Fortified bananas to combat Vitamin A deficiency proposed for Uganda.
Researchers Hope ‘Super Bananas’ Will Combat Vitamin A Deficiency
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.
a thoughtful look at the journey of food from the fields to the fork
Liebster Award
Thought + Food 
I wrote about this GM banana http://argylesock.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/biofortified-gm-bananas/ It’s being promoted, very much as Golden Rice is promoted, with stories about Vitamin A deficiency. But Vitamin A is readily available from other foods, notably from orange-fleshed sweet potatoes and green leafy vegetables, which smallholders grow and trade. Also I’m concerned that this GM crop will focus too much investment on a few new varieties, at a cost to the banana diversity which is one of Uganda’s great strengths.
There were similar concerns about iron fortified bananas in India (and that project was blocked) and I would like to suggest this: yes, Vitamin A is available from other sources, clearly that is not being included in the diet otherwise the incidence of deficiency would be lower. From my experience in India, the greatest part of the food budget is spent on grains/cereals among the lowest income groups. Fruits and vegetables are consumed in negligible amounts, not enough to address a deficiency. Also, biodiversity is critical but even right now, there is one predominant variety of banana eaten all over the globe (Cavendish) but other varieties continue to exist. From what I have learnt, bananas are an integral part of the Ugandan diet so they would probably not disappear. On the plus side, if this delivers according to potential we would alleviate so much suffering! I think we should give it a try and not shut it down like Golden Rice.