The sustainability of biofortification, like other nutrition intervention programs, is dependent upon ownership and investment by the countries as a national agriculture and public health development objective. With support from HarvestPlus and other entities, scientists in country programs perform research on multiple biofortified crops. Eventually, their governments will fully fund biofortification research independently of HarvestPlus and will be leaders in facilitating spillover activities in neighboring countries with which they have close political ties and scientific exchange. HarvestPlus is investing funds to promote biofortification in Brazil, China, and India.

Brazil
EMBRAPA (The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) has invested its own funds for biofortification research on six crops – maize, cassava, beans, sweetpotato, cowpeas, and wheat. Funding for research was augmented by HarvestPlus and AgroSalud. These activities are coordinated and promoted within Brazil by EMBRAPA. Collaborating food scientists in Brazil developed low-cost techniques for measuring pro-vitamin A carotenoids and conducted training programs on these techniques in Africa and Asia. Other biofortification related activities lead by EMBRAPA include research on micronutrient retention in various crops, inter laboratory quality assurance testing and promotion.

India
The Indian parliament approved national funding for biofortification research on rice, wheat, and maize. The Indian Biofortification Program invited HarvestPlus to participate in planning and coordination meetings, which were held annually from in 2004-2007. A memorandum of agreement has been signed between the Department of Biotechnology and HarvestPlus to facilitate this collaboration.

China
Eight research proposals related to the development of biofortified crops for rice, wheat, maize, and sweetpotato have been initiated by HarvestPlus with counterpart funding from Chinese institutions (50% funding from HarvestPlus and another 50% from Chinese institutions). Approximately twenty Chinese research institutions are involved. A HarvestPlus China office has been established, under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The HarvestPlus China office coordinates and provides oversight for these eight research projects and undertakes promotional activities to encourage investment by the Chinese government in biofortification. Annual meetings have been held from 2004-2007 and a HarvestPlus China Project Advisory Committee has been established.