Enhancing Food Safety and Nutrition Through Feed the Future's Research Strategy.

Enhancing nutrition is a central focus of the Feed the Future Research Strategy. More than 1 billion people are food insecure while more than 2 billion are deficient in one or more micronutrients. Micro- and macronutrient deficiencies can compromise cognitive development in children, reduce worker productivity, and increase child morbidity and mortality. To sustainably improve nutrition and achieve global food security, food based approaches to improve nutrition must be a focus of agricultural research. Food-based approaches, such as increased availability and accessibility of animal source foods in the diet, can improve child nutritional status and have beneficial impacts on cognitive development, academic performance, and growth.  Increased legume consumption has shown significant improvements in child growth.  While the evidence shows that nutrition can be improved through agricultural research and ultimately through improved availability and accessibility of nutrient dense foods, prioritizing research to optimize nutrition outcomes is necessary. There are many factors, such as land ownership, education, women's labor allocations, food storage, and access to extension and markets that must also be considered. Given the context, there are multiple opportunities for crop and soil scientists to contribute to nutrition goals. These include increasing iron and zinc availability from grains and legumes, increasing provitamin A concentrations in grains and tubers and raising the limiting amino acid concentrations of staple foods.