MDGs

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals provide a blueprint to meet the needs of the world’s poorest people. The HarvestPlus biofortification strategy can be a powerful tool to reach several of the Millennium Development Goals.

Goals and Indicators	Role of Biofortification
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Proportion of population below $1 a day Poverty gap ratio (incidence x depth of poverty) Share of poorest quintile in national consumption Prevalence of underweight in children (under five years of age) Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption	Improved micronutrient status has been shown to improve work productivity, mental and psychomotor performance, and appetite and to promote faster growth. Biofortification targets the rural poor, in particular, who consume large amounts of food staples and little else.
Achieve universal primary education Net enrollment ratio in primary education Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 Literacy rate of 15-to-24-year-olds	Improved micronutrient status has been shown to improve cognitive and psychomotor abilities. Children who do well in school are more likely to want to stay in school and their caregivers are more likely to support their education.
Improve maternal health Maternal mortality ratio	Improved micronutrient status has been shown to reduce mortality and morbidity.
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases *HIV prevalence among 15- to 24-year-old pregnant women Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria Prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis.	The severity, mortality from, and perhaps incidence of HIV-AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases are exacerbated by poor micronutrient status. Biofortified crops may help mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS particularly among poor rural populations.
Ensure environmental sustainability Change in land area covered by forest Proportion of population with access to secure tenure [rural areas]	When topsoil dries, roots in the dry soil zone (which are easiest to fertilize) are largely deactivated and the plant must rely on deep roots for further nutrition. Roots of plant genotypes that are efficient in mobilizing surrounding, external trace minerals, are not only more disease resistant, but also better able to penetrate deficient subsoils, and so make use of the moisture and minerals contained in subsoils. This reduces the need for fertilizers and improves drought tolerance. In addition, fewer herbicides and pesticides would have to be used because micronutrient-efficient genotypes should have greater resistance to plant pathogens. These characteristics benefit those whose soils are deficient in trace minerals on rainfed land and who are thus among the poorest farmers.