"Effective solutions to the crisis of childhood malnutrition must involve interventions spanning a diverse spectrum of disciplines including health care, agriculture and home economics. People in the developing world derive most of their nutrients from plants; plants constitute 90% of the diet of many Africans. Therefore effective prevention strategies must include food crops that provide more complete nutrition," said Manary.
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a GHA partner, has been a leader in biofortification for more than a decade. The Center is a recipient of funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to conduct research as part of BioCassava Plus, an international initiative seeking to make cassava a more nutritionally rich and balanced staple plant crop. The project has demonstrated unprecedented success in enhancing cassava to contain more protein, vitamins and minerals, more robust plant virus resistance, delayed post-harvest deterioration and reduced cyanide content. Farmer-preferred varieties are being collected and analyzed, and Dr. Manary is building a network of in-country nutritionists to add to the team of Danforth Center scientists already in place.
With support from the Gates Foundation's Global Challenges Program, the Center's cassava bio-fortification efforts have met or exceeded all targets:
Led by GHA scientists, teams will field-test improved cassava varieties in Kenya and Nigeria during the next five years. Through the efforts of the Danforth Center and its colla
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| Contact: Beth Miller millerbe@wustl.edu 314-286-0119 Washington University School of Medicine Source:Eurekalert |