Iron-rich rice to be introduced in Uganda

Oct 16, 2006

Rice is the staple food of more than half the world’s population and about four-fifth is produced by small scale farmers for consumption.<br>

By Josephine Maseruka
Rice is the staple food of more than half the world’s population and about four-fifth is produced by small scale farmers for consumption.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, about one billion households depend on rice for their livelihood. During the last decade, rice had also become the most widely grown food source in sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa’s rice production could surpass 20 million tonnes this year for the first time and this could reduce on rice imports, which were at nine million tonnes in 2005.

In East Africa, lifestyles have changed the eating habits of most people. They are now eating more rice than any other food. Uganda spends $99m annually on rice imports. This might increase due to the high demand. Uganda imports 60,000 tonnes of rice annually. The amount is higher because of the additional locally produced rice consumed.

Most of the rice is imported from Asia due to insufficient local production and the poor quality of locally grown crops. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics is yet to get funding to get the actual local rice consumption levels, according to Magezi Apuuli, a senior statistician in charge of agriculture.

In most developing countries, especially in Asia where rice is the major food, more people are at a risk of getting iron deficiency due to little iron content in their diets.

Lack of iron is the most common micro-nutrient deficiency in the world, afflicting about five billion people worldwide (about 30%), particularly in developing countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

With more people adapting to eating rice, more of the world’s population is risking being afflicted by iron deficiency unless affordable preventive measures are put in place.

Iron deficiency is the main cause of anaemia. More than two billion worldwide are anaemic mainly due to iron deficiency. Nine out of 10 anaemic people live in developing countries.

On average, every second pregnant woman and four out of 10 pre-school children are anaemic, according to WHO.

Anaemia is particularly pronounced in Southeast Asia where about 800 million people are affected and in Africa nearly 250 million due to biting poverty.

More than half of the pregnant women and children (school-age and pre-school age group combined) suffer from anaemia, as do 45% of the elderly and 30% of adults.

The functional effects of iron deficiency result both from a reduction in the circulating haemoglobin and in the iron-contained enzymes and myoglobin.

Information from Reproductive Health in the Ministry of Health shows that prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia among females of child-bearing age is 42%. It is made worse by hook worm and whip worm infestations, which cause further blood loss, although this affects mostly children below two years.

Iron deficiency prevalence in Uganda, which is at 51%, is higher amongst pregnant women.

Prof. G Khush from the University of California says, “The major consequences are reduced psychomotor and mental development in infants, poor pregnancy outcome, decreased immune function, tiredness and poor work performance.”

“In children, iron deficiency impairs physical growth, mental development and learning capacity. In adults, it causes fatigue and reduced work capacity. Severe anaemia also heightens the risk of women dying during child birth,” according to WHO.

WHO adds that overall, the most vulnerable, the poorest and the least educated, are disproportionately affected by iron deficiency and stand to gain the most from its reduction.

Dr. George Bigirwa, a plant pathologist and head of the Cereal Research Programme and Animal Research Institute at Namulonge, said iron-rich rice once introduced, would reverse the high figures of anaemic Ugandans.

The widely recognised strategies for reducing micronutrient malnutrition are supplementations with pharmaceutical preparations, food fortification, dietary diversification and disease reduction.

Iron supplementations are vital for anaemic people, but are expensive and usually have poor compliance because of the unpleasant side effects.

Food fortification has been considered the best long-term strategy for prevention, but there are technical problems related to the choice of a suitable iron compound.

The iron compounds of relatively high iron availability, such as ferrous sulphate, often provoke unacceptable colour and flavour changes, whereas those compounds such as elemental iron, are usually poorly absorbed.

While staple foods, such as wheat and corn flours, can be relatively easily fortified with iron, rice grains pose a much more difficult problem.

For various reasons, none of the current intervention strategies have been very successful in reducing the prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia in developing countries.

Trials have been made by the Institute of Plant Science, Zurich in Switzerland, to increase the iron content in rice endosperm and to improve its absorption in the human intestines by genetic engineering.

The experiments proved that the rice with higher iron content has a great potential to substantially improve iron nutrition in those populations where iron deficiency is so widely spread.

Iron-rich rice (bio fortified) was fed to 192 Philippine nuns for nine months and the study found that the iron status of women who ate it was 20% higher than in women who ate traditional rice.

Prof. Jere Haas of Cornell University, the lead author of this study, said the increase meant that instead of 50% of women getting iron, 71% of women who consumed the bio fortified rice while eating a traditional Philippine diet, met the estimated average iron requirement.

Increasing iron intake, however, will not be successful in eliminating anaemia unless the diet is low in iron absorption inhibitors.

Khush said affordable iron-rich rice may be ready for cultivation after two years. This will save the world’s billions of anaemic people, especially the poor in developing countries, where rice is the staple food.

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