Health issues are a central theme in Feed the Future Innovation Labs for Collaborative Research research, both human and animal. Nutrition, for example, along with food science, and veterinary medicine, are explicitly mentioned in the Title XII legislation’s definition of agriculture that authorizes the collaborative research support programs.

For the past few years, cutting-edge research under the Peanut CRSP has shown that peanuts (as well as other legumes and grains) can be contaminated with toxic molds, such as aflatoxin. Consumption of contaminated food can weaken peoples’ immune systems, making them more susceptible to infections such as HIV and TB and has been associated with increased risk of some cancers. It is also linked to increased levels of stunting in children.

The Nutrition Innovation Lab, operating in Uganda and Nepal, focuses on answering the “how” and “why” of successful nutrition interventions, seeking to overcome widespread maternal and child malnutrition, even in countries demonstrating agricultural growth and poverty reduction. To date, limited empirical evidence exists to determine how to identify the best policy mechanism for achieving large scale improvements in child nutrition. This Innovation Lab research will expand an historical orientation on the biological way to improve human nutrition to emphasize research that will help to identify and explain what works operationally, on the ground, to encourage the behavior changes that result in better nutritional status, and how these changes can be scaled up. It is one of the most recent member of the Innovation Lab family, which also included a Human Nutrition CRSP in the 1980s.

In addition to the Nutrition Innovation Lab, nearly every Innovation Lab and CRSP has or had a nutrition-oriented component among their activities. In Uganda and Rwanda, the Dry Grain Pulses CRSP studied alternative methods for post-harvest storage and processing of beans that can enhance their nutritional value. In Ghana, the Horticulture Innovation Lab is working to increase nutrients in traditional diets by improving production, postharvest, and processing of Vitamin A-rich, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. Building on observational studies from the Human Nutrition CRSP in the 1980s, findings from the former research in Kenya showed that adding small amounts of animal source foods to children’s diets improved their nutritional status and cognitive development. A community-based nutrition education and microfinance activity in Ghana built on this research. Women in the micro-credit groups started or expanded businesses and used the funds to purchase animal source foods for their households. Recognizing the nutritional and health values of peanuts, the Peanut CRSP established a school feeding program in Guyana based on peanut butter produced by cooperatives using locally grown peanuts.  The initiative has grown from a village to national program and established a new cottage industry employing local women to produce of the peanut-based snack.