Biofortification

Today, 190 million pre-school children and 19 million pregnant women are vitamin A deficient.
Each year, it is estimated that 670,000 children will die from vitamin A deficiency (VAD), and 350,000 will go blind.
In the Philippines, almost 15.2% or approximately 1.7 million children aged 6 months to 5 years and an additional three out of every ten school-aged children have VAD, as do one out of every five pregnant and one out of every five lactating mothers.
In Bangladesh, one in every five (21.7%) of pre-school aged children are estimated to have VAD.
In the Philippines and Bangladesh, as in many developing countries, effective distribution systems for vitamin A supplementation are not in place to reach all people in need adequately and consistently.

Golden Rice is a new type of rice that contains beta carotene, a source of vitamin A, which the body converts to vitamin A as needed.
Because rice is widely produced and consumed, Golden Rice has the potential to reach many people, including those who do not have access to other sources of vitamin A.
Golden Rice was developed using genetic modification techniques, with genes from maize and a common soil micro-organism, that together produce beta carotene in the rice plant.
HKI is working with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in a project to test whether Golden Rice is an effective way to help address vitamin A deficiency.
HKI's role is to evaluate whether the consumption of Golden Rice improves vitamin A status in those individuals who are deficient and, if deployed, to assess whether Golden Rice could potentially reach those most in need.
If Golden Rice is proven to be efficacious, it should be used in combination with existing approaches to overcome vitamin A deficiency, including the promotion of optimal breastfeeding, vitamin A supplementation, Homestead Food Production (HFP), Large-Scale Food Fortification, and Orange-fleshed Sweetpotatoes.
For more information about HKI’s role in this project, please click here.