ABU DHABI, 4 July (WAM) - The food fortification project in Afghanistan, funded by Khalifa Bin Zayed Foundation (KBZF) and implemented by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) in Afghanistan reaches an important milestone as it is set to provide fortified flour to 15 million people, representing about half the population of AfghanistanAccording to a report prepared by GAIN, Khalifa Foundation had made a tremendous success of great humanitarian importance in improving the health of the population of Afghanistan, especially women, children and infantsThe report was foreworded by Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the KBZF where he reiterated that all humanitarian assistance programs that the Khalifa Foundation is supporting are targeted to all destitute populations and those who are affected by crises and emergencies in various parts of the world regardless of their gender, race and color.
Mohammed Haji Al Khouri, Director-General of KBZF, stressed that the Foundation endeavored to build strategic partnerships with international humanitarian and emergency organizations with emphasis on building bridges for cooperation and coordination with those organizations to extend the scope of work of the Foundation and include different parts of the world.
Under an agreement establishing a new partnership between KBZF and GAIN, the latter is implementing a four year project aiming to provide healthy foods fortified with essential vitamins and minerals including iron to at least 15 million people or half of the total population of Afghanistan. Director General of GAIN, Mr Marc Van Ameringin, said that the generous support of KBZF has enabled GAIN in partnership with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to build a momentum in making the partnership with the international development community and the local private sector a reality. He added that he was confident that this strong alliance will make a significant headway in the fight against malnutrition among needy people in Afghanistan. Mr. Ameringin explained that since the launch of the large scale food fortification program in Afghanistan in September of last year, work has begun in implementing nutrition initiatives thanks to the support of KBZF. GAIN entered into three major agreements: one with a public sector partner, the Afghanistan National Standards Authority (ANSA), a second with an international development partner, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) as well as the establishment of a formal relationship with a private sector partner, the Momin Group, the largest private sector producer and importer of vegetable oil and ghee into Afghanistan. Ameringin added that GAIN with support from KBZF is in the process of introducing the technology and developing the capacity to produce lipid-based nutritional supplements (LNS) to treat and prevent acute child malnutrition. Through the local production and promotion of LNS, specifically tailored to the conditions and needs of Afghanistan, this project will provide a special nutritious food to both government and consumers through health centres and markets. Mr Ameringin continued saying that this project marks the first time that these high-impact supplementary foods are widely available in Afghanistan, addressing major deficiencies in essential macro- and micronutrients among young children. The report covered the projects and activities that have been implemented in year 2012 within the framework of the Cooperative Agreement signed between GAIN and KBZF and focused on the progress made in the three components of the agreement: fortification of major staple foods and salt, promotion and marketing of infant and young child foods, and advocacy for nutrition of both and capacity building of both public and private sectors. With regard to the fortification of staple foods and salt, GAIN with the help of KBZF had expanded the flour fortification to 12 flour mills that were able to produce about 30,000 metric tons of fortified flour annually. The report stated that once these projects are at scale the annual target is to reach 15 million or 50% of the total population with fortified vegetable oil and ghee, 5% with wheat flour and at least 80% of households with adequately iodized salt. GAIN has also supported salt iodization and is working with key partners to achieve a sustainable, universal salt iodization target of at least 80% of households consuming adequately iodized salt. The report indicated that GAIN in coordination with KBZF introduced a new technology in the form of a containerized food production unit to produce lipid based nutrient supplements (LNS) and other supplementary and therapeutic products that is perfectly suited to the context of Afghanistan. This equipment is now in the final manufacturing stage and is supposed to be delivered to Afghanistan by summer this year. The report identified the ultimate aims of these projects to reduce vitamin A deficiency by 30% among children under five years of age and 20% among women of reproductive age, to significantly reduce baseline anemia caused by iron deficiency among preschool children and women of childbearing age, and to control moderate malnutrition among one third of children aged 6 months to 5 years. The report explained that a project will soon begin the production and marketing of multiple micronutrient powder (MNP) and its distribution to institutional beneficiaries with the goal of reaching, when at full capacity, approximately 1.4 million children with MNP on an annual basis. Activities under this project will range from technical and logistic support to mobilization and capacity building of industry, training of government and company technicians on quality assurance/quality control, monitoring the fortification process, and demand creation for fortified products through campaigns or social marketing aimed at raising consumer awareness among the population. It was reported that since the launch in September 2012, a project was launched to fortify vegetable oil and ghee as part of the national food fortification which will consist of two components: First, fortification of domestically produced oil and ghee in two processing units in Herat owned by the Momin Group with an estimated production of 20,000 to 30,000 metric tons per year but with significant potential for growth; second, GAIN is in the process of preparing an implementation plan for the fortification of various Momin oil and ghee brands in their main factory in Dubai. The report noted that the Momin Group is responsible for about 40% of total vegetable oil imports, and exclusive distribution agents in 11 major provinces in Afghanistan. Regarding the production of wheat flour, the report pointed out that fortification of wheat flour was launched in September 2012 as part of the national food fortification program and is being executed in partnership with the United Nations World Food program (WFP) and that currently 12 flour mills are actively producing fortified flour in Afghanistan. In this project, GAIN has equipped these mills with mixers and supplied them with fortification premix to be added to flour. The report referred to the visit of Mr Al Katbi, Coordinator for Humanitarian Development Assistance at UAE Embassy in Kabul to Bakhtar Flour Mills among representatives of GAIN, WFP and Afghan Millers Association. With regards to salt iodization, GAIN continued to work with UNICEF, Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the Afghan Iodized Salt Producers Association (AISPA) to address the potential gap of supply of potassium iodate, a critical element in the salt iodization. Future plans of GAIN include provision of potassium iodate during 2013 and 2014 and to establish a sustainable and effective quality control system of salt iodization. According to the report, GAIN and the Government of Afghanistan are building the foundation of a regulatory framework and an enforcement environment for food and nutrition safety in relation to food fortification. Since 2011, GAIN has worked closely with the Afghanistan National Standard Authority (ANSA) through a two-year project aiming at the development of national standards and the establishment of mandatory regulations for food fortification.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2013.
