Alleviating malnutrition in the developing world took a step forward yesterday with the launch of HarvestPlus, a major international initiative to make the staple foods of the poor more nutritious.

HarvestPlus is a collaborative initiative of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, combining the expertise and resources of eight of the group's 16 international research centers and an array of governmental, nongovernmental and academic partners around the world. Leading HarvestPlus are the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture and the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C. The Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) will be a major player in HarvestPlus, responsible for developing varieties of rice that are bred for enhanced nutrition - or biofortified, to use the newly coined term.

As the daily food of more than half of humanity and most of the world's poor, rice offers enormous potential for improving public health through biofortification. In the Philippines, Bangladesh and eastern India, for example, rice provides 50-80 percent of the calories people receive. A small increase in its nutritional value would have significant benefits for poor consumers' health.

The Green Revolution has helped ensure that supplies of rice and other staples are more plentiful and affordable than ever before. However, "hidden hunger" for essential micronutrients still afflicts more than 2 billion of the world's poor. Vitamin A deficiency alone causes more than 1 million deaths and 500,000 cases of blindness each year. Iron deficiency and associated anemia affect billions of people, impairing mental development, weakening immune systems and reducing stamina.

Initially, HarvestPlus will aim to boost the presence of these three micronutrients in the program's first tier crops: rice, maize, beans, wheat, cassava and sweet potatoes. The last in a series of start-up meetings for each crop - led by HarvestPlus Director Howarth Bouis, an economist focused on nutrition - took place on 6-8 October at IRRI, where biofortification of rice is already underway. One highlight of the meeting was the announcement that a conventionally bred high-iron line of the popular variety IR68, pre-released in the Philippines as Maligaya Special #13, looks likely to be disseminated as a national variety before the end of 2003.

"Two strategies for delivering micronutrients have so far demonstrated their worth in the battle against malnutrition," said Ronald P. Cantrell, director general of IRRI. "These are distributing dietary supplements to the poor and fortifying foods with conventional additives. However, neither of these strategies reliably reaches the most remote and inaccessible communities, which often suffer the greatest need. Biofortification promises to do just that by breeding micronutrients directly into the staple crops that farmers grow for their own table and that sustain the poorest consumers."

Simply boosting the total nutrient content of staple crops will not do the job. Rice breeders, for example, must concentrate nutrients in the endosperm of the grain, the part that remains after milling, and nutritionists must confirm that the human body can metabolize the nutrients in that form. Researchers must also ensure that the final products are as attractive to farmers and consumers as existing varieties.

"We shouldn't underestimate the challenges we'll face developing biofortified crops and ensuring their acceptance by farmers and consumers," Dr. Cantrell added. "Farmers in particular may not readily see any immediate benefit. But, over time, the system should start to run itself. And, whereas supplement and conventional fortification programs require funding year after year, the recurring costs of biofortification will be minimal."

However sustainable biofortification may be in the long term, it is a front-loaded program that will likely absorb considerable investment in time and money before it can demonstrate significant results. For this reason, HarvestPlus crucially needs steadfast donor support. Most of its US$50 million budget for the first 4 years is being met by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development, Danish International Development Assistance, and Asian Development Bank.

Dr. Cantrell pointed out that HarvestPlus promises to advance two nutrition-related United Nations Millennium Development Goals: reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.

"Vitamin A, iron and zinc all play important roles in maintaining health," he said. "This is especially true of children, and of women who are pregnant or lactating, because these are the people most at risk of micronutrient deficiency. So we are very excited about HarvestPlus and its potential to improve people's lives in the developing world."

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world's leading rice research and training center. Based in the Philippines and with offices in 10 other Asian countries, it is an autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving natural resources. IRRI is one of 16 centers funded through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private donor agencies. Please visit the Web sites of the CGIAR or Future Harvest Foundation, a nonprofit organization that builds awareness and supports food and environmental research.