Too many people across Bangladesh are living with zinc deficiency. One proven and effective way to tackle this is through scaling up production and consumption of rice biofortified with zinc.
Major barriers to scale-up of biofortified zinc rice include a lack of readily available seed; a lack of demand among aggregators, millers, and consumers; and a lack of differentiated marketing for zinc rice, which makes it difficult for consumers to choose biofortified zinc rice.
Overcoming these barriers requires interventions along the supply chain. Actions are needed from both government and the private sector – for instance to use public procurement, incentives for aggregators and millers, and branding to promote availability and accessibility.