Breakout Group 2: Food staples as a target for nutritional improvement: can the hard-to-reach smallholder farmers benefit?

Chair: Presenters:

Howarth Bouis, HarvestPlus Inge Brouwer, Wageningen University Mark Aarts, Wageningen University Paulus M. Verschuren, Netherlands MOFA Thom Sprenger, HarvestPlus

Rapporteur:

The Groups main findings 1. Food security needs to become nutrition inclusive. 2. Poor eat food staples in large quantities, making them a good vehicle for nutrient improvement. 3. The ultimate goal is diversified diets: this will take a long time to achieve

What changes or initiatives could member institutions take forward in food production, farmers and markets?
1. In the area of production, plantbreeding focused on more minerals and vitamins, 2. As markets expand to rural , fortification becomes more effective 3. Much needs to be learned about best ways to create consumer demands

What initiatives could Platform members take together to support the Groups findings? 1. Define specific activities to realize nutrition-sensitive agriculture 2. More in-depth sharing of knowledge and programs in this area. 3. GDPRD should take the platform role, to champion nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

What are the key messages from the Group that Platform members should further communicate:
1. Fortification (urban) and biofortification (rural) are complementary strategies 2. With respect to biofortification, the final steps is demonstrating. With respect to fortification existing programs need to fine-tuned 3. To reach common ground on specific strategies within nutrition specific agriculture (clarify each others roles and responsibilities)