Iron deficiency is a widespread nutritional problem in developing countries, causing impaired physical activity and cognitive development, as well as maternal mortality. Although food fortification and supplementation programmes have been effective in some countries, their overall success remains limited. Biofortification, that is, breeding crops for higher micronutrient content, is a relatively new approach. We propose a methodology for ex-ante impact assessment of iron biofortification, which builds on disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and a large household data set.
The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have serious health and economic ramifications in Africa. This paper presents a technical position on demand and supply shocks associated with the COVID19 pandemic within the African context. We document the disruptions associated with containment measures implemented by various governments and their implications on labour mobility, import and export of food commodities, production and productivity of major staples and prices of food items.