Botswana: Developing a National Food Fortification Strategy

Photo: Stakeholder Workshop Participants (FFI)

In 2022, FFI partnered with the Botswana Government, Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to facilitate Botswana’s development of a national food fortification strategy.

FFI and partners sought to create a strategy that considered existing interventions and capabilities of national institutions while also exploring innovative, cross-cutting solutions. The project, funded by FAO, also sought to help Botswana develop wheat flour fortification standards that are in line with existing SADC regional standards and serve the needs and context of Botswana.

FFI’s efforts to help Botswana create a national fortification standard faced a challenge common to the world of nutrition: lack of data. The most recent micronutrient survey in Botswana was conducted in 1994, and without recent data, the government of Botswana was unsure of wheat flour fortification’s relevance. FFI began liaising with government stakeholders and SADC in 2019 to support the country’s micronutrient deficiency data needs in order to make a strong case for the implementation of mandatory fortification in the country. Through FAO and SADC’s support, FFI completed a landscape analysis of the wheat flour milling industry in Botswana. The results of this analysis have motivated Botswana to further pursue a fortification program and, with the government’s input, FFI drafted a national food fortification strategy that is currently under government review. FFI’s next steps will be the pursuit of partners that can carry out a national micronutrient survey and gathering data for a cost-benefit analysis of wheat flour fortification and support implementation of the national program.

No two countries are alike, and Botswana has individualized dietary, nutritional, and industry requirements that will shape its fortification strategy. Once the information provided by a cost-benefit analysis and a supply chain analysis is obtained, Botswana will be able to finalize a wheat flour fortification program that can be implemented and monitored according to best practices and improve the health of Botswanans for generations to come.