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Dietary zinc (Zn) deficiency is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with adverse impacts on human health. Agronomic biofortification with Zn fertilizers and improved soil fertility management, using mineral and organic nutrient resources, has previously been shown to increase Zn concentration of staple grain crops, including maize. Here, we show the potential of different soil fertility management options on maize crops to reduce dietary Zn deficiency in Zimbabwe using secondary data from a set of surveys and field experiments.

An ex-ante approach was used, informed by published evidence from studies in three contrasting smallholder production systems in Zimbabwe. To estimate current Zn deficiency in Zimbabwe, data on dietary Zn supply from non-maize sources from the Global Expanded Nutrient Supply (GENuS) data set …