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Improving agro-ecological wheat production by application of different sources of green manure This work was funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 project SoildiverAgro [grant agreement 817819].

Food fortification involves adding essential vitamins and minerals to foods to prevent micronutrient malnutrition and birth defects and thus improve overall health. Although maize meal is an important staple food in many African countries, only 30% of the industrially milled maize meal on the continent is fortified so the potential for better health is still enormous. A major drawback for maize meal fortification however is that it may provoke sensory (colour, taste) changes in the cooked maize porridge leading to rejection by the population. To get insight in the mechanisms driving this food quality issue, the impact of fortification premixes and some of its components (Fe and Zn fortificants) on porridge quality was studied for maize meal stored up to 10 weeks. Furthermore, the interaction with type of maize meal (super or special), type of water (demi or tap water) and type of cooking pot (stainless steel and aluminum) was investigated. Porridges were produced with a standardized cooking trial. Porridge colour was measured with a colorimeter (L*a*b*) and a rheometer was used to perform pasting experiments on the maize meal. It was found that Fe and Zn fortificants, did not impact porridge colour when demi water was used for porridge production. When applying tap water for porridge production, colour changes were observed for all Fe fortificants (ferrous sulphate, ferrous fumarate, NaFeEDTA).

Each year around the world, it is estimated that 300,000 neonates are born with a neural tube defect. Many countries, however, are still lacking comprehensive birth defects surveillance registries. Comprehensive birth defects surveillance systems can help countries understand the magnitude and distribution of the problem. These systems can also provide information about biological, contextual, social and environmental determinants of birth defects. This information in turn can be used to identify effective and implementable solutions, and to evaluate prevention and management strategies to improve quality performance. This paper summarizes the development and implementation of an online pre-course training and in-person surveillance workshop conducted between 2014 December and 2015 March for representatives from six African countries. Feedback given by participants provided valuable lessons learned that can be applied to subsequent trainings and workshops. Fil: Flores, Alina. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities; Estados Unidos. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados Unidos Fil: Valencia, Diana. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados Unidos. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities; Estados Unidos Fil: Sekkarie, Ahlia. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education; Estados Unidos Fil: Hillard, Cristina L.. Carter Consulting, Inc.; Estados Unidos Fil: Williams, Jennifer. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados Unidos. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities; Estados Unidos Fil: Groisman, Boris. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Dirección Nacional de Instituto de Investigación. Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud ; Argentina Fil: Botto, Lorenzo D.. University of Utah; Estados Unidos Fil: Peña Rosas, Juan Pablo. Organizacion Mundial de la Salud; Argentina Fil: Bauwens, Lieven. International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus; Bélgica Fil: Mastroiacovo, Pierpaolo. Coordinating Centre of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research; Italia