About Millers for Nutrition

We are here to drive business
Success and improve health
outcomes nutrition by raising
standards in food fortification.

We know millers can play a critical role in reducing malnutrition for millions of people.

We know that high-quality fortified food can be good for businesses and great for the communities they serve.

Now we’re forming a coalition to make the business case for higher fortification standards, share best practices across the industry, and celebrate the success stories.

Background

Currently micronutrient deficiencies affect 3 billion people globally and cause severe and lasting health issues.

Staple food fortification is one solution among many to deliver healthy diets and is one of the most accepted, scientifically proven and cost-effective ways to tackle malnutrition on a large scale. But it remains massively underutilized.

Millers, local food processors who are responsible for adding micronutrients to staple foods, are essential to unlocking the full potential of food fortification – but they face many obstacles to fortifying correctly.

Millers for Nutrition aims to remove these obstacles and help milling businesses to improve fortification practices thereby enhancing the nutritional quality of the staple food they produce for the local population.

Vision

Millers for Nutrition aims to reach 1 Billion people by 2026 with adequately fortified flour, rice and edible oil.

By increasing access to nourishing diets for millions of people affected by malnutrition, Millers for Nutrition directly contributes to achieving SDG 2: Zero Hunger, which aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

Approach

Millers for Nutrition aims to make producing correctly fortified, nutritious food easier and more rewarding for millers.

Millers for Nutrition aims to encourage, enable, and celebrate millers who increase the availability of correctly fortified foods among local populations and, as a result, reduce malnutrition and improve public health.

Millers for Nutrition celebrates millers for fortifying well, strengthening their brand equity and reputation for quality.

Millers for Nutrition enables millers to be recognized for fortification by inviting them to join a public platform that generates visibility and rewards for good fortification performance.
Millers for Nutrition offers millers a platform to show key stakeholders that they are fortifying correctly through visibility in national and international media and at events. This visibility will strengthen their reputation and brand as quality food processors, which may in turn create benefits such as:

Increased market share and sales
Recognition from government
Improved access to finance

Millers for Nutrition encourages millers to fortify through motivational events and an annual ranking of brand’s fortification performance.

Events create opportunity for millers to join Millers for Nutrition and improve fortification performance. Several types of events will be used to mobilize and motivate millers including:

Sector-wide trainings and motivational workshops invite millers to acquire new skills.
An annual CEO Forum puts a spotlight on the industry and best performing companies.

An annual rating index creates motivation to join Millers for Nutrition and encourages a ”race to the top” in fortification performance. This rating already exists in Nigeria and Kenya -the Micronutrient Fortification Index (MFI), the kenya Micronutrient Fortification Index (KMFI) and it will be replicated in other countries.

Milling companies are rated based on their own reports and independent testing.
Competition drives participation in the ranking

Millers for Nutrition enables millers to fortify through access to a comprehensive set of services to help them to fortify to the right standard.

Millers who sign up to Millers for Nutrition will benefit from free access to:

Technical support: Millers can attend workshops to learn about fortification best practices. They can also receive bilateral support on specific issues from the supporting partners.
Testing: It is intended that millers will receive support in testing their products in the factory. They also benefit from premix testing, ensuring the premix used contains adequate levels of micronutrients
Technical toolbox: Millers have access to digital tools and resources, including guidelines and fortification data.

Transparency on testing results is an important element of Millers for Nutrition.

The Millers for Nutrition coalition intends to drive greater transparency on fortification results to improve individual accountability, and to assess if and how miller fortification performance is improving. Members commit to sharing information about their fortification activities. This reporting mechanism creates visibility on who is fortifying correctly – and who is not. This visibility creates incentives for millers to join the coalition, and to start fortification.
It also allows partners of the coalition to see where gaps exist, and strategically reach out to millers in underserved areas.

Countries

Millers for Nutrition is active in 8 countries and working across 3 staple food vehicles

Millers for Nutrition is being implemented in 8 countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tanzania) and across 3 food vehicles: Rice, Edible oil and Flour (wheat and maize).
These countries have been prioritized due to their large populations at risk of micronutrient deficiencies and high levels of malnutrition.
In each country, the focus of Millers for Nutrition activities will be based on government led priorities and legislation. Millers for Nutrition will align closely with local government authorities, NGOs and International Organizations to ensure activities serve local needs and have a long-term sustainable impact for the local economy and society.

Founding Partners