As part of measures to end hidden hunger and boost food security in the country, TechnoServe, Bühler, dsm-firmenich, and Partners in Food Solutions have joined forces with the Federal Government in promoting healthy nutrition through large-scale food fortification.
The Country Director of PFS, Toju Ukubeyinje, said treating hidden hunger is cost-effective and offers a huge return on investment for businesses, adding that tackling it will require collaborative efforts from all industry stakeholders.
Ukubeyinje, who disclosed this at a one-day national seminar in Kano, said the partnership is now coordinating action directed at ensuring that Nigerians eat and have access to more fortified foods.
He disclosed that his organisation has assembled a team of volunteers who are helping indigenous rice millers to tap opportunities in the food fortification business.
Earlier in his presentation, an account manager at dsm-firmenich, Jesse Ichull disclosed that a study recently conducted across the country indicates that about 85 per cent of Nigerians are ready to purchase fortified rice products.
He added that the study also revealed that about 76 per cent of Nigerians also have a preference to pay more for fortified rice, a development that indicates a wide acceptance of micro-nutrient fortified rice in the country.
Also, speaking, Senior Programme Manager at TechnoServe, representing the Millers for Nutrition (M4N) coalition, Ayodele Tella, said the M4N is a miller-centric coalition that is supported by a range of players from across the food value chain.
The Millers for Nutrition programme coordinated by TechnoServe in Nigeria and seven other countries in East Africa, and South-East Asia is aimed towards providing technical assistance to rice millers to fast-track the realisation of the objective of the government to reduce hidden hunger.
According to her, the increased local production of rice, the industrial structure of the sector, and a per capita consumption of about 32kg per person yearly across all regions and economic quantile begs the case for rice fortification.
She pointed out that the seminar was organized to stimulate rice millers in the country to meet the federal government’s goal of ensuring that 100 percent of rice in Nigerian food items found across markets is fortified by 2026.
During the event, the Senior Area Sales Engineer of Bühler Nigeria Ghosh Aryuman, highlighted Bühler’s equipment solutions for rice fortification including the CompacTwinTM Twin-Screw Extruder, which produces stable fortified rice kernels with 99 per cent nutrient retention even after 10 months of storage and blending solutions like the SpeedMixTM Batch Mixer, which produces consistent mixing quality with a minimal maintenance requirement.
In the same vein, the sales manager at dsm-firmenich Nigeria, Abdoulaye Lo, also provided briefs about the global operations of his company and the interventions the company is ready to offer to the country’s rice industry in the quest for the attainment of a hidden hunger free status
