Millers from Africa and Asia have joined other stakeholders to announce a commitment to reach one billion people with fortified rice, edible oil and flour by 2026. To achieve this, Millers for Nutrition, a new industry-led coalition, will make adequate fortification of staple foods easier and more rewarding for millers.
The launch of Millers for Nutrition at the Micronutrient Forum’s 6th Global Nutrition for Resilience Conference comes together as the world faces a worsening food and nutrition crisis. Healthy diets, nutrition education, optimal breastfeeding and food fortification are all important components of a comprehensive response to the devastating impacts of malnutrition.
By fortifying these foods with essential vitamins and minerals, millers can play a key role in reducing malnutrition and improving public health. Consequently, Millers for Nutrition has been established to encourage, enable and celebrate this work.
Millers who join Millers for Nutrition and commit to improving the nutritional quality of their food will receive free technical support to make it easier to fortify their products. This includes access to tailored technical training and business advice, product testing support and online tools and resources, which help millers to reduce their compliance risk and enhance production efficiency.
Millers for Nutrition is being implemented in eight countries across Africa and Asia: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania, and across three staple food vehicles: rice, edible oil, and flour (wheat and maize). In each country, the focus of Millers for Nutrition activities will be based on government-led priorities and legislation and will align closely with the existing nutrition and food fortification strategies of governments and NGO partners.
Millers for Nutrition is a cross-sector partnership with millers and industry partners from across the food fortification value chain at the centre, including founding partners BSF, dsm-firmenich, Mühlenchemie/SternVitamin, Piramal, BioAnalyt and Sanku.
Regional and technical partners such as Hexagon Nutrition in India in India are now joining the coalition to support millers in specific geographies and staples. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing strategic input and investment to support the creation of the coalition.
The coalition will also serve as a platform for accelerating and scaling industry-led innovation in food fortification. For example, Millers for Nutrition is helping to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of premix and product testing, and to develop better solutions for small mills.
“Every day, millers overcome difficult operational and business challenges to deliver healthy, quality food products to consumers,” said Paloma Fernandes, CEO of the Cereal Millers Association of Kenya, which is supporting the new coalition. “Millers for Nutrition is a game-changing initiative that will make this vital work easier, and in so doing will bring better nutrition to millions of people in Kenya.”
“Our company is committed to the nutrition, health, and wellness of every Indian citizen. Fortification is a powerful tool in fulfilling that commitment,” said Sanjeev Asthana, CEO of Patanjali Foods, a Millers for Nutrition member in India. “We are excited to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with likeminded millers and stakeholders from around the globe to launch this coalition and deliver better nutrition to our communities.”
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