Source: http://tribuneonlineng.com/iita-wins-outstanding-research-institute-award

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sonny Echono, has disclosed the planned initiative of government to mainstream nutrition into agriculture using bio-fortification, home fortification and large and medium scale fortification in a value chain approach.
Echono disclosed this at the International Nutritious Food Fair which took place at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) station, Kubwa, Abuja, where he represented the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

The permanent secretary stated that the present administration viewed bio-fortification as complementary to dietary enrichment and had therefore embraced a broad and comprehensive food systems approach to address malnutrition. 
He said: “We easily visualise how food fortification fits into broader agribusiness model to make nutritious food available, accessible and affordable to enable us to provide diverse foods and make more foods more nutritious.”
Echono explained that after a full decade of promoting large scale fortification, it should equally be of importance to optimise industry compliance to expected food fortification standards. According to him, the bio-fortified crops currently promoted include the Vitamin A rich cassava and orange flesh sweet potatoes.
 The permanent secretary said Nigeria’s agricultural sector’s vision is to achieve a hunger-free country through an agricultural sector that drives an all-inclusive income growth, accelerates achievement of food and nutritional security, generates employment and transforms Nigeria into a leading player in global food markets to grow wealth for millions of farmers. 
To achieve these, he said, the government had embarked on a comprehensive review and resuscitation plan that revolved around unlocking the potential of agriculture through a total value chain to enable the private sector leadership grow food, create jobs and wealth, as well as improve nutrition.  
Echono stated that the administration sees agriculture beyond the food production domain, but also through food processing, as well as trade and markets, consumer awareness and demand stimulation. 
Earlier in the remarks of Howarth Bouis, a Director with HarvestPlus, mineral and vitamin content should be included in crops so that people’s immune systems would not be compromised.
Mr Bouis explained that the global programme had made more progress in Nigeria than any other, saying almost 100 varieties had been released in countries across the world.