Making a Difference
CGIAR IMPACT AREA:
Nutrition, Health, and Food Security
ENRICH project:
Educating communities on the benefits of biofortified crops and nutrition-
smart agriculture
people in farming families were improved with nutrient-enriched crops.
1 Million people
Margaret is a mother and smallholder farmer in rural Kenya, where she grows orange fleshed sweet potatoes to feed her family and earn income. She knows the distinctive orange color is a sign that the sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A because they are biofortified, unlike traditional white varieties. She also understands that vitamin A is essential for building a strong immune system and in child development more broadly.
This review of research outcomes was written by Penina Muoki, Program Manager, Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit, IFPRI; and Brian McNamara, Program Coordinator, Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit, IFPRI. The CEROS site was designed by Lee Dixon, Senior Graphic and Web Designer, Communications and Public Affairs Unit, IFPRI.
About IFPRI The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a research center of CGIAR, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries. IFPRI was established in 1975 to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world, with particular emphasis on low-income countries and on the poorer groups in those countries. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components for translating IFPRI’s research to action and impact. The Institute’s regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support to country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.
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This blog post is part of a special monthly series entitled “Making a Difference,” documenting the impact of IFPRI's projects and initiatives. These stories reflect the wide breadth of the Institute's research, communications, and capacity-strengthening activities around the world, in fulfillment of its mission. The blog series has been peer-reviewed by IFPRI's Impact Committee members.
Diets of over
The ENRICH project’s main goal was to improve maternal and child nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life — through pregnancy to a child’s second birthday — in rural areas of Kenya, Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, ultimately aiming to reach over 800,000 women. To do this, the team designed programs addressing issues critical to the health of pregnant women, mothers, newborns, infants, and young children while simultaneously ensuring these interventions were in alignment with the policies and priorities of national Ministries of Health (MoH). ENRICH delivered these gender-responsive interventions to increase the production, consumption, and utilization of nutritious foods during those first 1,000 days while strengthening gender-responsive governance, policy, and public engagement.
Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are a major global health problem threatening survival, growth, and development. More than 2 billion people around the world do not get sufficient key vitamins and minerals in their diets, such as zinc, vitamin A, and iron. These are important for maintaining healthy immune systems, child development, cognitive function, and women's reproductive health, among other benefits.
Nourishing Lives, Ending Hidden Hunger
There is a big difference since I planted because I do not struggle a lot with my children’s school fees anymore. The children are able to go to school. I even plan to build myself a bigger house.
- Margaret
IFPRI is reaching the lives of millions of people through its contribution to policies and programs that reduce poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. This blog series highlights how IFPRI’s research is contributing to policy decisions and investments made by governments, development organizations, and other partners, and making a difference for food and nutrition security in developing countries around the world.
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Improved the diets of over
2 Million people
across three countries
people in Bangladesh
470,000
people in Kenya
475,000
people in Tanzania
120,000
also benefited through community-level sharing of nutrient-enriched seeds and vines, and agronomic information
An additional
1 Million people
Margaret learned about the nutritional value of nutrient-enriched orange sweet potatoes by participating in the Enhancing Nutrition Services to Improve Maternal and Child Health in Africa and Asia (ENRICH) program. The project (which ran from 2016-2021) aimed to improve food and nutrition security by training smallholder farmers in cultivating biofortified crops and on the health benefits of micronutrients. It also provided participants with orange sweet potato (OSP) vines developed by HarvestPlus and partners including the International Potato Center (CIP), the lead CGIAR breeding center for OSP. The vines produce sweet potatoes with increased yields and micronutrient density, have greater resistance to poor weather conditions, and are virus resistant.
Now, Margaret enjoys far larger and more nutritious food harvests than she could have produced with traditional sweet potato varieties, and can sell the vitamin A-enriched orange sweet potatoes at market and the vines to other farmers in the area, often at a higher price compared to the traditional alternatives.
ENRICH implemented a core set of activities to improve the production and consumption of nutritious foods that could be tailored to the specific context of each country. A central component of this strategy was the introduction of higher nutrient, productive, and resilient staple crop varieties developed using conventional breeding techniques and distributed to local partners. HarvestPlus provided research-based guidance to select and distribute these nutrient-enriched crops in program countries.
In Bangladesh, the program focused on rice varieties rich in zinc. In Kenya, the primary crops were iron-enriched beans and vitamin A-enriched orange sweet potatoes. The Tanzania intervention focused on vitamin A orange sweet potatoes as well.
Across these countries, activities involved establishing demonstration plots and field schools, where farmers and local government workers received training on growing nutritious crops and producing seeds or vines for future use. Cooking demonstrations, classes, and messaging campaigns were offered to teach communities about the importance of consuming nutritious foods and diverse diets. While an emphasis was placed on reaching households with children under 5 years old and pregnant women, men and boys also received training to encourage gender equity and involvement in nutrition and childcare. The project also utilized HarvestPlus policy research while engaging with local governments to monitor the implementation of interventions, streamline value chains, and incorporate new strategies into existing extension activities.
Programs to Improve Maternal and Child Health
More than 2 billion people around the world do not get sufficient key vitamins and minerals in their diets, such as zinc, vitamin A, and iron.
HarvestPlus analyses show daily consumption of iron-enriched crops improves cognition across geographies and age groups. Similarly, consuming OSP has been shown to contribute to children’s healthy immune systems, including reducing the burden of diarrhea, the second leading cause of death of young children in low- or middle-income countries.
Nutrient enrichment initiatives like ENRICH primarily aim to reach young children, adolescent girls, and women. Improving nutrition early in a child’s life can help to break intergenerational cycles of malnutrition linked specifically to the lack of micronutrient-dense foods.
The term “hidden hunger” refers to this phenomenon. Even though plates appear full, the staple foods on that plate often lack essential nutrients for a healthy diet. The persistence of hidden hunger is due in part to the tendency
of many policymakers to focus on the mere access to
food rather than access to nutritious food. ENRICH
was created to address this challenge and to increase
awareness of hidden hunger. The program is a
collaboration between World Vision Canada, Nutrition
International, the Canadian Society for International
Health, and HarvestPlus, and funded by
the Canadian government.
Pius Chebii grows iron-enriched beans on his farm near Iten, Kenya.
A girl enjoys vitamin enriched sweet potato near Iten, Kenya.
Margaret Kurgat preparing vitamin-enriched sweet potato at her farm near Iten, Kenya.
The demand [for OSP seed vines] was bigger than the supply. So, I took this challenge as an opportunity. I rented a large piece of land for farming. I began seed multiplication. Customers came and bought all of them in the first season. Then I expanded my production in the second season, which enabled my income to grow.
- Monica
The project also relied heavily on local community networks to encourage behavior change and build trust in these strategies. ENRICH built grassroots partnerships with traders, agro-dealers, farmers and farmer groups, extension workers, public health professionals, and local research institutions. As demand for nutrient-enriched crops grew among farmers, many were able to begin selling seeds and vines for others to plant.
ENRICH was able to improve the production and consumption of nutrient-enriched crops across all countries, reaching over 2 million people. Not only did the program improve the diets of pregnant women and children, it also provided important economic opportunities for communities that continue to raise incomes and improve livelihoods:
Program Impacts and Lessons for the Future
Bangladesh
Reached
Trained
Trained
1,500 demonstration plots
470,000 people
with zinc rice
6,000 farmers
in rice production and post-harvest handling
Established more than
114 government agriculture officers
who will continue to support local producers with new technologies and techniques
Kenya
Directly benefited over
475,000 people
with nutrition education, extension services,
and seeds of iron beans and
vitamin A orange
sweet potato
vines
Promoted
nutritious
crop varieties
in local newspapers and radio
Established
35 vine multipliers,
which continue to provide a sustainable source of seed vines for farmers
fallen by 5%
At midline survey found that child stunting in ENRICH communities had
Directly reached over
120,000 people
with vitamin A orange sweet potato vines, and an estimated 80% of farmers shared these varieties with others in their networks. Distribution of vines was accompanied by community-based nutrition training showcasing the role of OSP in diversified diets.
Trained at least
60 government extension workers
in sweet potato vine and root production
Established over
40 farmer-managed vine nurseries
95,000 men and male youth
Trained
Tanzania
using the Men Care model, which promotes gender equality
The ENRICH project has helped to ingrain nutrition-smart agriculture into national policy frameworks. Research from HarvestPlus played a central role in this process, providing evidence-based policy recommendations to facilitate the adoption and scaling of nutrient-enriched crop production. In Kenya, for example, such crop production strategies have been incorporated into the country's nutrition action plan. Tanzania promoted consumption of home-grown school meals and has established national guidelines on the dissemination and adoption of these crops. In Bangladesh, local officials, including the Minister of Agriculture and the Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension, have voiced support for the program and its strategy—suggesting it may have a lasting impact on government policy.
The experience of the ENRICH program demonstrates how technical, social, and policy interventions can come together to have a lasting impact. Farmers and traders are clearly ready to adopt new technologies and practices if the benefits of these changes are clearly communicated. This is why community groups and local advocates played such an important role by engaging with growers and building trust in the intervention.
Moving Forward
“[improved seeds have] drastically increased profits among seed companies and thus prioritization
to increase investment in their production and marketing.
- David Karanja, Kenya
Agriculture and Livestock
Organization (KALRO)
Change also requires a supportive policy environment. A critical aspect of ENRICH was to increase capacity for local governments and organizations to continue promoting and disseminating improved crop varieties. In Kenya, for example, national program partners established a community-based seed production approach that continues to provide seeds to companies and other organizations that supply them to farmers.
In May 2023, The Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC) announced funding of a new $44-million, seven-year project that directly builds on the success of the ENRICH program. Named REACTS-IN (Realizing Gender Equality and Attitudinal Change for Transformative Systems in Nutrition), the program aims to scale strategies for increasing access to gender-equitable nutrition to support the advancement of the dignity of women and girls in Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania and Somalia. These efforts reflect the clear benefits of investing in education and outreach to improve nutrition, public health, and equitable outcomes for all.
Special Edition:
Celebrating
20 years
of Harvest Plus
Justine Kitum grows improved beans on his farm near Iten, Kenya.
Dr. John Mpapale holds cuttings of a sweet potato vine