Indonesia: Countering Complacency with Advocacy

Wheat flour fortification has been mandatory in Indonesia since 2001. However, due to reports of difficulties procuring fortification premix during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Indonesia suspended mandatory fortification from March 2020 to 31 December 2020.

Despite the suspension, millers in Indonesia remained committed to the health of Indonesians and, according to Bogasari, the largest milling company in Indonesia, most millers continued fortifying wheat flour.

However, to continue to maintain an equitable environment for millers and encourage them to fortify, mandatory legislation needed to be reinstated. In collaboration with global fortification partners, FFI co-authored an editorial published in the Jakarta Post and a blog on Nutrition Connect. The editorial emphasized the importance of maintaining nutrition interventions like fortification during the pandemic. In response, the Ministry of Health requested that the Ministry of Industry maintain mandatory fortification. To support the request, FFI worked with Nutrition International (NI) and premix suppliers to provide the government with an estimate of the availability of wheat flour premix.

In the summer of 2020, FFI provided support to NI to develop an economic justification of wheat flour fortification in preparation for a government meeting in August. When the meeting was delayed, NI organized an online forum for wheat flour fortification stakeholders in October.

The online forum successfully reassured the Government of Indonesia that any premix supply chain problems from the start of the pandemic had been resolved and, as a result, in January 2021, the Government re-instated mandatory fortification of wheat flour. Additionally, the Ministry of Industry revised wheat flour fortification regulations in February 2021 so that the use of a more bioavailable iron compound, ferrous fumarate, was mandatory.

Partnership is critical to FFI’s work, and FFI’s partnership with an implementing, on-the-ground partner like NI made all the difference to ensure that Indonesia’s most vulnerable continue to receive the nutrients they need.