High Iron Beans for Enhanced Nutrition

World Vision is distributing 30 metric tonnes of  beans with high iron content in Elgeyo Marakwet County. This is part of the organisation's initiative aimed at improving the wellbeing of mothers and children  through its Enhancing Nutrition Services to Improve Maternal and Child Health (ENRICH) Project.

Iron deficiency affects 2 billion people, especially women and children in developing countries. Lack of sufficient  iron in the body leads to reduced cognitive ability declines in physical productivity and childbirth complications.

A baseline survey conducted by the ENRICH project in December 2016, recorded stunting and underweight rates of 33 percent and 17.8 percent respectively among children aged between 6 months and 5 years in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

 This means that three in every 10 children are short for their age (stunting) while about two children in every 10 have low weight (underweight) compared to a healthy child of the same age.

 Stunting is a largely irreversible outcome of inadequate nutrition and repeated spells of infection during the first two years (1000 days) of a child’s life.

 The high iron beans - also known as nyota variety beans - are a sustainable solution to tackling malnutrition and food security challenges in Elgeyo Marakwet. This will boost the health of mothers and children in the county.

 Aside from being drought tolerant, the beans are also rich in zinc which boots the immunity of children reducing the risk of getting fatal diseases such as  diarrhoea.  The iron fortified beans were developed by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO).

They will be planted on 1,500 acres of land during the long rainy season expected in April 2019. Plans are underway for bulking so as to provide sufficient seeds for future planting seasons.  

 “Before, we were encouraging the use of iron fortified beans at a smaller scale with just a few farmers. But with the 30 metric tonnes received from KALRO, we will be able to scale up this initiative in partnership with the County Government of Elgeyo Marakwet for a wider impact”. Said Alice Yugi, Program Officer- Nutrition, World Vision Kenya.

 Through the ENRICH Project, World Vision has been promoting the uptake of nutritious food crops in Elgeyo Marakwet such as the orange fleshed sweet potato and iron fortified beans to boost maternal and child health in the County.

 One of the primary goals of the ENRICH Project, which is funded by Global Affairs Canada, is to improve nutrition of pregnant women, infants and young children specifically in the first two years of life.

 Since the Project’s inception in Elgeyo Marakwet County, their has been an increase (by 33%) in the number of children aged between six months and two years, receiving highly nutritious food varieties.

 The ENRICH project works in partnership with different stakeholders to achieve its objectives. They include: the national government, county government, Nutrition International (NI), Harvest plus (H+), Egerton University in Kenya, University of Toronto in Canada, Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service  (KEPHIS) and local communities.