Two billion people globally lack essential vitamins and minerals in their diet such as vitamin A zinc, and iron - a condition also known as hidden hunger. In Rwanda, for example, iron deficiency affects nearly one in three children under-five. This can impair their mental development and learning capacity. Around the world, hidden hunger is a major underlying cause of anemia, stunting, blindness, infectious diseases, and even death, with women and children most vulnerable.

New varieties of staple food crops that can provide critical vitamins and minerals are now available.

To ensure nutritious crops,such as iron beans,reach even more people globally, stakeholders met in Kigali from March 31 to April 3 to discuss how best to scale up these crops. Hosted by the Government of Rwanda in partnership with HarvestPlus, this global consultation on "Getting Nutritious Foods to People" brought together more than 250 high-level delegates from government, business, media and civil society to assess ways to increase access to nutritious crops.