Regional Training Workshop on Quality Assurance and Quality Control for Flour Fortification

When

22 May 2016 - 28 May 2016

Where

Location: Makerere University, School of Food Technology, Nutrition and Bio-Engineering, Kampala, Uganda

Agenda

This workshop was designed to ensure that maize and wheat flour fortification programs are implemented correctly to achieve an effective public health impact. The expected impact is a systematic reduction in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, notably of iron and folic acid. See the agenda.

The overall objective was to train those who were identified by the national stakeholders in countries in Eastern and Central Africa as responsible for the key components in the national maize and wheat flour fortification program. In addition, the country teams interacted with selected students to serve as mentors to a new generation of food fortification experts. The students and lecturers were supported by funding funding from VLIR-UOS (a Belgian development cooperation) and Ghent University. A smart partnership and collaboration between government, industry, academia and the civil society is imperative as each has a key role to play in the success of food fortification and the fight against malnutrition.

Training was based Guidelines on Food Fortification with Micronutrients (2006) from the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The event was organized by Smarter Futures, a partnership that includes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, AkzoNobel, the Food Fortification Initiative, Helen Keller International (HKI) and the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF). Since 2009, Smarter Futures has offered technical training in quality assurance and quality control of fortification programs for millers, food control regulatory personnel and public health laboratory personnel from countries in Africa. Such regional training workshops have been held in Senegal (Dakar, 2009), Tanzania (Dar Es Salaam, 2011), Morocco (Casablanca, 2014), and Zimbabwe (Harare, 2015).

This workshop was also made possible in part by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are responsibility of the organizers and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

Participants

Countries represented included Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Sudan, Kenya, and Zambia. The 79 participants were from food industry, universities, government nutrition and regulatory monitoring staff from Ministries of Health as well as Trade and Industry.

See the participant list.