Experts on Hidden Hunger to meet in Hohenheim
The University of Hohenheim in Germany will be holding the International Congress Hidden Hunger, From Assessment to Solutions, from March 6-9, 2013. Scientists, field workers, policymakers, private sector representatives, and non-governmental organizations will gather to discuss the growing problem of hidden hunger (the chronic lack of vitamins and minerals in the diet) and consider multiple interventions to address this.
The congress has identified several areas to focus on: the different nature of incidence of hidden hunger in developed and developing countries; populations at risk; agriculture-nutrition linkages; crops and biofortification; and nutrition outcomes.
On March 8, in a series of panels HarvestPlus will highlight its global effort to breed and disseminate nutrient-rich staple food crops to alleviate hidden hunger. In a session on Science of Biofortification: Breeding Better Crops, Parminder Virk, manager of crop development will share his experiences of developing and delivering micronutrient-rich crops. In a second session, Erick Boy, nutrition manager will discuss how original assumptions about consumption, retention, absorption of nutrients from biofortified crops have been validated in different countries. The third session, Getting Nutritious Foods to Farmers and Families, will discuss the opportunities and challenges of disseminating biofortified crops for better public health.
This lively panel discussion will be moderated by Katrin Zoefel, a journalist who has covered biofortification in Germany. Panelists include Dr. Howarth Bouis (HarvestPlus, Director), Lister Katsvairo (HarvestPlus Country Manager for Rwanda), Richard Dove (World Vision, Mozambique), and Lynn Brown (World Bank).
Further details are available here.