The production and promotion of nutrient rich foodstuffs to address the double burden of malnutrition.

The United Nations have declared 2016 to 2025 as the decade of action to eradicate all forms of malnutrition worldwide; ensuring access to healthier and more sustainable diets for all, regardless of location and whoever they are. This brief also encompasses the double burden of malnutrition now facing most societies and characterised by the coexistence of undernutrition along with overweight, obesity or diet-related noncommunicable disease (NCDs). The proposed project "NUTRIFOOD" will improve the nutritional quality of diets in West Africa by identifying new nutritionally enhanced varieties of tomato, amaranth, cassava and yam; incorporating these fruits and vegetables and their derived products into the food systems will diversify the existing food basket and provide improved quality. The project will draw upon global resources and expertise, utilising unique germplasm. The tools and resources developed are generic in nature and although our focus will be Nigeria and Benin in West Africa the findings can be translated across other SSA countries and Low Medium Income countries globally. Fruit and vegetables are rich in provitamin A. One of our key performance indicators will be the provision of foodstuffs with the potential to reduce Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD). VAD is widespread in low-income countries and prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where 83% of children aged 2 to 5 years exhibit VAD. As a result of this malnutrition, 500,000 cases of blindness and 1.25 million deaths occur annually. With this aim, NUTRIFOOD will focus on high provitamin A fruits and vegetables as well as the high caloric staple crops cassava and yam biofortified with provitamin A and other nutrients The processing approaches used will potentially create storable products with improved nutrient uptake. As vitamin A is essential for well-being in the first 1000 days of life and the development of children, schools and households will be target in NUTRIFOOD. In Benin and Nigeria nutritional interventions in schools will be carried out. Potentially, these studies could contribute to the alleviation of VAD and improved cognitive development in infants. Modern communication technologies and approaches will be used to communicate the advantages of healthy diets and how to generate healthy diets in a cost-effective manner. The consortium will carried out a series of workshops to which multi-actors across the supply chain will be invited. With, scientists, NGO representatives, policy makers, parents (mothers) and civil organisations involved co-design approaches to the implementation of healthy diets will be attempted and promoted.

NUTRIFOOD activities are aligned to, and synergistic with, the Sustainable Development Goals aimed at ending all forms of malnutrition (SDG2) and ensuring healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages (SDG3). Benefits of the research proposal will include short to long-term societal and economic development in our principal partner countries, Nigeria and Benin. In addition, the project's outputs have potential transferable impact across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond including Latin America. Thus, the project has global potential to address the double burden of malnutrition at the levels of individuals, households and populations.
A wealth of scientific evidence is available, linking diets to improved health, wellbeing and quality of life. It is estimated that nearly one in three persons globally suffers from at least one form of malnutrition or diet-related noncommunicable disease (NCD). The developmental, economic, social and medical impacts of this global burden of malnutrition are serious and lasting, for individuals and their families, for communities and for countries. The vast economic losses and welfare costs associated with diet related disease states are estimated to be $2 trillion USD or a 3% global GDP loss. Diversification of foods and improved nutritional quality as advocated in NUTRIFOOD and represents a cost-effective means of addressing the double burden of malnutrition.
In NUTRIFOOD we have a focus on Vitamin A deficiency (VAD); because our activities are directed towards households and children, especial the first 1000 days of life. VAD is widespread in low-income countries and prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where 83% of children aged 2 to 5 years exhibit VAD. As a result of this malnutrition, 500,000 cases of blindness and 1.25 million deaths occur annually. NUTRIFOOD will diversify and introduce biofortified beta carotene foodstuffs across the food system to directly impact on VAD.
NUTRIFOOD offers the SSA and Latin American farmers and their countries' economies an opportunity to develop new income streams and business/enterprise opportunities, linking poor rural communities to growth markets that impact on food security, poverty alleviation, and equity. In addition, the project outputs have improved health promoting properties, quality and environmental credentials. These opportunities will potentially improve the livelihoods of small holder farmers and subsequently all associated parties across the supply chain. These advances will also create employment/business opportunities both domestically and overseas. This will increase revenue generation, advance much needed rural development and increase individual and national prosperity. A key feature of the NUTRIFOOD programme is the direct engagement with households and children as well as multi-actors from small holder farmers and across the supply chains, encompassing local industries and retailers. Therefore, the outputs from the project will be evaluated under "real-life" scenarios with input and engagement across the potential supply chain. The multi-actor parties involved will be supported by IITA's, CIAT's and AVRDC's local engagement activities, providing web-based advice, open days and helpdesks, technology transfer events and procedures to assist the adoption of new improved varieties, cultivation and food processing practices and meal planning. Training and capacity building are an essential component of NUTRIFOOD. Specific training exchanges between all partners will be performed to ensure technology and information transfer. Thus, the NUTRIFOOD project will contribute to the development of skills and resources in the targeted regions. For example individual young scientists with expertise in plant breeding, nutritional, social science and analytical science with be generated. Our present estimate is that five new posts will be created, increasing critical mass in the field.