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Project

Food Fortification Program (FFP) Pakistan

Saving lives through food fortification in Pakistan

2016 - 2021

In collaboration with Mott MacDonald and funded with UK aid from the UK government, Nutrition International implements a large-scale food fortification program in Pakistan to fortify wheat flour and edible oil.

70%

Functional mills fortifying wheat flour

62.6M

People consumed fortified oil

2.5M

People consumed fortified wheat flour

The Need

Pakistan's long-standing burden of malnutrition

More than half of the women and children in Pakistan lack adequate levels of essential micronutrients such as iron, folic acid, vitamin A, and vitamin D. Poor nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in childhood have profound effects on immunity, growth, and cognitive development.

According to recent estimates by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 37.5 million people in Pakistan are not receiving proper nourishment. The country loses 3% of its GDP (around US$ 7.6 billion) every year due to a high burden of malnutrition, which unfortunately has not changed much over the last four decades.

Our Solution

Strengthening large-scale food fortification

Folate/Folic Acid

Folate/Folic Acid

Iron

Iron

Vitamin A

Vitamin A

Zinc

Zinc

Nutrition International, in collaboration with Mott MacDonald, is implementing a large-scale food fortification program in 56 districts across Pakistan to support the national and provincial governments’ fortification efforts.

Widely consumed wheat flour and edible oils will be fortified with essential micronutrients to reduce deficiencies in iron, folic acid, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and vitamin D, particularly among women and children.

This project supports the fortification of wheat flour and edible oil by:

  • Building capacity of millers on fortification processes and quality assurance and quality control, and providing testing equipment to ensure adequate fortification
  • Building public sector capacity to improve standards and legislation, and improve lab infrastructure of regulatory bodies so they can enforce fortification standards
  • Establishing a market-led premix supply chain to facilitate fortification
  • Commissioning microfeeder installations to add vitamins and minerals to the flour at the majority of wheat flour mills
  • Promoting the benefits of fortification for communities through public awareness and education campaigns to increase demand and promote fortified food consumption
  • Evidence generation for informed decision making and action by commissioning high quality research into food fortification practices and policies, equipping all stakeholders with powerful arguments in favour of fortification

The Impact

Increasing our reach

In 2019, this collaboration helped us to increase the total production of fortified edible oil and wheat flour in Pakistan and ensure that more than 65 million people in the country had access to critical micronutrients.

70%

Functional mills fortifying wheat flour

62.6M

People consumed fortified oil

2.5M

People consumed fortified wheat flour

Project News

MI and Mott MacDonald to lead DFID-funded program to save lives through food fortification in Pakistan

September 8, 2016

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Tags

Locations

Pakistan

How We Help

Adolescent nutritionBehaviour ChangeFortificationInfant and Young Child NutritionInfluenceNutrition Education

Micronutrients

Folate/Folic AcidIronVitamin AZinc

Partners

Mott MacDonaldUK AID - Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)

Related

Fortification

Improving people’s health by fortifying staple foods and condiments with key…

Together with government, industry stakeholders and our partners, we work to increase policy coherence, scale up fortification, and improve program monitoring to improve access to fortified foods.

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Evidence Generation

Fortification Handbook: Vitamin and Mineral Fortification of Wheat Flour and…

This manual was prepared to serve as a guide in the development and implementation of fortification programs of wheat flour and maize meal.

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Research

Effectiveness of programme approaches to improve the coverage of maternal…

This paper aims to highlight ways to improve maternal nutrition status through program interventions by using examples from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

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