2022
Abstract
Sustaining large-scale and good-quality food fortification requires strategies that incentivize food processors to invest in and
consistently meet national food fortification standards where they exist. A standardized Micronutrient Fortification Index (MFI)
piloted in Nigeria has provided a ranking of fortified branded products for each participating company, based on a score
aggregating the effectiveness and efficiency of the company’s systems and levels of product fortification. The MFI has demonstrated
the significance of brands as a focal point for investment and industry accountability in food fortification and the power of
harnessing the competitive nature of businesses to drive their food fortification performance. The initiative started with a pilot
consisting of well-known brands of 4 companies and has since expanded participation to 15 companies, representing 31 brands,
having completed the first entire ranking cycle. The publicly listed brands on the Index now cover approximately 80% of the
flour milling market, 40% of the edible oils market, and 88% of the sugar market in Nigeria, reaching an estimated 134 million
people in the country in 2022 according to analysis by TechnoServe Supporting African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF)
program in Nigeria. The data inputs are made through company-owned digital portals, and the results are published on a
secure, web-based public portal which also serves as a gateway for stakeholders to access related information on micronutrient
fortification and food quality (https://technoserve-mfi.web.app/). The ultimate aim of the MFI is to serve as a leverage for private
sector efforts to both digitalize quality assurance and business processes linked to industrial automation and to harness their
competitiveness through voluntary participation in the Index to drive improved food fortification performance based on
industry best practices and quality benchmarks.
Keywords
micronutrient deficiency, food fortification, fortification index, micronutrient fortification index