Industry Self-Regulation of Food Fortification Compliance: Piloting the Micronutrient Fortification Index in Nigeria.

Sustaining large-scale and good-quality food fortification requires strategies that incentivize food processors to invest in and consistently meet national food fortification standards where they exist. A standardized Micronutrient Fortification Index (MFI) piloted in Nigeria has provided a ranking of fortified branded products for each participating company, based on a score aggregating the effectiveness and efficiency of the company's systems and levels of product fortification. The MFI has demonstrated the significance of brands as a focal point for investment and industry accountability in food fortification and the power of harnessing the competitive nature of businesses to drive their food fortification performance. The initiative started with a pilot consisting of well-known brands of 4 companies and has since expanded participation to 15 companies, representing 31 brands, having completed the first entire ranking cycle. The publicly listed brands on the Index now cover approximately 80% of the flour milling market, 40% of the edible oils market, and 88% of the sugar market in Nigeria, reaching an estimated 134 million people in the country in 2022 according to analysis by TechnoServe Supporting African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF) program in Nigeria. The data inputs are made through company-owned digital portals, and the results are published on a secure, web-based public portal which also serves as a gateway for stakeholders to access related information on micronutrient fortification and food quality (https://technoserve-mfi.web.app/). The ultimate aim of the MFI is to serve as a leverage for private sector efforts to both digitalize quality assurance and business processes linked to industrial automation and to harness their competitiveness through voluntary participation in the Index to drive improved food fortification performance based on industry best practices and quality benchmarks.

Building the Commitment of the Private Sector and Leveraging Effective Partnerships to Sustain Food Fortification.

The private sector is a critical partner in achieving the universally adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-UNDP 2022. As part of a national strategy to address malnutrition (SDG2), Large-Scale Food Fortification of commonly consumed staple foods and condiments with vitamins and minerals is a proven intervention that requires the concerted engagement of multiple actors in a country's agri-food and public health ecosystems. Lessons from TechnoServe's Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF) Program, implemented from 2016 to 2022 in Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, provide essential learnings about how to effectively engage, motivate, and improve the food fortification performance of the industry in compliance with national standards, through capacity building, responsive technical assistance, and multistakeholder engagement that builds trust and accountability of industry in the fight against malnutrition.