We need to absorb around fifty essential nutrients via our nutrition.4 This includes water and carbohydrates, as well as amino acids, fatty acids, and micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. If one of these nutrients is insufficiently absorbed, or not at all, our health will be undermined. This results in disrupted metabolism, which in turn results in sickness, poor health and potentially the impediment of children’s development. One of these vital nutrients is beta-carotene, the pigment found in great quantities in carrots and responsible for their orange color. Also spinach, melons and maize are rich in this nutrient for example. Beta-carotene is the best known form of provitamin A, and is converted into vitamin A in our body.5 Vitamin A deficiency can result in sight problems and even blindness. Animal products rich in vitamin A, such as eggs, liver, cheese and butter, are often unaffordable for poor families. Vitamin A deficiency is a global health problem, primarily in developing countries in Africa and South-East Asia (see figure 1). Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk. The World Health Organization states that each year between 250,000 and 500,000 children become blind as a result of vitamin A deficiency. Half of those children die within a year.2 Vitamin A deficiency also compromises the immune system, which means children die from common diseases including diarrhea, respiratory tract infections and measles. A research study that examined malnutrition among mothers and children, estimated that annually more than 100,000 children under five die due to vitamin A deficiency.6-8 Populations of developing countries are primarily affected as this deficiency is the consequence of a poor diet and usually poverty-related.