Subnational Prioritization for Biofortification Interventions in Nigeria

Globally, two billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition. Biofortification, the process of breeding staple food crops to have higher micronutrient content, has proven to be efficacious and cost-effective in addressing micronutrient malnutrition. To determine where and in which crop-micron...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inIDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc
Main Authors Herrington, C, Funes, J, Lividini, K, Moursi, M, Taleon, V, Asare-Marfo, D, Birol, E
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 01.01.2018
Subjects
Malnutrition
Nutrition research
Vitamin A
Nigeria
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Globally, two billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition. Biofortification, the process of breeding staple food crops to have higher micronutrient content, has proven to be efficacious and cost-effective in addressing micronutrient malnutrition. To determine where and in which crop-micronutrient combinations to invest, a global Biofortification Prioritization Index (BPI) was developed (Asare-Marfo et al., 2013). While a country s rank in the global context is useful, it is not granular enough to develop strategies within heterogenous countries. Therefore, this paper utilizes methodology to develop a subnational-level BPI for Nigeria, a country which shows promise for biofortified crops. The subnational BPI is based on three sub-indices: production, consumption, and micronutrient deficiency. In addition, targeted areas are classified as areas of: (1) impact and intervention, (2) impact, or (3) intervention. Sensitivity analyses tested the robustness of BPI results on single sub-index parameters. For vitamin A maize s introduction, the North East and North West zones offer the most promise while the southern zones generate the greatest impact for the introduction of vitamin A cassava. Concentrating vitamin A sweet potato investments in the North Central zone is the most effective while focusing in the North West is the most promising strategy for iron pearl millet. Acknowledgement : The authors would sincerely like to thank Dr. Erick Boy, Head of the HarvestPlus Nutrition Research Unit, and Ms. Amarachi Utah for their consultation and support of this research.