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Cargill has announced a $3 million multi-year initiative called the NutriHarvest project, which will be administered by HarvestPlus, a a global leader in biofortified foods.
The 36-month project aims to increase access to nutritious food for over 119,000 farmers in India, Kenya, Tanzania and Guatemala, delivering more than 17 million nutritious meals.
Micronutrient deficiencies affect many people globally, leading to serious health issues. Cargill said that the NutriHarvest project addresses this challenge by promoting the production and consumption of nutrient-rich foods, such as biofortified staple crops and animal-sourced foods.
Aligned with the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS), NutriHarvest focuses on increasing the production and consumption of nutrient-dense crops that are resilient to climate change.
The project is said to enhance farmer livelihoods, food security and nutrition through three key components:
VACS: Boosting the production of nutritious and climate-resilient crops, such as legumes and vitamin A sweet potatoes in Kenya and Tanzania.
Home grown school feeding: NutriHarvest will enhance local school feeding programs by integrating nutrient-dense crops, improving dietary diversity for children. The project will provide biofortified seeds to farming households and connect the resulting nutritious grains to school feeding initiatives through school gardens, contracts with farmers and millers, food banks and partnerships with local enterprises. This approach will sustainably increase the availability of vitamin A maize and iron beans in Kenya and Tanzania, iron pearl millet and zinc wheat in India and zinc maize and iron beans in Guatemala.
Hatching hope: In India, NutriHarvest will strengthen poultry farmers through the Hatching Hope initiative, launched in 2018 by Cargill and Heifer International. The project will provide training and support to adopt sustainable poultry farming practices that improve household incomes and boost local economies.
Arun Baral, CEO of HarvestPlus and HarvestPlus Solutions stated: “We are delighted to partner with Cargill and other partners in this transformative initiative, using our ecosystem approach to deliver improved nutrition through VACs, biofortified crops, and school meals while improving livelihood for smallholder farmers and households."
Penina Muoki, HarvestPlus country manager for Tanzania, said: “In Tanzania, the NutriHarvest Project offers a unique opportunity to respond to the three leading micronutrient deficiencies: vitamin A, iron and zinc, through production and consumption of opportunity crops that are frequently consumed by households vulnerable to malnutrition."
Pilar Cruz, chief sustainability officer at Cargill, added: “As a connector of the global food system, Cargill is uniquely positioned to address the most pressing challenges and help improve food security. Through our work with the NutriHarvest project and VACS, we are deepening our commitment to increasing food access and building long-term resiliency in communities, by that improving nutrition and farmer livelihoods."
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