Pakistan Wheat Flour Fortification Project

Project Overview

In July 2005 GAIN awarded US$ 2.99 million to the Nutrition Wing of Pakistan's Ministry of Health to work with the Pakistan Flour Millers Association and the Micronutrient Initiative to fortify wheat or ‘atta’ flour with iron and folic acid (B9). In May 2010 GAIN invested an additional US$ 1.49 million in the project. Atta flour is a major staple food in Pakistan with nearly 100 percent of the total population consuming it daily. Funding goes to the expansion of fortification to 275 mills, training of mill staff and laboratory technicians in fortification, the provision of vitamin and mineral premix, advocacy and communication activities and surveys to assess project impact.

Goal

The goal of the project is to reduce iron deficiency anemia in women from 25.5 percent to 20 percent and in children under five from 36 percent to 28 percent and to increase fortified wheat Atta flour consumption from nine percent in 2009 to 24 percent in 2013. The project also aims to recruit, train and equip an additional 275 mills nationwide to initiate fortification and increase consumer knowledge about anemia and means of prevention from 35 percent to 50 percent.

Impact

At full scale, the project aims to reach approximately 45 percent of the population with fortified wheat flour.

Achievements

The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority has approved standards for fortified flour. Furthermore, the Nutrition Department of the Ministry of Health has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) for providing iron fortified flour to consumers at the price of ordinary flour in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. The project has also put in place a quality assurance/quality control manual and management information system, launched a social marketing campaign and developed a fortified atta logo.

As of March 2010, more than 12.7 million people had access to fortified wheat flour. At the end of the project's first phase, 125 flour mills were equipped and trained and producing fortified atta flour.

Duration

The project began in July 2005. A second phase of the project, which started in May 2010, will build on the work already done and focus on training in fortification and increasing consumer awareness of anemia. Completion of the project is expected in April 2013.