Scaling nutrition impact: Schools serve up High-Iron Beans

Iron-rich beans can be integrated into consumers’ diets to enhance nutrition and cognitive function, especially for children and youth. But how can this be achieved at scale?

Schools represent a strong entry point. Accumulated evidence shows large-scale nutrition gains through collaborative efforts to integrate biofortified high-iron beans into school feeding programs across Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2024 alone, 2.77 million people benefitted—an outcome made possible by coordinated efforts among governments, NGOs, the private sector, and global partners under the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA).