Three billion people the world over are experiencing the phenomenon of 'hidden hunger'. In India, approximately 80% of the farmers are small-holder farmers. In today's episode of Decoding Impact, we discuss a solution that has the potential to transform both of these: biofortification.
The UN recently declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, with the intent to build momentum for millet production and trade while heralding the benefits of nutrition, sustainability and economic empowerment for farmers. Furthermore, following the increased awareness about fitness and health that the pandemic ushered in, there is a resurgence in the popularity of superfood grains like foxtail millets, ragi, jowar and pearl millets.
With this accruing global focus on solutions for health, well-being and farmer livelihoods, as well as the growing interest in climate change resilient practices in agriculture, there has arguably never been a better time to scale biofortification. In this episode of Decoding Impact, we are joined by Mr Ravinder Grover, the Programme Lead from Harvest Plus, who is an expert in the biofortification domain, and comes with extensive consulting experience. We discuss with him how the potential of agricultural produce, including the superfood millets, can be accelerated through the agricultural treatment and application of biofortification. Ravinder unpacks for us what biofortification is, how it can make grains climate change-resilient, how farmers can benefit, the practical application of biofortification and the trade-offs and barriers to scaling this agricultural practice in India and globally.
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