HarvestPlus joins GHTC

The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) is pleased to announce that HarvestPlus has joined the coalition as a member. HarvestPlus is an international program that seeks to improve nutrition and public health by developing and promoting biofortified, staple food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals, and providing global leadership on biofortification evidence and technology.

“Micronutrient deficiency is a problem that adversely affects at least 2 billion people in the developing world,” said Dr. Howarth Bouis, director of HarvestPlus. “We believe that biofortification can be a cost-effective approach to tackle this problem on a large scale—making the everyday food staples that people rely on in poor regions more nutritious. To make this mission a reality, HarvestPlus works with diverse partners around the world to breed and promote micronutrient-rich staple food crops in poor countries and build a body of research that support their effectiveness. We look forwarding to partnering with GHTC and its members to educate policymakers about the benefits of biofortification and the important role science and innovation play more broadly in advancing global health.”

HarvestPlus was officially launched in 2003 when it became the first recipient of grant funding for biofortification research from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. HarvestPlus is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health. CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by its 15 research centers in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. The HarvestPlus program is coordinated by two of these centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

“Biofortification is a novel and promising approach to improve global nutrition and health, and HarvestPlus is the global leader in refining and deploying it globally,” said Erin Will Morton, GHTC’s Coalition Director. “GHTC is committed to advancing groundbreaking research and innovation across global health areas and technology platforms, so we are excited to welcome HarvestPlus’s unique voice to our growing membership.”

For more information about HarvestPlus, visit www.harvestplus.org.