Biofortified crops ready for developing world debut

Donors are even considering the merits of alternatives such as zinc or iodine-boosted fertilisers that might boost the micronutrient levels in food via the soil.

There is also a resistance to biofortification arising from its link to genetically modified (GM) crops. Golden Rice has been developed using transgenic technology. But nothing in the HarvestPlus portfolio uses GM.

The GM debate has obscured constructive discussions over appropriate biofortification research and delivery strategies, according to Sally Brooks, a researcher at the STEPS (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) centre, housed at the UK's Institute of Development Studies.

Some believe that HarvestPlus and other global organisations have taken a top-down approach to biofortification research, in an effort to create generic technologies that might work all over the world. This means that developing country scientists and plant breeders have had little say on the kinds of crops that might be most appropriate and their insights have not been harnessed to drive the research agenda.

"There is a mis-match between a strong emphasis on impact at scale and working with local farmers," says Brooks. "They have very little say in what [a crop] looks like. It doesn't matter whether varieties are conventionally bred or GM. The issue is the same."

But HarvestPlus says it is now engaging enthusiastically with developing country farmers.