‘Large scale food fortification campaign in Nigeria is increasing’

In this write-up, Larry Umunna, country director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), throws light on the impact of the ongoing National Food Fortification Social Marketing Campaign.

Origin

Food fortification in Nigeria can be traced back to the1990s, as a follow-up to declarations from the World Summit for Children held in New York, USA, to eradicate Micronutrient Deficiency Disorders. Following the success of USI, and a benchmark survey in 1995, wheat/corn flour, sugar and vegetable oil were identified as the vehicles for fortification with vitamin A because of their relative affordability, accessibility and technical feasibility. Fortification of these food vehicles has since been found to be cost-effective, sustainable and capable of achieving high coverage, as even the most vulnerable population uses at least one of the vehicles daily.

Over the years, since implementation commenced in 2003, the Nigerian government, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), food manufacturers, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other development partners, have deployed considerable efforts to the programme towards achieving a nation-wide consumption of vitamin A-fortified flours, oil, and sugar in order to provide at least 50 percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance needed by deficient Nigerian populations. To complement existing efforts, GAIN provided a range of supportive and enabling services in social marketing and capacity building at industry and government levels as well as monitoring and evaluation initiatives. The contributions of development partners led by GAIN, as well as UNICEF and Micronutrient Initiative (MI) and other inter-agency initiatives and related investments, has helped to drive the initiative substantially in the last 10 years during which notable achievements have been made, including the review of the existing standards to include Folic acid and Zinc, and revision of the NIS in line with Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Health Organisation (FAO/WHO) Guidelines on food fortification.

Consumers’ response

The response has been encouraging. In Lagos and Kano (where the campaigns are ongoing), we have seen very strong interest in the programme by consumers. Consumer reactions and feedback from the ongoing food fortification are indicative of the fact that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the executing agency is undoubtedly playing a catalytic role in moving the food fortification agenda forward in Nigeria. That is rightly so, being the agency saddled with the statutory responsibility of protecting public health through effective regulation of production and marketing of foods and drugs in Nigeria.

NAFDAC has continued to be at the forefront of co-ordinating efforts by multi-sectoral stakeholders towards the realisation of the National Food and Nutrition Policy of the federal government by pursuing the full implementation of the mandatory Vitamin A food fortification policy. The policy was introduced in September 2002 and it is aimed at ameliorating the vitamins and minerals deficiency problem in Nigeria.

Objectives

The major objective is to reduce the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies among vulnerable and at-risk populations by 20 percent. We planned to achieve this by increasing consumer awareness and demand for fortified foods/products; and also stimulating and increasing industry participation in fortifying more staples and food products and in actively marketing/promoting their fortified brands. To put it simply, we want to repeat the feat that Nigeria achieved with the Universal Salt Iodisation (USI) project in 2007, with 98 percent household having access to iodised salt.

That explains why the director-general of NAFDAC, Paul Orhi has described this current project as a sustainable intervention aimed at curbing the prevalence of micronutrient deficient disorders in Nigeria, noting that food fortification holds great potential in curbing malnutrition and improving nutrition in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Other partners in this project include the National Fortification Alliance (NFA) whose members cut across Government Ministries and Agencies, Civil Society Organisations, Universities and Research Institutions, Industry Umbrella Associations, Professional Associations and Development Partners. This broad participatory membership base is enabling stakeholders to share experience, expertise and facilitate the sustainability of the national fortification programme. The immediate output is to establish monitoring and enforcement systems, and increase the demand for fortified products by the consumers.

Consumers’ role

The consumers have a strong role to play in the drive to reduce malnutrition in Nigeria. It is the right of every Nigerian to consume fortified foods. Therefore it is important that the consumers begin to demand for fortified staples. The food industry must be challenged by the consumers to comply with the fortification standards. We are hoping that this ongoing campaign will result in more educated and informed consumers who fully understand the benefits of fortified foods.