In 2025, FFI strengthened its collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) across Latin America to build practical capacity for fortification monitoring and implementation, with a particular focus on rice fortification systems. Through targeted trainings and technical exchanges, FFI supported country partners in translating fortification standards into workable monitoring approaches that reflect on-the-ground realities.
In Peru, FFI engaged directly with WFP’s country office and the national fortification regulatory agency through a series of technical meetings focused on external monitoring of rice fortification. Discussions centered on proposed monitoring guidelines that initially required government laboratories to test for 10 nutrients in fortified rice. Given current laboratory capacity constraints, FFI and partners worked through practical alternatives, recommending a revised approach that prioritizes testing for three to four key nutrients while additional lab capacity is developed. Government representatives expressed optimism that updated guidelines could be finalized by year’s end, helping move monitoring efforts forward despite broader implementation challenges, including many small rice producers and a shifting policy environment.
To reinforce these country-level efforts, FFI and WFP refreshed and expanded access to online fortification training courses that FFI developed jointly with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and the IGP Institute at Kansas State University. FFI and WFP created a new, easy-to-access platform for the self-paced trainings and translated the modules into Spanish, significantly increasing their reach across Latin America and enabling more stakeholders to participate.
The online courses cover core concepts in internal, external, import, and commercial monitoring for both flour and rice fortification, guiding participants through system planning, inspection activities, and data use. Designed for government officials, inspectors, millers, and laboratory staff, the modules support consistent baseline knowledge ahead of in-person workshops and national trainings that will take place in Peru and the Dominican Republic in 2026.
As a result of FFI and WFP’s partnership in Latin America, in-country collaboration and expanded Spanish-language learning tools are helping partners strengthen monitoring systems and sustain fortification program quality across the region.
