Combating Micronutrient Defi ciencies:
Food-based Approaches

The importance of food-based approaches for the prevention and control of micronutrient
defi ciencies as well as for the improvement of nutrition in general is fully recognized by the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO, a specialized UN
agency, has as its mandate the raising of levels of nutrition and ensuring humanity’s freedom
from hunger by promoting sustainable agricultural and rural development. Focusing on the
unique relationship between agriculture, food and nutrition, FAO works actively to protect,
promote and improve established food-based systems as the sustainable solution to ensure
food and nutrition security and, by doing so, to achieve the nutrition-related Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). FAO is committed to supporting the promotion of the production and consumption of micronutrient-rich foods as the sustainable solution to micronutrient
malnutrition. This activity clearly falls under the Organization’s mandate, and the Nutrition
and Consumer Protection Division, under whose direction this publication has been prepared,
plays an important role in its implementation