The Poor, Malnutrition, Biofortification, and Biotechnology - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 147

Chapter 6
The Poor, Malnutrition,
Biofortification, and
Biotechnology
Alexander J. Stein
Introduction
This chapter deals with agricultural approaches that are aimed at improving the
nutritional status—and ultimately the health—of the poor in developing countries.
Conventionally, nutrition problems in poor countries are first and foremost equated
with outright hunger, meaning an insufficient consumption of dietary energy (see
FAO 2010). Correspondingly, the discussion about how to solve the world food
problem primarily revolves around the question of whether hunger is a (technical)
problem of food production or a (social) problem of food distribution. This is an espe-
cially important question because agricultural biotechnology is being used for crop
improvement (Chrispeels 2000). However, while the fact that there are about one bil-
lion hungry people in the world is an issue of serious concern, there is another nutri-
tion problem that often goes unnoticed; namely, micronutrient malnutrition, which is
also aptly dubbed “hidden hunger” (Kristof 2009; Hidden Hunger 2011; Micronutrient
Initiative 2011a).
While undernourishment due to insufficient energy intakes is directly felt by those
suffering from hunger, and is also easily recognized by others because it causes wast-
ing and stunting, a lack of micronutrients in people's diets has less directly perceptible
but nevertheless potentially serious consequences for the health and well-being of the
affected individuals. Micronutrient deficiencies can cause, inter alia, lack of stamina,
impaired physical and cognitive development, morbidity, blindness and—via increased
susceptibility to infectious diseases—premature death.
Even if insufficient dietary intakes are recognized as the main cause of micronutri-
ent deficiencies—that is, even if “hidden hunger” is identified as being a food-based