Milling Infrastructure

Fortification in Small Mills

While FFI focuses on industrially milled wheat flour, maize flour, and rice, we recognize that around the world a portion of grain is processed in smaller mills. Below are resources from several FFI partners with expertise in small mill fortification.

Technical Requirements for Wheat Flour Fortification in Ethiopia

This manual details the potential for implementing flour fortification in Ethiopia, utilizing equipment manufactured in-country and from regional suppliers. The manual was produced in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Nutrition International (NI) and Faffa Foods.

Harnessing local technology

Fortification in Ethiopia is limited due to technological constraints. See a paper on manufacturing small scale mixers for the fortification of edible oils and wheat flours in northern Ethiopia.

Small-scale flour fortification with iron: a pilot study in rural Kenya

In large parts of Africa and Asia, rural people typically bring their grains to local mills, a cottage industry found in many villages. At these mills, maize is simply ground in small quantities to whole-grain flour, which is then taken home for further processing into food. In eastern and southern Africa, this flour is typically used to produce uji, a gruel of maize flour cooked in water, or ugali, a stiff porridge that is produced similarly, but with a higher flour content. This video shows the process of flour fortification with iron in rural communities near Lake Victoria, Kenya. This pilot project was jointly undertaken by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and Wageningen University, The Netherlands, with funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 211484.

Equipment for Small-Scale Mills

See a video, diagram, and answers to frequently asked questions about Sanku's device for fortifying in small-scale flour mills.

Capacity Building of Small Millers Training Manual

Manual created by the Department of Health in the Republic of South Africa, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the Nutrition International (NI), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Bringing Food Fortification to Rural, Village-Level Mills

See information about a Project Healthy Children model that uses a dosifier similar to an electronic scale to fortify flour in small-scale, village-level mills. 

Community-Based Small Scale Fortification in Rural Tanzania

Poster by World Vision Canada documents the outcomes of a small-scale fortification project in rural Tanzania. Outcomes examined include acceptance, community preference for home-based fortification vs. hammer mill fortification, prevalence of anemia, and hemoglobin levels.