ABSTRACT
Food security is a constant global challenge, and malnutrition is particularly difficult to address. Climate change can exacerbate issues surrounding the access of nutritious food to the world’s poor, particularly in developing countries. Millets are orphan cereal crops that tolerate abiotic stresses such as heat and drought. The grain of millet is a staple food for peoples in many developing countries. Millets contain higher levels of iron and zinc than other cereals such as rice. These minerals are the principal components of micronutrient deficiencies today and can accumulate in many cereal crops through highly analogous biochemical pathways. This chapter discusses various approaches used to increase iron and zinc levels in millets, based on a combination of genomic and genetic engineering biotechnologies. Human feeding studies using biofortified millet are also described, and successful increases in micronutrient status are presented. This chapter ends with a discussion of the potential of biofortified millet to reduce malnutrition permanently in vulnerable populations.
