The Agricultural-Industrial Partnership for EliminatingMicronutrient Malnutrition: The Investment Bargain of the Decade

Key words: 
• agricultural research /
• public and private /
• food industry /
• low cost

Abstract: The limitations of conventional approaches to eliminatingmicronutrient deficiencies drives the search for a sustainable paradigm. This manuscript argues that the public and private sectors must embark on modernization of the Asian food industry and reorientation of the international agricultural research complex so that nutritionally enriched essential foods will be affordable and accessible to the poor. It is recommended that this partnership take special care of the needs of Asian children. The costs of chronic undernutrition, availability of cost-effective strategies, and benefits of sustained nutrition improvement to individuals, families and nations are reviewed. The roles of food fortification, plant breeding and biotechnology, both actual and imminent, are described. The paper concludes that a recast Green Revolution directed to dietary quality may be the key to enhancing the learning and earning capacity of young Asians of the new millenium.“No other technology offers as large and opportunity to improve lives...at such a low cost and in such a short time.."world Bank[1]