Nutritious Crops Growing in Popularity in Latin America
More nutritious varieties of staple crops such as beans, cassava, maize (corn), and sweet potato are growing in popularity in Latin America. Ten countries in the region have adopted these biofortified crops and are promoting them to improve nutrition and health.
HarvestPlus recently met with its partners in the region to review progress in developing and delivering these crops, and plan actions for 2016. Seventy collaborators representing 11 countries attended the meeting in Costa Rica.
Marilia Nutti, who coordinates HarvestPlus’ regional operations, emphasized the importance of exchanging information on impact. “We need to create platforms with information from all the participating countries, so that we can all share ideas that have worked well in other places and use them to improve our work in Latin America and the Caribbean,” she underlined to participants.
Farmers in the region are happy to share their experience growing and eating these crops. Samuel Vicente, who grows high-iron beans in Guatemala, is pleased to have adopted the crop and encourages more farmers to follow suit. Watch his testimony below.