Programs

Reaching End Users

Goals

The goal of REU is to identify the most cost-effective strategies for farmer adoption and consumer acceptance of conventionally bred nutrient-dense, biofortified foods. This includes identifying, and relieving, bottlenecks in the production, marketing and consumer continuum. Demonstrated success in deploying biofortified foods will be translated into "lessons learned/best practices" to be applied by HarvestPlus and other biofortification programs. An additional goal is to identify and engage potentially important end users of transgenic crops and develop effective strategies for improving their acceptance among stakeholder populations. Developing instruments for multiplying biofortified planting materials, creating markets for biofortified seed, crops, and food products; and communicating and changing behavior at the policy, institutional, community, and individual levels are all key objectives of REU.

Project Design and Implementation

As indicated in Figure 1, the project is designed with four typologies in mind. Pilot deployment programs will be carried out in both Africa and Asia. The pilot deployment programs will be selected from poorly and well endowed institutional settings. One important differentiating factor will be the capacity of local government to deliver services and the communities to organize and drive their own development agenda.

Figure 1. HarvestPlus End User Typologies

1. Orange-fleshed sweetpotato in Africa: visible nutrient, poor infrastructure and markets (Typology 1).
   Pilot REU activities are underway in Mozambique and Uganda (please click here for more information)
2. Wheat in the Indo-Gangetic plains: invisible nutrient, better infrastructure and markets (Typology 2).
   Zinc-dense wheat varieties are currently undergoing multi-locational testing in India and Pakistan. Approved biofortified varieties may be available for release in 2009. Because population density and prevalence of undernutrition are high, the potential impact of biofortification is greatest in South Asia. Specific communities or sub-regions will be selected for deployment activities from either India or Pakistan.
3. Beans in Africa: invisible nutrient, poor infrastructure and markets (Typology 3)
   Agronomically-acceptable, high-iron bean lines have been identified and are ready for release in some countries. Nutrition studies are planned starting 2005. One country will be identified for intensive REU activities—possibly Rwanda, Kenya or the Democratic Republic of Congo where beans make up a high proportion of the diet. Again, activities under all five elements will be carried out, but will not be as rapidly implemented as for orange-fleshed sweetpotato.
4. Golden Rice: visible nutrient, better infrastructure and markets (Typology 4).
   The objective in this typology is to understand the regulatory and consumer and producer acceptance challenges of introducing transgenic biofortified foods. India will be the country of focus because of (i) the potential high impact, (ii) on-going research by Indian scientists, and (iii) it will provide a contrast with the pilot deployment program for conventionally-bred wheat, holding India-specific conditions constant.

Some diagnostic activities will also be undertaken for exploring the potential for transgenic, high-beta-carotene maize and cassava in Africa.

REU Strategy Components

The HarvestPlus REU strategy focuses on facilitating the dissemination of biofortified varieties and creating the demand for these varieties. It is a key component to ensure that biofortification research to develop micronutrient-dense crop varieties do effectively control vitamin A, iron, and/or zinc deficiency.

For biofortification to work, HarvestPlus must engage and develop the capacity of both the producers, consumers, while transferring knowledge and creating awareness among enablers and the diffusers of the new technology.

For each of the typologies detailed above, the REU strategy envisages five sets of activities, although in some cases only a subset of these activities may be relevant (for example, with golden rice, activities will be limited only to diagnostic analyses).

Figure 2 represents current HarvestPlus and proposed REU activities. These include the following:

1. Diagnostic analyses
   Research will be conducted on the chain of REU activities including: seeds delivery and planting systems, farmer adoption and extension systems, and post harvest constraints, biofortified seed and food product market channels, demand creation parameters, consumer and producer preferences and the role of enablers and diffusers in the acceptance of biofortified products. Diagnostic work will also capture the related activities conducted by the private sector in the program areas. A distinction will be made between home and market production and likewise consumption of biofortified foods from home versus market sources. Diagnostic research activities will include literature reviews where relevant.
2. Farmer Adoption
   Based on diagnostic review, develop a strategy to produce and disseminate seed/planting material through both traditional and non-traditional channels.
3. Creation of markets and development of new products
   Based on diagnostic review, determine options for identifying and promoting biofortified crops, as distinct from non-biofortified varieties. Determine market feasibility for (new) products made from biofortified crops while ensuring post-harvest retention of nutrients; develop appropriate marketing strategies. Growth of supermarkets, especially in Asia, may become an important mechanism for marketing biofortified crops.
4. Create Demand
   Based on diagnostic work, develop a product diffusion plan that recognizes the needs and opportunities for behavior change across enablers, diffusers and consumers of biofortified crops. Establish clear behavior change objectives; develop partnerships with experienced institutions in the region (NGO, private and public sector) to implement the plan.
5. Monitoring, Evaluation and Feedback
   The REU component has built-in a process to encourage co-learning and feedback among all stakeholders. REU activities across components will be measured against milestones, derived from the diagnostic exercise. Annual meetings among stakeholders will be a way of monitoring mutually agreed upon milestones.

The on-going impact analyses will monitor and guide each of the end user activities in addition to the current HarvestPlus biofortification program.

Figure 2. HarvestPlus proposed REU Activities

Organizational Capacity

HarvestPlus consists of 139 collaborating institutional partners in more than 60 countries and is uniquely placed to move from development into deployment of biofortified staples.

Reaching End Users with Biofortified Crops: Best Practices for Disseminating Orange Flesh Sweetpotato in East and Southern Africa

Publications on Reaching End User