ZIRON Pulse: Upscaling adoption and exploitation of a wide diversity of Iron and Zinc-rich beans by rural populations in Africa

In their report "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World" (2017) the United Nations state that "The number of undernourished people in the world has been on the rise since 2014, reaching an estimated 821 million in 2017". Increases in population, the impacts of climate change long-term effects and extreme events, finite land and diminishing resources all point to the need for a step change if we are to deliver safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. The sustainable production of future crops has to be accomplished with decreased utilization of essential resources, particularly nitrogen fertilizers.

Grain legumes (pulses), such as common bean, provide an unparalleled solution to this problem because of their inherent capacity for symbiosis with bacteria that can fix atmospheric nitrogen, which minimizes the need for nitrogen fertilization. Grain legumes have a higher nutritional value and the amino acid composition than cereals. Improvement (biofortification) of the contents of micronutrients particularly iron and zinc in common bean is a feasible strategy to solve the problem of micronutrient deficiencies that are more widespread in developing countries. Micronutrient deficiencies are often referred to as 'hidden hunger' because the problem is often not obvious but, when considerable, leads to irreversible damage. While supplementation is effective for easy-to-reach groups and relatively low cost, this strategy often misses the hard-to-reach vulnerable groups such as the rural and urban poor.

Focussing on the development of iron and zinc rich beans, this project is founded on a long-established bean biofortification breeding program in Kenya that is in the process of developing new varieties with high levels of iron and zinc. Project research will firstly increase current knowledge of the genetic basis of high micronutrient accumulation and agronomic durability in common bean and improve the precision and efficiency of future molecular breeding for more nutritious and durable bean varieties. Secondly, the interdisciplinary research undertaken in this project will demonstrate to the nutritional benefits of the iron and zinc rich beans produced by the breeding program across the stakeholders in the supply and value chains including consumers, small holders and policy makers. It will deliver more nutritious foods in the form of widely eaten common beans in a manner that is culturally appropriate and suited to the common form of cooking and so improve physical and cognitive health in Kenya and ultimately other developing countries. Information concerning micronutrient rich bean varieties will be disseminated in Kenya and will form a platform for analogous activities in other African countries.

Project activities will also promote social welfare and provide science-based advice for policymakers. Our aim is to reach at least 10000 rural house-holds in Kenya, and enhance linkages and interactions with bean grain producers and the market, as well as improving the marketing and technical skills of local farmers. By providing African farmers with the means to produce high nutritional value beans as a feasible and sustainable solution for the alleviation of malnutrition, their revenue and economic wealth will also increase. The inclusion of farmers and local communities in this program of biofortification agriculture not only ensures community engagement at a local level but serves to protect sustainability and focuses on nutritional benefits to women and children in rural regions.

ZIRON Pulse - Impact Summary
Micronutrient malnutrition is one of the most serious health challenges facing vast sectors of Africa's population, particularly resource-poor women and children. Development and utilization of biofortified common bean cultivars enriched in iron and zinc is an effective and sustainable strategy for reducing micronutrient deficiencies in Africa, ensuring wide availability, affordability regular access and is low cost. The biofortification of common bean varieties provides a unique opportunity for improving micronutrient nutrition because it is widely grown (>5.1 million ha annually in Africa) and consumed in Africa with reports identifying that Kenya, the target country for ZIRON Pulse, has the highest per capita consumption of beans estimated at 14 kg/annum but can be as high as 66 kg/annum in western Kenya. Common beans are already widely consumed, because they are rich in protein (>20%), dietary fibre, minerals and calories, and are relatively cheap and highly marketable. Consumption of grain legumes has been shown to have multiple health benefits including reduced obesity, CVD, metabolic syndrome etc, with improved protein and mineral nutrition compared to cereals (Rebellow et al. 2014. J.Agri. Food Chem. 62, 7029). This project builds on a regional breeding program led by the University of Nairobi that was initiated in 2004 to develop and disseminate micronutrient dense bean varieties. These biofortified beans have nearly 5 times more iron (>80ppm) and zinc (>40ppm) compared to fortified maize meal (15ppm iron and 7 ppm zinc). The activities of the proposed research will have immediate impact on these efforts by facilitating more rapid progress in the bean improvement program supporting agricultural policy (Ministry of Agriculture). Building on the solid evidence of biofortification as a route to nutritional efficacy, we will have direct impact on this program, and greatly assist existing in-country efforts to ensure that the new varieties have a meaningful impact on food security and nutrition in Kenya (National Food and Nutrition Security Policy, 2011: Kenya Health Policy 2014-30). These activities will help deliver the goals in the Kenya Vision 2030 and its realisation plan the Big 4 Agenda: a prosperous, middle income country with high quality of life and improved food security, universal health and enhanced manufacturing. ZIRON Pulse will enhance the development of iron and zinc rich common beans and demonstrate their efficacy and utility to the supply and value chains. It will serve to integrate the new biofortified varieties with their improved nutritional benefits seamlessly and sustainably into local and national food chains, as well as societal, urban and technical infrastructures within future communities. Farmers will not only benefit from the availability of affordable seeds of micronutrient dense, biofortified bean varieties but also from reduced agrochemical inputs (less fertiliser), increased productivity and better returns on their labour. The consumption of micronutrient-rich beans will have a direct impact on the local population because of the reduced incidence of iron deficiency anaemia and zinc deficiency conditions, particularly in the most vulnerable groups. Communities will benefit from employment, and better incomes and livelihoods. Consumers of beans will save on energy costs since the new varieties cook much faster compared to present varieties which require 2-3 hours to cook. Seed companies and processors will benefit from higher productivity and new market demanded products. This project will have additional impact by boosting the transfer of knowledge from fundamental research to other sectors of the bio-economy and participate actively in advice to policymakers to promote sustainable, science-based solutions to micronutrient deficiency-based challenges to the health and wellbeing of African citizens and society.