Addressing malnutrition with biofortified maize in Zimbabwe: from crop management to policy and consumers
Lead Research Organisation:
Rothamsted Research
Department Name: Sustainable Soils and Crops
Abstract
The double burden of malnutrition refers to the suboptimal intake of essential nutrients (minerals, metals and vitamins), either caused simply by inadequate dietary intake and/or due to the intake of "empty calories" i.e., food that has sufficient calories but lacks adequate amounts of essential nutrients. This double burden falls disproportionally heavy on developing countries, and there on women and children. It directly increases child mortality and childhood stunting, and reduces people's ability mending diseases. In Zimbabwe, an estimated one in four children have vitamin A deficiency, two-thirds are living with iron deficiency and one in three have iron deficiency anaemia (UNICEF, 2019). And a quarter of children (0.76 million) under five in Zimbabwe are currently stunted. Among women of reproductive age, one in four have vitamin A deficiency, six in ten women have iron deficiency and one in four are anaemic.
Malnutrition and its negative effects are particularly common in rural areas where people mostly live from their own crop production and the diet is mostly cereal based. This group is difficult to reach with supplements and has basically no access to fortified processed food. As an alternative method, plant breeders developed "biofortified" crops, meaning crops with a higher content of minerals, metals and (pro)vitamin A (PVA). However, recent research has shown that the effectiveness of such biofortified crops is a) affected considerably by soil characteristics, and that b) their nutrient content can be enhanced with micronutrient fertilizer and other crop management options. To enable making best use of the new biofortified crop varieties we propose the following research:
Work package (WP) 1: what are the effects of agronomic management options on PVA concentration and micronutrient uptake of novel, biofortified maize lines. African soils are often poor and have a low fertility, resulting in low yields and low grain quality. This can, for example, be addressed with soil conservation methods (increased return of crop residues and reduced tillage), with macro and micro nutrient treatments, or with liming. However, little is known how such treatments affect the nutrient content in the newly developed biofortified maize varieties. We will, therefore, test a range of the new varieties under several agronomic management options, to identify the best conditions and treatments for high quality, nutritious maize.
WP2. Testing the effectiveness of agronomic biofortification at the farm-scale. As mentioned above, African soils are often poor, but they are also very variable. Farmers of course know their soils well, they know where the crops grow well and where not, and they often increase soil fertility in particular fields (where they dump kitchen refuse or crop residues, where the cattle are kept at night, etc). Therefore, farmers could grow biofortified crops in preferential places but it is unknown how much this could contribute to an improved nutritional value. We will test these options with 60 farmers for two seasons for their effectiveness, feasibility, and possible impact.
WP3. Closing the nutrient gap or Predicting the effect of bio + agro fortification at the national level. Although maize is a very important staple for most people in Zimbabwe, they also eat other food. And only their total "food basket" determines their nutrient uptake. Knowledge of the food basket composition and of the nutrient content of all items in the basket allows then to estimate the possible contribution of the bio-and agro-fortified food on the nutrition of the people. WP3 will estimate this impact for all regions in Zimbabwe based on WP1 and WP2 results in combination with national statistics on food consumption and, where necessary, some additional analysis of common food items.
WP4. This WP focuses on upscaling and dissemination and has no research components.
Malnutrition and its negative effects are particularly common in rural areas where people mostly live from their own crop production and the diet is mostly cereal based. This group is difficult to reach with supplements and has basically no access to fortified processed food. As an alternative method, plant breeders developed "biofortified" crops, meaning crops with a higher content of minerals, metals and (pro)vitamin A (PVA). However, recent research has shown that the effectiveness of such biofortified crops is a) affected considerably by soil characteristics, and that b) their nutrient content can be enhanced with micronutrient fertilizer and other crop management options. To enable making best use of the new biofortified crop varieties we propose the following research:
Work package (WP) 1: what are the effects of agronomic management options on PVA concentration and micronutrient uptake of novel, biofortified maize lines. African soils are often poor and have a low fertility, resulting in low yields and low grain quality. This can, for example, be addressed with soil conservation methods (increased return of crop residues and reduced tillage), with macro and micro nutrient treatments, or with liming. However, little is known how such treatments affect the nutrient content in the newly developed biofortified maize varieties. We will, therefore, test a range of the new varieties under several agronomic management options, to identify the best conditions and treatments for high quality, nutritious maize.
WP2. Testing the effectiveness of agronomic biofortification at the farm-scale. As mentioned above, African soils are often poor, but they are also very variable. Farmers of course know their soils well, they know where the crops grow well and where not, and they often increase soil fertility in particular fields (where they dump kitchen refuse or crop residues, where the cattle are kept at night, etc). Therefore, farmers could grow biofortified crops in preferential places but it is unknown how much this could contribute to an improved nutritional value. We will test these options with 60 farmers for two seasons for their effectiveness, feasibility, and possible impact.
WP3. Closing the nutrient gap or Predicting the effect of bio + agro fortification at the national level. Although maize is a very important staple for most people in Zimbabwe, they also eat other food. And only their total "food basket" determines their nutrient uptake. Knowledge of the food basket composition and of the nutrient content of all items in the basket allows then to estimate the possible contribution of the bio-and agro-fortified food on the nutrition of the people. WP3 will estimate this impact for all regions in Zimbabwe based on WP1 and WP2 results in combination with national statistics on food consumption and, where necessary, some additional analysis of common food items.
WP4. This WP focuses on upscaling and dissemination and has no research components.
Planned Impact
The direct impact of our research is aimed towards enhancing the quality of life, health and well-being of people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The initial focus of the project is Zimbabwe (Low Income Country on the DAC List of ODA Recipients), which has considerable micronutrient deficiency (MND) problems, but results will be is easily scalable to neighbouring countries in East Africa with a similar dependence on maize as main stable and equally wide spread micronutrient deficiencies. By developing a multidisciplinary approach combining biofortification and agronomic fortification with a dissemination and policy framework, the project will address several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the elimination of hunger (SDG2), good health and wellbeing (SDG3) and responsible consumption and production (SDG12).
Finalized and ongoing "GeoNutrition" projects in Malawi and Ethiopia are already improving our understanding of the link between soil characteristics and crop composition for Zn and Se. Our ongoing GeoNutrition project also tests micro-nutrient fertilizer treatments for maize in Ethiopia. Another project led by Rothamsted Research, the "Africa Soils Information Service (AfSIS)" has prepared digital soil maps which can be used to localize micronutrient deficiencies at a regional scale across Africa. On the other hand, CIMMYT developed provitamin A maize germplasm and released it already in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Efficacy studies demonstrated that increasing provitamin A intake through consuming provitamin A maize has a positive effect on the vitamin A status of consumers. Our project brings together these different efforts to combine biofortified maize with agronomic fortification and knowledge of farmers' crop management to maximize the benefit for the health of all consumers.
The idea of combining these different approaches to maximize the nutritional quality of maize seems obvious but limited research has been conducted and is, therefore, highly innovative (partly because not many biofortified crop varieties have been released). The proposed analysis of grain quality of biofortified lines on farmers' fields with a range of soil quality levels is also novel and will allow a much better evaluation of the possible impact of the bio/agronomic fortification approach in the real environment of smallholder farmers.
From a natural sciences perspective, the data and approaches proposed in our project have the potential to shape/enhance soil and crop management decisions, and investment in breeding programmes. For example, it can inform decisions on how to prioritise R&D and deploy new traits/varieties most effectively to benefit consumers, farmers, and the wider industry. We also believe that the geospatial food basket analysis together with our results on grain quality will identify hotspots of micronutrient deficiency and enable more targeted interventions for bio/agronomic fortification. It could also provide considerable value for monitoring/testing policy interventions through a geospatial framework.
From a social sciences perspective, food systems research from both consumer (demand-driven) and producer (supply driven) perspectives could potentially be transformed by being able to account for spatial variations in food mineral compositions. The flows of some minerals (e.g. zinc, iron) through food systems can be integrated into health burden/outcome-based socioeconomic frameworks (e.g. using Disability Adjusted Life Years, DALYs). Thus, our findings can contribute immediately towards influencing public policies to address micronutrient deficiencies at local, regional and national scales, e.g. through education and dietary diversification. Our "Pathways to Impact" activities will align directly with ongoing activities of the Food and Nutrition Council, and therefore be integrated into national efforts to combat the double burden of malnutrition.
Finalized and ongoing "GeoNutrition" projects in Malawi and Ethiopia are already improving our understanding of the link between soil characteristics and crop composition for Zn and Se. Our ongoing GeoNutrition project also tests micro-nutrient fertilizer treatments for maize in Ethiopia. Another project led by Rothamsted Research, the "Africa Soils Information Service (AfSIS)" has prepared digital soil maps which can be used to localize micronutrient deficiencies at a regional scale across Africa. On the other hand, CIMMYT developed provitamin A maize germplasm and released it already in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Efficacy studies demonstrated that increasing provitamin A intake through consuming provitamin A maize has a positive effect on the vitamin A status of consumers. Our project brings together these different efforts to combine biofortified maize with agronomic fortification and knowledge of farmers' crop management to maximize the benefit for the health of all consumers.
The idea of combining these different approaches to maximize the nutritional quality of maize seems obvious but limited research has been conducted and is, therefore, highly innovative (partly because not many biofortified crop varieties have been released). The proposed analysis of grain quality of biofortified lines on farmers' fields with a range of soil quality levels is also novel and will allow a much better evaluation of the possible impact of the bio/agronomic fortification approach in the real environment of smallholder farmers.
From a natural sciences perspective, the data and approaches proposed in our project have the potential to shape/enhance soil and crop management decisions, and investment in breeding programmes. For example, it can inform decisions on how to prioritise R&D and deploy new traits/varieties most effectively to benefit consumers, farmers, and the wider industry. We also believe that the geospatial food basket analysis together with our results on grain quality will identify hotspots of micronutrient deficiency and enable more targeted interventions for bio/agronomic fortification. It could also provide considerable value for monitoring/testing policy interventions through a geospatial framework.
From a social sciences perspective, food systems research from both consumer (demand-driven) and producer (supply driven) perspectives could potentially be transformed by being able to account for spatial variations in food mineral compositions. The flows of some minerals (e.g. zinc, iron) through food systems can be integrated into health burden/outcome-based socioeconomic frameworks (e.g. using Disability Adjusted Life Years, DALYs). Thus, our findings can contribute immediately towards influencing public policies to address micronutrient deficiencies at local, regional and national scales, e.g. through education and dietary diversification. Our "Pathways to Impact" activities will align directly with ongoing activities of the Food and Nutrition Council, and therefore be integrated into national efforts to combat the double burden of malnutrition.
Organisations
- Rothamsted Research (Lead Research Organisation)
- Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture Ltd. (Collaboration)
- ETH Zurich (Collaboration)
- University of Agriculture Faisalabad (Collaboration)
- Food and Nutrition Council (Collaboration)
- International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) (Collaboration)
Publications
Cairns J
(2021)
Challenges for sustainable maize production of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa
in Journal of Cereal Science
Cairns J
(2021)
Revisiting strategies to incorporate gender-responsiveness into maize breeding in southern Africa
in Outlook on Agriculture
Coggins S
(2022)
How have smallholder farmers used digital extension tools? Developer and user voices from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
in Global food security
Hassall K
(2023)
Construction of a generalised farm typology to aid selection, targeting and scaling of onfarm research
in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
Description | The results of the baseline survey highlight low food security - households reported having adequate food supply in average for 6.17 months per year - and low dietary diversity - the average household dietary score (24 h recall, 12 food groups) was 4.13. Only 25.2% of households declared having consumed animal-based vitamin A-rich food in the last 24 hours, but plant-based vitamin A-rich food was consumed by 75.2% of the households. This is mainly due to the high consumption of dark-green leafy vegetables (consumed by 65.7% of households in the 24 hours proceeding the interview). More detailed analyses were conducted in 2022 to assess the potential contribution of PVA maize to vitamin A uptake, showing that PVA maize can contribute to a more nutritious diet but not cover the full requirements. Only 11.1% of the farms interviewed knew about PVA maize and only 8.8% had experience growing PVA maize. The survey indicated also that there was a gender-dependent preference in maize varieties, where women preferred shorter duration varieties, possibly for reduced risk of crop failure and/or to close the hunger gap before harvest. However, these results are currently re-evaluated in a follow up survey. During 2022, we investigated the potential contribution of biofortification and other nutrition interventions to the adequacy and the cost of diets in rural Zimbabwe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results clearly show that diets in rural Zimbabwe tend to be inadequate in vitamin A. The study showed also that basically all farm household members were deficient in several micronutrients, and that this was independent of the farm/family resources. Scaling up PVA maize, maize being the staple food, can contribute to alleviate the problem, but the diet of most households will only be adequate in vitamin A if biofortification is combined with other nutrition interventions. Interventions to lower the cost of nutrient-dense food and nutrition education could promote a diverse and nutrient adequate diet. However, these are only local results and we still need to investigate if they are valid beyond our study area. Based on our first results, we propose to revisit strategies to incorporate gender-responsiveness into maize breeding in southern Africa. A survey of 306 farmers was conducted to determine gender differences in maize varieties used together with key agronomic practices. Variety was a significant predictor of the gender of the plot manager and of the household head in contrast to previous surveys conducted in researcher-led on-farm trials. On-farm trials were conducted using pre-defined agronomic management practices and preferences identified at harvest are likely to centre around yield. This study highlighted significant differences in several agronomic practices used by female plot managers and female household heads. Although further studies are required to understand preferences associated with varietal choice, our results suggest that current researcher-led on-farm trials may not identify gender-specific trait preferences driving varietal choice. Furthermore, a trait-specific approach is not the only avenue towards increasing gender-responsiveness in maize breeding in southern Africa. The scope for increasing gender-intentionality in maize breeding could be expanded to incorporate selection environments more relevant to agronomic management practices used by female plot managers and households at advanced stages of the breeding pipeline. This approach could provide an immediate entry point to increase gender-intentional maize breeding in southern Africa. We also finalised a study on the potential contribution of pro-vitamin A maize biofortification and other nutrition interventions to the nutritional adequacy and cost of diets in rural Zimbabwe. For this, household-level weighed food records were generated from 30 rural households during a week in April 2021, and a week in November 2021. Weekly household intakes were calculated, as well as indicative costs of diets using data from market surveys. The impact of PVA maize adoption was modelled assuming all maize products to have selected observed vitamin A concentrations. The composition and cost of the cheapest indicative diets adequate in vitamin A were calculated using linear programming. We found that very few households were projected to reach adequate intakes of vitamin A with the adoption of PVA maize. However, from a current situation of 33%, 50-70% of households were projected to reach at least 50% of their requirements, even with the modest vitamin A concentrations achieved on farm. This proportion would increase if higher concentrations recorded on-station were achieved. The estimated costs of current diets (mean ± SD) were USD 1.43 ± 0.59 in the wet season and USD 0.96 ± 0.40 in the dry season. By comparison, optimisation models suggest that diets adequate in vitamin A could be achieved at costs of USD 0.97 and USD 0.79 in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. We conclude that the adoption of PVA maize would bring a substantial improvement in vitamin A intake in rural Zimbabwe, but needs to be combined with other interventions (e.g., diet diversification) to fully address vitamin A deficiency. |
Exploitation Route | This output can actually influence the development (maize breeders) and targeting (seed distributors) of maize varieties. It will also help to identify the distribution of micronutrient deficiencies and clarify the role of biofortification to address widespread micronutrient deficiencies. The latest results indicate that training is essential for a more healthy diet of farmers, most of them are not aware of the options for a more healthy diet they have. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Communities and Social Services/Policy Healthcare Government Democracy and Justice |
Description | The project is now in its third year and field experiments were completed although the sample and data analysis are still ongoing. The overarching goal of this proposal is to reduce the double burden of malnutrition in Zimbabwe with a combination of biofortified maize varieties and adjusted crop management options. We believe that an integrated agriculture intervention is the best way to fill the remaining nutrient gaps for young children and women at risk of stunting and anaemia. Providing more nutritious crops is an important way to empower especially rural populations to improve their diet and health. Knowledge of the effect of crop management practices and soil characteristics on the nutritional quality maize will enable farmers, and especially women farmers, to make their own choices on how to improve their family health. Accompanying analyses of geospatial micronutrient deficiency risk areas and of regional food baskets will enable to improve the current spatial picture of malnutrition risk and ways to address it. We started to embed social science, gender and economic evaluations to assess how the interventions impact households, genders, market access and food security. We also started to accompany the technical elements of the project with stakeholder interaction, policy involvement and the development of dissemination materials and activities. |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
Description | Changing CIMMYT maize breeding programs |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
Description | Sensitizing the Government of Zimbabwe to the potential of agronomic and biofortification combined - project was presented to Dr John Basera, Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Lands, Agric, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | Impact not know yet, but knowledge of the combined use of biofortification and agricultural management options is essential to make the best use of these new technologies. |
Title | Software in R |
Description | R-shiny app that implements set typology construction techniques |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This software will be published and is then available for free. |
Title | Spectral analysis tools |
Description | We have established spectral tools for analysis at RRes |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This is a new service at RRes, offering faster and economic sample analysis for selected characteristics |
Title | Baseline survey (306 farms) using KoBoToolbox |
Description | We have developed a workflow on R to delineate typologies based on multidimentional scaling |
Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Significantly improve the classic statistical typology method (based on PCA and hierarchical clustering), by allowing factorial variables (e.g., gender, education) to be considered in addition to continuous variables. The typology was used as strata to select a stratified sample of farms where trials where established. |
Title | Cereal grain mineral micronutrient and soil chemistry data from GeoNutrition surveys in Ethiopia and Malawi |
Description | The dataset comprises primary data for the concentration of 29 mineral micronutrients in cereal grains and up to 84 soil chemistry properties from GeoNutrition project surveys in Ethiopia and Malawi. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The work provided insights on geospatial variation in the micronutrient concentration in staple crops, and the potential influencing soil factors |
URL | http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.15911973 |
Title | Evaluation of the adequacy and the cost of diets in rural Zimbabwe |
Description | The objectives of this activity were (1) to assess the nutrient adequacy of the diets of the diversity of households found in the area (Murehwa), (2) to estimate the impact of large-scale adoption of pro-vitamin A (PVA) enriched maize and other nutrition interventions, and (3) to model the cost of a nutrient adequate diet. We have developed a first draft of a workflow to calculate the cost of a balanced diet in R and established a related data base. |
Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Greater flexibility than other platforms available for this type of analysis, as it runs on R, with is open-access and code-based. |
Title | Soil characteristics database for Murehwa farmers |
Description | We now analysed the soils of all participating farmers, i.e., from 60 out-fields and 60 home-fields in Murehwa district on a range of soil characteristcis (pH, SOC, IC, eCEC, exchangeable bases, AmmoniumAcetat extractable Al and Fe, texture, total elements). Later in the project, these data will be made publicly available. |
Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | No impact yet, the project is still ongoing. |
Description | 14C age of Organic C in soils |
Organisation | ETH Zurich |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | African soil data and samples |
Collaborator Contribution | Project collaborator, sample analysis paper drafting |
Impact | PAPER PUBLISHED |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Collaboration with Innovative Solutions for Agriculture Africa (iSDA Africa) |
Organisation | Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture Ltd. |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We collaborated with iSDA to develop a new high-resolution soil map for Africa, which is now available online (https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/). We also contributed to a related publication entitled "African Soil Properties and Nutrients Mapped at 30-m Spatial Resolution using Two-scale Ensemble Machine Learning" which was accepted for publication in the Nature Scientific Reports journal. |
Collaborator Contribution | The main contribution for this came from Rothamsted Research. But this year ISDA helped to extract the data on available Fe, Zn, pH and SOC for the whole of Zimbabwe at a 3m resolution. |
Impact | The new high-resolution soil map for Africa is available online (https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/). We also contributed to a related publication entitled "African Soil Properties and Nutrients Mapped at 30-m Spatial Resolution using Two-scale Ensemble Machine Learning" which was accepted for publication in the Nature Scientific Reports journal (soon to be available online). |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad for a review on biofortification |
Organisation | University of Agriculture Faisalabad |
Country | Pakistan |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We contributed to the outline of the review, revised the manuscript and produced a final version of the manuscript. We also submitted the study and ensured its publication. |
Collaborator Contribution | The partners conducted the literature review and produced a first draft of the manuscript. |
Impact | The final publication is listed in the publication section. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Discussions with the Food and Nutrition Council (FNC) in Zimbabwe |
Organisation | Food and Nutrition Council |
Country | Zimbabwe |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The Food and Nutrition Council (FNC) is the lead agency to coordinate, analyse and promote a cohesive national response by multiple sectors and stakeholders to food and nutrition insecurity in Zimbabwe. The FNC is also the Zimbabwe Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) national convener. The FNC acts as a Programmatic Support Agency for food and nutrition stakeholders. The project had repeated online meetings with the FNC to discuss our collaboration and how our project could distribute project findings to stakeholders in the country. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our project partner, CIMMYT, established the contact and organize joint meetings. |
Impact | Advanced planning for the participation of project scientists in stakeholder meetings. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | GCRF project with CIMMYT Zimbabwe |
Organisation | International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) |
Country | Mexico |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Extensive soil and plant analysis |
Collaborator Contribution | Project collaborator, organizing the experiments in Zimbabwe and collecting all samples |
Impact | Nothing yet apart from one publication |
Start Year | 2020 |
Title | TypologyGenerator |
Description | TypologyGenerator, an R-Shiny HTML application to construct distinct farm typologies using the generalized framework as described in Hassall et al (submitted). |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
URL | https://zenodo.org/record/7727862 |
Description | Abstract for the Agriculture, Nutrition and Health Academy week 2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A study on the "Potential contribution of biofortification and other nutrition interventions to the adequacy and the cost of diets in rural Zimbabwe during the COVID-19 pandemic" |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Biofortified maize in Zimbabwe: nutritional quality depending on field position and crop management. Presentation at : The Global Symposium on Soils for Nutrition (GSOIL4N) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Biofortified maize in Zimbabwe: nutritional quality depending on field position and crop management. Presentation at : The Global Symposium on Soils for Nutrition (GSOIL4N) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Feedback meeting to national and international Health NGOs |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
Results and Impact | Results presentation for the project "Addressing malnutrition with biofortified maize in Zimbabwe from crop management to policy and consumers". Feedback meeting to national and international Health NGOs, 16th February 2023, Cresta Lodge Harare, Zimbabwe. About 40 NGO representatives attended the workshop. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Feedback meetings with farmers in Murehwa |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Discussions and feedback held with hosting farmers, extension and local leadership on the Malnutrition project trials held during the season 2020/21 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Feedback session to farmer participants in diet monitoring study in Murehwa, Zimbabwe |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Feedback session to participants in diet monitoring study in Murehwa, Zimbabwe. All participants were also given information related to primary deficiencies within their household and the most affordable options to reduce these deficiencies in both the wet and dry season based on a market survey analysis. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Field day for FAO Food Security Cluster group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Held field day for FAO Food Security Cluster group to present our experiments and discuss benefits of combining genetic and agronomic biofortification to improve nutritional security |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Presentation at the 3rd International Symposium on Plant Genetics, Breeding and Green Production, Shandong, China |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presented work on agronomic and genetic biofortification in souther Africa (and increasing breeding efficiency) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Presentation on Biofortified maize in Zimbabwe: nutritional quality depending on field position and crop management |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | SM Haefele, JE Cairns, T Ndhlela, I Nyagumbo KL Hassall SP McGrath, F Baudron, J Kembo, 2022. Biofortified maize in Zimbabwe: nutritional quality depending on field position and crop management. Online presentation at the Global Symposium on Soils for Nutrition (GSOIL4N) - "Soils, where food begins," 26 to 29 July 2022, FAO, Rome. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation on gender and variety choice results at Cultivate Equality 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
Results and Impact | Presented the findings of paper on gender, variety choice and its implications for maize breeding in southern Africa |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://event.wur.nl/cultivating-equality2021 |
Description | Presentation on maize in Zimbabwe Status, Opportunities and Challenges |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presented work on Maize Biofortification in Zimbabwe current status, opportunities and challenges. A recording can be assessed at Advances in breeding and dissemination of nutritional crops-20210830_120932-Meeting Recording.mp4 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Presentation on nutritious maize |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation on nutritious maize (breeding, agronomic fortification, consumption trends and uses) in collaboration with University of Colorado Summer Grain School 2021. Presented work on Provitamin A maize, focusing on breeding, agronomic fortification, consumption patterns and uses in Africa |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.canva.com/design/DAETaTozhPM/Hk7Dkl4hyKwMSIy7i5Mhwg/view?utm_content=DAETaTozhPM&utm_cam... |
Description | Project results presentation at the Zimbabwe Plant Breeders Association |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Project results presentation at the Zimbabwe Plant Breeders Association, 15th February 2023, Crop science Department, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe. Title: Genetic and Agronomic interventions to improve nutritional outcomes. About 40 people from the university, industry and professionals attended in person, about another 40 people from international organizations attended online. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Results presentation to local government representatives, extension officers and participating farmers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Results presentation for the project "Addressing malnutrition with biofortified maize in Zimbabwe from crop management to policy and consumers" to local government representatives, extension officers and participating farmers, 14th February 2023, Sango Conference Centre, Zimbabwe. The objective was to present the main findings of the study back to all participants including giving field specific results to all individual farmers participating. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Workshop for health and agriculture NGOs, 16.02.2023, Harare, Zimbabwe |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Ndhlela, T., Cairns, J.E., Baudron, F., Nyagumbo, I., Hassall, K.L., McGrath, S.P., Grace Kangara, Haefele, S.M., 2023. Effects of agronomic biofortification and crop management on the nutritional quality of commercialized provitamin A hybrids in Zimbabwe. Presented at a workshop for health and agriculture NGOs. 16.02.2023, Harare, Zimbabwe |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Workshop for health and agriculture NGOs, 16.02.2023, Harare, Zimbabwe |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Baudron, F., Cairns, J.E., Ndhlela, T., Nyagumbo, I., Hassall, K.L., McGrath, S.P., Haefele, S.M., 2023. Potential contribution of biofortification & other nutrition interventions to the adequacy & the cost of diets in rural Zimbabwe. Presented at a workshop for health and agriculture NGOs. 16.02.2023, Harare, Zimbabwe |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Workshop for health and agriculture NGOs, 16.02.2023, Harare, Zimbabwe |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Nyagumbo, I., Ndhlela, T., Cairns, Baudron, F., J.E., Hassall, K.L., McGrath, S.P., Kangara, Grace, Haefele, S.M.,2023. Addressing malnutrition with agronomic management and biofortified maize varieties in Zimbabwe: Insights from beneficiary farmers in October 2021 Presented at a workshop for health and agriculture NGOs. 16.02.2023, Harare, Zimbabwe |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Workshop for health and agriculture NGOs, 16.02.2023, Harare, Zimbabwe |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Haefele, S.M., Cairns, J.E., Ndhlela, T., Nyagumbo, I., Hassall, K.L., McGrath, S.P., Baudron, F., Kembo, J., 2023. Biofortified maize in Zimbabwe: nutritional quality depending on field position and crop management. Presented at a workshop for health and agriculture NGOs. 16.02.2023, Harare, Zimbabwe |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |