India | Agreement

New development partnership looks at improving the nutrition of women of reproductive age in Bangladesh

The objective is to improve the nutrient intake of women of reproductive age in regard to iron, zinc, as well as potentially calcium, folic acid, vitamins A and B6.

10/9/2013

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Today Bayer CropScience signed a cooperation agreement with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH for the Affordable Nutritious Foods for Women (ANF4W) project at the Rice Future Forum in New Delhi, India.

Focusing on women of reproductive age, the ANF4W project aims to increase the local supply and demand of affordable nutritious foods presently lacking in many markets in Asia and Africa. Bayer CropScience and GIZ will be collaborating in Bangladesh, where the objective is to improve the nutrient intake of women of reproductive age in regard to iron, zinc, as well as potentially calcium, folic acid, vitamins A and B6.

These nutrients are regarded as fundamental particularly during the so-called “first 1,000 days” of a child’s life, i.e. the critical window of pregnancy through the first two years after birth. Pursuing innovative solutions, the project will explore pathways based on micronutrient-enhanced agricultural practices and inputs in rice as well as vegetables and legumes.

“We firmly believe that with the right agronomic practices, as well as an improved nutrient supply of crops through inputs, we can eventually enhance the nutrient uptake and thereby alleviate the issue of malnutrition especially among women and children in Bangladesh,” said Joerg Rehbein, Head of Bayer CropScience, Indian Sub-continent.

Christel Weller-Molongua, Department Head of Rural development and Agriculture in GIZ commented: “Agricultural techniques that improve micronutrient intake can benefit all consumers, particular for women and children. We are therefore looking at developing and implementing an approach that focuses on raising awareness and training farmers in nutrition-sensitive agricultural practices.”

ANF4W is part of the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) fulfillment between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and was launched on January 29, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. GIZ is implementing the project on behalf of BMZ within the framework of the develoPPP.de-program. Further partners are Aglukon, a foliar fertilizer company, and McCann Health, a global communication specialist in awareness campaigns.

The cooperation agreement signed between Bayer CropScience and GIZ for implementation of the ANF4W project in Bangladesh is a pilot running for 18 months, with the intention to develop this into a full project, covering additional countries and crops. Investment of all parties involved amounts to about 1.2 million Euros. 

“This innovative cooperation between GIZ on behalf BMZ, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Bayer CropScience is the first one in South Asia and hopefully builts the ground for further food and nutrition security projects in this region“ says Stefan Helming, Country Director of GIZ in India. 

World hunger – of the hidden kind

While the consequences of “visible” hunger are well known, “hidden” hunger is showing an alarming upward trend in many countries, despite a multitude of interventions. “Hidden” hunger, or malnutrition, refers to the insufficient intake of vitamins and minerals as micronutrients.

Currently, an estimated two billion people worldwide are affected by micronutrient deficiencies, which in turn have a detrimental effect on people’s health, productivity and life expectancy. 

The situation in Bangladesh exemplifies these facts. In 2011, 24 percent of Bangladeshi women of reproductive age were underweight. Specific nutrients that are lacking include protein and energy sources such as carbohydrates, fats and oils, as well as micronutrients including calcium, folic acid, iron, vitamin A and B6, and zinc.

As a result, 36 percent of Bangladeshi children were underweight, with acute malnutrition affecting 16 percent of children. 51 percent were anemic, which poses a severe public health concern.

Improving nutrition through agriculture

Nutrition-sensitive agriculture has shown a tight link to improved nutrition for women of reproductive age. Diets of rural households in Bangladesh tend to rely primarily on one staple crop, which is often rice, with inadequate intake of non-staple foods with a high content of micronutrients. Therefore, options for improving the nutrition of women include increasing micronutrients in staple crops and vegetables, and diversifying diets by ensuring access to diverse, nutritious foods.

“Bayer CropScience is committed to collaborating across the public and private sectors to help enhance world food security and nutrition,” said Hartmut van Lengerich, Head of Global Strategy for Cereals, Rice and Oilseeds at Bayer CropScience. “We therefore believe the ANF4W project is a good opportunity to specifically look at nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions as part of our integrated crop management solutions,” he added. 

Besides rice, Bayer CropScience will also look into extending its integrated crop management offer to vegetables and legumes. In addition, the cooperation involves generating a credible data set on selected nutrition relevant micronutrients such as zinc and iron in the final agricultural produce and comparing these against market standards.