Iron deficiency anaemia affects 1.24 billion people globally, and this project will test whether better processing of millets can make their iron more accessible to the human body. The problem is stark: 4 to 6 billion people worldwide are iron-deficient, and millets—drought-resistant cereals widely grown by female smallholders in semi-arid Africa and India—are naturally nutrient-dense but have not been turned into functional foods that populations will readily eat. Previous biofortification efforts have made limited progress on iron *bioavailability*: the amount of iron the body can actually absorb from food. Over two years, the MillNETi consortium will tackle this by linking fundamental science on how millets take up iron from soil (growth), how traditional processing methods like fermentation or milling affect iron content (processing), and human nutrition trials that measure iron levels in the blood of healthy women in Ethiopia and The Gambia (bioavailability). Social scientists will then work with local communities to spread improved cultivation and cooking practices. If successful, the research could give governments and farmers in semi-arid regions a practical, low-cost tool to reduce anaemia without relying on supplements or fortified foods. It also addresses a less visible but critical issue: as people move from rural areas to cities, they demand more nutritious foods, and millets could fill that gap while supporting rural livelihoods.
View original technical description
Iron deficiency remains the most prevalent nutritional deficiency worldwide, affecting an estimated 4 to 6 billion people. Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is the largest nutritional deficiency disorder in the world and one of the five leading causes of global disease burden. At any given moment, more individuals suffer from IDA than any other health problem with a staggering 1.24 billion affected individuals worldwide. In developing countries, millets are the most common form of cereals, often cultivated by female small holders in semi-arid tropic regions. Their resistance to drought and climate variability, along with nutrient dense characteristics, is attracting an increasing number of small scale farmers and governments in Sub Saharan Africa. While the nutritional value of millets has been identified, there has been limited progress on the creation of functional foods that are readily acceptable to populations. Biofortification of millets is also an emerging area research for enhancing nutritional quality. The goals of the two-year MillNETi are to tackle the major issue of iron bioavailability (relative to biofortification) by promoting the use and preparation of pearl and finger millets, initially in Ethiopia and The Gambia, but of wider relevance for many semi-arid regions of Africa. The programme has been co-created with colleagues in India, Ethiopia and The Gambia, and a consortium of UK expertise and will undertake fundamental scientific investigations for the GROWTH, PROCESSING and monitoring of iron BIOAVAILABILTY, allied to social science methodologies to disseminate knowledge and improved practices in cultivation and food preparation (EXTENSION) to regional populations. The programme builds on an existing programme of biofortification (ICRISAT), bioavailability testing (MRC- Gambia), and social science studies indicating that rural - urban migration is creating a demand for more nutritious foods such as millets both in The Gambia and Ethiopia. We will explore the basis of variation in crop iron uptake and availability traits in millets from contrasting regions and cropping practices (GROWTH: NIAB, UCAM, ICRISAT, EIAR). Additional research in Ethiopia on food preparation and processing (PROCESSING: BDU, ICRISAT, UCAM, MRC-Gambia) will be linked with a programme of internationally-validated human nutrition intervention studies (BIOAVAILABILITY: MRC-Gambia, UCAM), analysing plasma bioavailability of iron in healthy adult female representatives from local populations. As well as outreach to improve the nutrition and health of rural communities (EXTENSION (CGE/JeCCDO, BDU, UCAM: CGC, GFS IRC, CAPREX) additional insights from MillNETi on rural-urban linkages will be associated with the practice of food remitting, and potential role in food security, improved nutritional status and marketing opportunities for rural populations. These highly original observations will be of international significance for many populations in Africa and India, where the rural-urban divide represents a complex and interlinked reality of 'stretched' or 'multi-nodal' households.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know