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Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter

The collaboration between the Livelihoods and Food Security Programme(LSFP) and the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Department of Research and Specialist Services (DRSS) has seen the release of nutrient dense crop varieties to address micronutrient malnutrition especially in children.

The LFSP has been the flagship programme for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) globally and was the biggest bilaterally-funded programme by FCDO in FAO.

The programme, which started in 2014 and closing this year, was multi-sectoral and implemented as a collaboration of multiple partners to address the issue of food and nutrition security, climate variability and macro-economic environment.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement permanent secretary Dr John Basera on Thursday said in partnership with Ministry of Health and Child Care and other stakeholders, Government was addressing the triple burden of malnutrition the country was facing mainly stunting in children, over-nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.

“In the past six years, the LFSP collaborated with the Department of Research and Specialist Services through the Crop Breeding Institute to develop and released nutrient dense varieties including five vitamin A bio-fortified orange maize varieties, two quality protein maize varieties, two high iron bean varieties and two high iron cowpea varieties.

“The Crop Breeding Institute has also released Vitamin A bio-fortified orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, and will release purple-fleshed sweet potatoes, iron bio-fortified pearl millet in the near future.

“These bio-fortified crops are necessary for us to help address the problems of hidden hunger through addressing specific micronutrients deficiency. We will adopt and promote these varieties nation-wide and provide resources for the further development of bio-fortified crops,” he said.

The promotion of bio-fortified crops as well as traditional and under-utilised crops within the LFSP, was within a broader strategy that included overall diet diversification and year-round access to a wide variety of foods including both crops and livestock.

The LSFP reached more than 250 000 smallholder households translating to over 1,25 million people with an integration of various components for which nutrition sensitive agriculture was central to it.