By Awa Sowe
On July 7th, 2021, the fight against the high rate of hidden hunger (micronutrients deficiencies) in The Gambia received a huge boost with the launch of the Food Fortification Regulations targeting three highly consumed foods in The Gambia.
The Food Fortification Regulations provide the necessary legal authority and a regulatory framework to implement an effective food fortification programme for better nutrition.
The Food Safety and Quality Authority (FSQA) under the Office of the Vice President developed the regulations that are based on national and international standards through a participatory stakeholder consultative process funded by European Union (EU) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) co-funded project titled “Improving Food Security and Nutrition in The Gambia through Food Fortification”. The regulations were gazetted in 2020 and thus made it mandatory for importers and manufacturers of wheat flour, salt and edible fats and oil to fortify their products with adequate levels of specified minerals and vitamins.
Assessing the potential nutritional impact of food fortification and bio-fortification programmes, FAO, through its co-funded project with EU, supported the conduct of a National Rapid Food Consumption survey, which was undertaken from 21st September to 21st October 2021.
The survey, led by the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) and supported by FAO, Gambia Bureau of Statistics, Directorate of Health Promotion and Education, National Agriculture Research Institute, Food Safety and Quality Authority, The Medical Research Council and United Purpose, aimed at providing reliable estimates of the average (daily) per capita intake of the project target food vehicles, which will help, estimate the “expected coverage” of each target crop/food consumed by the population in the project implementation area.
During the validation of the survey held last week, at the International Conference Centre in Bijilo,
FAO Representative in The Gambia , Moshibudi Rampedi affirmed that the survey was aimed at generating information on the average consumption of selected food vehicles; fruits, and vegetables among children aged 6-59 months and women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in The Gambia.
She noted that FAO initiated the Food Fortification and Bio-fortification Project to support national efforts to address micronutrient deficiencies and improve dietary diversity.
Madam Rampedi informed that four fortification standards were developed and gazetted by The Gambia Standards Bureau.
To ensure that the fortification programme in the country has its desired impact, she highlighted the need for reliable information on the estimates of average (daily) per capita intake of the target food products.
Dr. Amat Bah, the Executive Director of the National Nutrition Agency, observed that The Gambia is experiencing the double burden of malnutrition where under-nutrition including micro-nutrition and over-nutrition co-exist.
While under-nutrition is improving, Bah noted that the current situation is still far from desired, saying that The Gambia's micronutrient survey 2018 and DHS 2019-2020 have shown that the country is making significant progress in reducing malnutrition.