Firm Launches Micronutrient Standards to Promote Healthy Living

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

In its bid to promote healthy living among Nigerians, an agricultural firm, HarvestPlus Nigeria has launched micronutrient standards for biofortified provitamin A maize and iron pearl millet varieties.

This is just as its Country Manager, Dr. Yusuf Dollah, stated the commitment of the company to work closely with the public and private sectors in the country to tackle malnutrition through the consumption of biofortified crops.

Dollah while speaking with journalists on the sideline of the launch of the two varieties held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, said the firm would do everything to also improve the livelihood opportunities for Nigerians through manufacturing and production of biofortified crops.

The event was attended by researchers, farmers, agricultural experts, representatives of institutions, research institutes and media practitioners.

Dollah said the launching became necessary in order to improve the nutrition of Nigerians, noting that the launching aims to ensure that Nigerians have access to essential micronutrients and vitamins that the bodies require to live a healthy life. 

He said, “In HarvestPlus, we develop staple crop varieties to have high level of nutrients and vitamins so that as we have access to these seeds and we grow them, we harvest and we consume, we have access to essential micronutrients and vitamins that our bodies require for us to live a healthy life. 

“But at the same time as we promote these varieties, we also want to ensure that what is being released into the system also have the required micronutrients level that can make a meaningful health impact in people.

“So, we have also been having issues around counterfeiting of the seeds now because vitamin A maize is orange in colour, now people sell ordinary yellow maize in place of vitamin A maize.

“So to curb all these counterfeiting and ensure that what our farmers have in plant is really the Biofortified crops that when you consume it will make meaningful health impact in them, so we need to put standards and regulate and ensure that breeders also know the level of the micronutrients and what the varieties release committee will also agree to release into the system or into the country agree with the minimum standards for the micronutrients, so that is what we have launched this morning here.

“It is being a process, we launched two standards today, one for the Iron and Zink Millet and one for the vitamin A maize.

“This is the country office of HarvestPlus and at the same time most of our varieties are also developed here at IITA.”

He added that it was deliberate and also strategic for the company to effect the launch in Ibadan, stating that it will ensure that Nigerians continue to have access to required nutritious food so that it can make a meaningful health impact in their bodies.

Present at the event include HarvestPlus Policy Advisor, Aremu Fakunle John; National Chairman of National Variety Release Committee, Prof. Olusoji Olufajo and the Director, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mallam Nuhu Kilishi, among others.