The Importance of Public–Private Collaboration in Food Fortification Programs

Examining Heterogeneity of Food Fortification and Biofortification Business Models: Emerging Evidence for a Typology

“…Much of the activities found in this category is driven by collaborative effort between government, non-profit organisations and the private sector. The extent of such partnerships helped solve issues linked to resources, knowledge gap and market reach [ 26 ]. Successful implementation of mandatory policies helped create industry standards for large-scale fortified condiments such as oil and salt which enabled such products to reach all critical segments of the population.…”

“…Alongside this, barriers to success include political instability, political buy-in and lack of incentives (e.g., to bring industry onboard to fortify according to national standards) [ 32 ]. Others have noted that National Fortification Alliances (NFAs) are critical to supporting fortification initiatives especially with regards to contributing to oversight and guidance on how to improve the respective initiatives [ 26 ]. Thus, it is clear that in the category where governance metrics may be lower and/or supportive regulations; multi-sector partnerships with national level support can contribute to success.…”

Which Choice of Delivery Model(s) Works Best to Deliver Fortified Foods?

“…There have been examples, however, where voluntary fortification has been used/piloted at the regional and local scale and then used to influence government to mandating legislative fortification programmes (e.g., vegetable oil in India and flour fortification in Kenya though sustainability of this intervention was unsure) [12]. Voluntary fortification or market driven whereby a food manufacturer takes a profit driven approach have rarely gone to scale in LMICs [87]. Agnew and Henson [88] have shown the challenges of bringing a fortified yogurt to scale in Bangladesh; affordability being the main reason that consumers did not purchase the product; however, challenges in marketing (particularly in facilitating repeat purchasers) and distribution were also cited as significant challenges.…”

“…Finally, other players can include retail organisations, academia, and consumer organisations which will support the social marketing/information delivery to end users. Others have noted that NFAs have been critical to supporting fortification efforts and play a role of oversight and guidance in order to improve fortification programs [87]. In India, an example of a successful state food fortification alliance in Madhya Pradesh which engaged all relevant stakeholders has led to edible oil, wheat flour, and milk being fortified on mass scale annually and successfully marketed [90].…”

“…In all cases however, the projects ceased and were not able to achieve cost recovery when funding was ended. This type of fortification is often also termed point-of use fortification [87] and has been shown to be successful in a number of contexts, for example, in Vietnam [95]. Andrade et al [96] has also shown the successful development and acceptance of point-of use fortification among school-aged children in Honduras; highlighting the addition of micronutrient powder to traditional dough making which produced noodles that are mixed in with customary rice meal.…”