Proceedings of the workshop ‘Biofortified food - Working together to get more nutritious food to the table in India’

Household-Level Coverage of Iron-Biofortified Beans in the Northern Province of Rwanda

Background

Biofortification, the process of enhancing the micronutrient content of staple crops, is a nutrition-sensitive agricultural intervention with the potential to increase micronutrient intakes and improve health outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations. Although data are available on the number of farming households that grow biofortified crops, information on the coverage of biofortified foods in the general population is limited. Such information is critical to assess the performance of biofortification programs and guide decisions related to program implementation while ascertaining progress toward achieving expected impacts.

Objective

This study aimed to assess the household coverage of iron-biofortified beans (IBBs) in rural areas of the Northern Province of Rwanda.

Methods

We applied methods previously used to assess coverage in large-scale food fortification programs to develop coverage indicators for IBBs. These indicators were 1) consumption of beans in any form; 2) awareness of IBBs; 3) availability of IBBs; 4) consumption of IBBs (ever); and 5) consumption of IBBs (current).

Results

Of the 535 households surveyed, 98% consumed beans in any form and 79% were aware of IBBs. Among the 321 households that provided bean samples, only 40% of the samples were biofortified (as determined by a breeding specialist) and only 21% of respondents were able to correctly identify IBBs. Although 52% of households reported to be ever consuming biofortified beans, only 10% of households were currently consuming these beans.

Conclusions

Despite relatively high awareness of IBBs among surveyed households, a few households currently consume IBBs, highlighting the need to explore strategies to promote consumption. More research is also required to investigate factors hindering the consumption of IBBs.

Food value chain interventions and nutritional outcomes: a review of evidence and recommendations for future assessments

Food value chains (FVC) have become an important framework for the assessment of interventions to improve nutritional outcomes during the past decade, and recent literature indicates considerable agreement about FVC importance and potential impact pathways. Despite the usefulness of the FVC framework, the majority of studies reviewed provide only conceptual models or descriptive analyses of linkages with nutrition, limiting their usefulness for quantitative assessment of intervention impacts. Fewer than five studies of 113 reviewed measure the impacts of FVC interventions on nutritional outcomes or provide study protocols for that purpose. In addition to randomized controlled trials, comparative analysis and systems modeling methods will provide relevant evidence about the effectiveness of FVCs for improvement of nutrition.