean through the development of nutritionally enhanced maize, rice, beans, and sweet potato. The project aims to increase the zinc and iron content of these crops, the tryptophan and lysine content of yellow maize and the beta-carotene content in sweet potato and yellow maize.

Photos: CIAT Colombia, Bolívia e CIAT, FIDAR, AgroSalud.