Nearly half the population of about 14 million in the West African country has trouble meeting its basic food, health, education and housing needs, while 61% of women of reproductive age are considered to be at high risk of micronutrient deficiencies.
However, a program to fortify staple foods such as flour and oil in the country is proving to be successful in reducing iron, folic acid and vitamin A deficiencies in women, including the most vulnerable women and those living in rural areas. With 85% of these women now consuming fortified flour and 73% consuming fortified oil at least once a week, a survey shows that food fortification is contributing positively to their micronutrient intake.
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) found that over the course of a week, 66% of women of reproductive age get at least 10% of their reference nutrient intake (RNI) of iron from fortified flour and 72% get at least 10% of their vitamin A RNI from fortified oil.
Food fortification is one of the most scalable, sustainable, and cost-effective tools to reduce malnutrition, enabling people to increase their nutrient intake consistently and safely. Once an initial capital investment is made, continuing costs are only a few US cents per person per year.
The assessment tool used for the survey, the Fortification Assessment Coverage Toolkit (FACT), was developed by GAIN to evaluate the effectiveness of large scale food fortification programs.
“This tool helped us to establish whether women of reproductive age, especially those at high risk of micronutrient deficiency, were receiving a meaningful micronutrient contribution from fortified foods. It specifically looked at vulnerable groups to determine if programs are reaching those who need it most,” says Greg S. Garrett, Director of Large Scale Food Fortification at GAIN.
The survey found that 96% of the flour samples collected contained added iron and 97% of the oil samples contained vitamin A, indicating that the fortification program in Senegal is widely implemented.
“The results show that the program has made significant progress in a relatively short period of time, and meets the majority of key program components critical for the long-term success of large scale food fortification,” says Garrett.
The survey was conducted in partnership with the Centre du Recherche pour le Developpement Human (CRDH), Westat, Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), and Bioanalyt Gmbh.
Fortification is mandatory in Senegal and the government is committed to addressing public health problems relating to nutrition. In 2006, a National Fortification Alliance, le Comité Sénégalais pour la Fortification des Aliments en Micronutriments (COSFAM), was established and wheat flour and vegetable oil have been fortified since 2009.
GAIN has been providing financial and technical to strengthen the capacity of flour millers, oil producers, government regulators and standards bodies to fortify all wheat flour with iron and folic acid and vegetable oil with vitamin A to reach the majority of the population since 2010 when it initiated a grant with the la Cellule de Lutte contre la Malnutrition (CLM) to be the lead executing agency in the fortification process. It is supported by Helen Keller International (HKI) and the Micronutrient Initiative (MI).
Through the CLM, the project has contributed premix, equipment, and training in the country. A mass social marketing campaign based on the regional “Enrichi” logo has promoted awareness and key nutrition messages, attracted support from producers and encouraged people to consume fortified foods.
GAIN is also helping improve quality assurance and control in order to ensure that the foods are being consistently fortified to deliver nutrients at the correct levels to the population.
Food fortification also helps economies by reducing malnutrition, preventing estimated losses to the economy of as much as 2.65% of GDP, according to the World Bank.
AP Foods is one of several programs improving nutrition for mothers and their children, that will be highlighted at GAIN’s 1,000 Day’s Symposium
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