MillNET_i: Millets and Nutritional Enhancement Traits for Iron bioavailability

缺铁仍然是世界上最普遍的营养缺乏症，估计有40亿至60亿人受到影响。缺铁性贫血是世界上最大的营养缺乏性疾病，也是全球疾病负担的五大主要原因之一。在任何时候，患IDA的人数都超过其他任何健康问题，全世界受影响的人数高达12.4亿。在发展中国家，小米是最常见的谷类作物，通常由半干旱热带地区的女性小农种植。它们对干旱和气候变化的抵抗力，以及营养密集的特点，正吸引着撒哈拉以南非洲越来越多的小农和政府。虽然小米的营养价值已经被确定，但在创造人们容易接受的功能性食品方面进展有限。谷子生物强化也是提高谷子营养品质的新兴研究领域。为期两年的MillNETi的目标是解决铁的生物利用度（相对于生物强化）的主要问题，首先在埃塞俄比亚和冈比亚推广珍珠粟和指粟的使用和制备，但对非洲许多半干旱地区具有更广泛的相关性。该项目是与印度、埃塞俄比亚和冈比亚的同事以及一个英国专家联盟共同创建的，将对铁生物利用度的生长、加工和监测进行基础科学调查，并结合社会科学方法向地区人口传播种植和食品制备方面的知识和改进做法（EXTENSION）。该项目建立在现有的生物强化（ICRISAT）、生物利用度测试（MRC-冈比亚）和社会科学研究的基础上，这些研究表明，在冈比亚和埃塞俄比亚，从农村到城市的移民正在创造对更有营养的食物（如小米）的需求。我们将从不同的地区和不同的种植方式（GROWTH: NIAB， UCAM， ICRISAT， EIAR）中探索谷子作物铁吸收和有效性性状变化的基础。埃塞俄比亚关于食品制备和加工的进一步研究（加工：BDU、ICRISAT、UCAM、mrc -冈比亚）将与国际认可的人类营养干预研究方案（生物利用度：mrc -冈比亚、UCAM）联系起来，分析当地人口中健康成年女性代表的血浆铁的生物利用度。除了改善农村社区营养和健康的外展活动(EXTENSION （CGE/JeCCDO、BDU、UCAM: CGC、GFS IRC、CAPREX）外，MillNETi关于城乡联系的其他见解将与粮食汇出做法以及在粮食安全、改善农村人口营养状况和营销机会方面的潜在作用联系起来。这些高度原创的观察结果将对非洲和印度的许多人口具有国际意义，在非洲和印度，城乡差距代表了“拉伸”或“多节点”家庭的复杂和相互关联的现实。

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.