FFI Staff Share Evidence Supporting Fortification at Two Global Conferences
Photo: FFI symposium “Transforming Lives Through Wheat Flour Fortification in India” (FFI)
Micronutrient Forum 6th Global Conference
Several FFI staff attended the Micronutrient Forum 6th Global Conference, October 16-20, 2023, in The Hague, The Netherlands, to share about FFI’s work through sponsored symposiums, a booth, and poster presentations.
FFI hosted the symposium “Transforming Lives Through Wheat Flour Fortification in India” with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The symposium highlighted the Indian state of Haryana, its journey to fortify wheat flour distributed in two districts through the Public Distribution System, a social protection program that reaches more than 3.3 million people in the districts, and the health impact of the fortification program.
Speakers included Scott Mongomery, FFI Director; Parveen Bhalla, FFI India Project Lead; Venkat Subramanian, former FFI India Technical Lead; Sonia Trikha, former Government of Haryana Director General of Health Services; and Mona Duggal and Reena Das, health impact study leads from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.
FFI staff were also invited to speak at a sponsored symposium on rice fortification in India and a symposium on the World Health Assembly’s 2023 resolution on food fortification.
FFI hosted a virtual and in-person booth with the Iodine Global Network. Lastly, FFI staff hosted a learning center on the Global Fortification Data Exchange and presented several posters on fortification and its health impact in Haryana state as well as other FFI projects. Poster topics included the following:
A global update on the status of prevention of folic acid-preventable spina bifida and anencephaly in 2020
Countries’ fortification standards vary in alignment with their respective regional standards: comparison of member country food fortification standards with EAC and SADC regional standards
Experiences and lessons learned in establishing a new model for large-scale wheat flour fortification through social safety net programs in Haryana, India
Monitoring compliance of fortified wheat flour to national standards in Haryana, India
National mandatory grain fortification legislation decreases anemia prevalence among nonpregnant women of reproductive age: findings from multiple demographic and health surveys
The global status of food fortification
Photo: FFI staff and EMT celebrate at dinner in The Hague (FFI)
Photo: FFI’s booth at the Micronutrient Forum 6th Global Conference (FFI)
Photo: Helena presents a poster at the conference (FFI)
2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference
At the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), FFI Communications Director Jessie Genoway spoke at “Tackling Micronutrient Malnutrition in a Warming World,” an event on December 10, 2023, in the Health Pavilion Blue Zone. Genoway discussed the interwoven relationship between climate change and micronutrient malnutrition and how interventions like large-scale food fortification can transform lives by building nutrition—and climate—-resilience.
Held in honor of the conference’s first time to dedicate a day to nutrition and climate change, the event highlighted the importance of optimizing population health and resilience amidst current and future challenges, particularly related to climate change.
In addition to Genoway, speakers from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, Micronutrient Forum, Scaling Up Nutrition, Standing Together for Nutrition, and the World Health Organization proposed policy and action recommendations to enhance nutrition resilience while maintaining a neutral or positive impact on the environment. Key topics included nutrition-resilient systems, the resolution on food fortification adopted at the 2023 World Health Assembly, and Member States' efforts in using fortification to achieve nutrition resilience amidst climate change.