National Banana Research Program

Addressing micronutrient deficiencies in Uganda through banana biofortification

With the support of Bill and Melinda gates Foundation the project started in 2006 and it is ongoing. The Goal of the project aims to improve the content of vitamin A carotenoids and iron in the East African Highland cooking bananas consumed in Uganda. This project is being executed in collaboration with Queensland University of Australia.

Background
Banana and plantain (Musa) cultivars show wide ranging differences in nutrient content, particularly of micronutrients such as carotenes which are converted into Vitamin A in the human body. While carotene content in the exported Cavendish banana is negligible, some orange fleshed cultivars have been shown to contain high levels of carotenes to meet a large part of the daily recommended adult needs for Vitamin A.

This project aims to improve the availability of micronutrients in bananas for populations that are vulnerable to micronutrient deficiency through investigating a range of potential impact pathways. The long-term impact pathways will include producing high-micronutrient varieties through genetic improvement and possibly to investigate to introduce high-micronutrient cultivars from other parts of the world. In addition, the project will evaluate existing cultivars, production technologies, harvesting and handling practices, and cooking and processing methods of both indigenous street and home-made foods, focusing particularly on the content and retention of carotenes and iron. Simple solutions will be pursued to enhance the production and processing of Musa-based foods to maximize micronutrient content and retention.

While the project promises important advances in basic research and in determining some of the nutritional values of consuming banana and plantain, a major focus is to identify, target and involve the potential beneficiaries and ensure that the project's resources are invested in areas that will have a positive impact.