ZIRON Pulse: Upscaling adoption and exploitation of a wide diversity of Iron and Zinc-rich beans by rural populations in Africa

联合国在其题为《世界粮食安全和营养状况》（2017年）的报告中指出，“自2014年以来，世界上营养不足的人数一直在上升，2017年估计达到8.21亿人”。人口增长、气候变化的影响、长期影响和极端事件、有限的土地和不断减少的资源都表明，如果我们要提供安全营养的食物，满足他们的饮食需求和食物偏好，以实现积极健康的生活，就需要进行逐步改变。未来作物的可持续生产必须通过减少基本资源，特别是氮肥的利用来实现。豆类（豆类），如普通豆，为这个问题提供了一个无与伦比的解决方案，因为它们与细菌共生的固有能力可以固定大气中的氮，从而最大限度地减少对氮肥的需求。豆科谷物的营养价值和氨基酸组成均高于谷类。改善（生物强化）普通豆中微量营养素特别是铁和锌的含量是解决发展中国家普遍存在的微量营养素缺乏问题的可行策略。微量营养素缺乏通常被称为“隐性饥饿”，因为这个问题往往不明显，但一旦严重，就会导致不可逆转的损害。虽然补充药物对容易接触到的群体有效，而且成本相对较低，但这一战略往往忽略了难以接触到的弱势群体，如农村和城市贫困人口。该项目以开发富含铁和锌的豆类为重点，建立在肯尼亚长期建立的豆类生物强化育种计划的基础上，该计划正在开发富含铁和锌的新品种。项目研究将首先增加对普通豆高微量营养素积累和农艺持久性遗传基础的现有认识，并提高未来分子育种的精度和效率，以获得更营养和耐久的豆类品种。其次，本项目开展的跨学科研究将向供应链和价值链中的利益相关者（包括消费者、小农和政策制定者）展示该育种计划生产的富含铁和锌的豆类的营养价值。它将以在文化上适当和适合普通烹饪方式的方式，以广泛食用的普通豆类的形式提供更有营养的食物，从而改善肯尼亚乃至其他发展中国家的身体和认知健康。关于富含微量营养素的豆类品种的资料将在肯尼亚传播，并将成为在其他非洲国家开展类似活动的平台。项目活动还将促进社会福利，并为决策者提供基于科学的建议。我们的目标是覆盖肯尼亚至少1万户农村家庭，加强与豆粮生产商和市场的联系和互动，并提高当地农民的营销和技术技能。通过向非洲农民提供生产高营养价值豆类的手段，作为缓解营养不良的可行和可持续的解决方案，他们的收入和经济财富也将增加。将农民和当地社区纳入这一生物强化农业项目不仅确保了当地社区的参与，而且有助于保护可持续性，并重点关注农村地区妇女和儿童的营养效益。

In their report "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World" (2017) the United Nations state that "The number of undernourished people in the world has been on the rise since 2014, reaching an estimated 821 million in 2017". Increases in population, the impacts of climate change long-term effects and extreme events, finite land and diminishing resources all point to the need for a step change if we are to deliver safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. The sustainable production of future crops has to be accomplished with decreased utilization of essential resources, particularly nitrogen fertilizers. Grain legumes (pulses), such as common bean, provide an unparalleled solution to this problem because of their inherent capacity for symbiosis with bacteria that can fix atmospheric nitrogen, which minimizes the need for nitrogen fertilization. Grain legumes have a higher nutritional value and the amino acid composition than cereals. Improvement (biofortification) of the contents of micronutrients particularly iron and zinc in common bean is a feasible strategy to solve the problem of micronutrient deficiencies that are more widespread in developing countries. Micronutrient deficiencies are often referred to as 'hidden hunger' because the problem is often not obvious but, when considerable, leads to irreversible damage. While supplementation is effective for easy-to-reach groups and relatively low cost, this strategy often misses the hard-to-reach vulnerable groups such as the rural and urban poor. Focussing on the development of iron and zinc rich beans, this project is founded on a long-established bean biofortification breeding program in Kenya that is in the process of developing new varieties with high levels of iron and zinc. Project research will firstly increase current knowledge of the genetic basis of high micronutrient accumulation and agronomic durability in common bean and improve the precision and efficiency of future molecular breeding for more nutritious and durable bean varieties. Secondly, the interdisciplinary research undertaken in this project will demonstrate to the nutritional benefits of the iron and zinc rich beans produced by the breeding program across the stakeholders in the supply and value chains including consumers, small holders and policy makers. It will deliver more nutritious foods in the form of widely eaten common beans in a manner that is culturally appropriate and suited to the common form of cooking and so improve physical and cognitive health in Kenya and ultimately other developing countries. Information concerning micronutrient rich bean varieties will be disseminated in Kenya and will form a platform for analogous activities in other African countries. Project activities will also promote social welfare and provide science-based advice for policymakers. Our aim is to reach at least 10000 rural house-holds in Kenya, and enhance linkages and interactions with bean grain producers and the market, as well as improving the marketing and technical skills of local farmers. By providing African farmers with the means to produce high nutritional value beans as a feasible and sustainable solution for the alleviation of malnutrition, their revenue and economic wealth will also increase. The inclusion of farmers and local communities in this program of biofortification agriculture not only ensures community engagement at a local level but serves to protect sustainability and focuses on nutritional benefits to women and children in rural regions.