Stakeholders have emphasised the need for a standardised policy governing the release of biofortified provitamin A maize to improve the nutritional standard, and fight malnutrition in the country.
They made this known at the validation workshop for the development of micro-nutrient standards for biofortified provitamin A, and non-provitamin A maize variety release in Nigeria, organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and HarvestPlus in Abuja.
The stakeholders, including the Variety Release Committee, the Seed Council, the Maize Association of Nigeria, the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, and universities, among others, reviewed and refined the draft standards to ensure that only maize varieties with the required beta-carotene levels are classified as provitamin A maize.
Country Manager of HarvestPlus, Dr. Yusuff Fou’ad, emphasised that biofortification, achieved through conventional breeding, enhances staple crops with essential micronutrients and vitamins.
He noted that while Nigeria has a wide range of biofortified varieties, there are no standardised guidelines for the release of provitamin A maize.
Fou’ad warned that without clear standards, ordinary yellow maize could be falsely sold as vitamin A maize, misleading consumers, and undermining efforts to tackle vitamin A deficiency.
“We work across the value chain to identify weak linkages where there are constraints within the value chain, and we try and work with our partners from the government agencies, departments and partners to neutralise these constraints.
“One of the constraints is that we don’t have a standard for releasing vitamin A maize in Nigeria. So, that means anyone can sell, even if it’s just the ordinary yellow maize, in place of vitamin A.
“Now, we are working with our government collaborators to ensure that we come up with standards to guide us, and be sure that if we develop a variety of maize in Nigeria, and if it has a certain level of beta carotene in it, that is what should we called vitamin A maize.
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“Today, we have technocrats here who have come up with a draft of the standards, we had refined the draft, and we are here to validate it and make necessary adjustments, so that at the end of the day, we’ll have it as a policy document, which is micronutrient standards for releasing vitamin A maize in Nigeria,” he stated.Nigeria to release guidelines on biofortified maize to tackle malnutrition
Director of the Nutrition and Food Safety Department, at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Nuhu Kilishi, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to reducing malnutrition.
Kilishi stressed the need to expand biofortification efforts to other staple crops, such as cereals, tubers, and vegetables.
He also added that steps are being taken to develop cooperative farming clusters that will enable large-scale cultivation, and processing of biofortified crops, ensuring broader access to nutritious food across the country.
Chairman of the National Variety Release Committee, Prof. Olusoju Olufajo, emphasised the importance of updating standards for provitamin A maize, noting that research is constantly advancing.