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Micronutrients deficiency is a well known phenomenon that poses a serious impediment to development around the world and in particular the developing world. The primary cause of each of these deficiencies is low dietary intake of specific micronutrients. Even though efforts have been directed to alleviate them, it is very evident that more efforts are needed. Food fortification is defined by the Codex Alimentarius as ‘the addition of one or more nutrients in a food, whether or not it is normally contained in the food for the purposes of preventing or correcting a demonstrated deficiency of one or more nutrients in the population or specific population groups’. This strategy has been adopted by several countries world-wide.
In light of the progress made in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa with fortification of maize meal produced at small-scale hammer mills, NFTRC is proposing that this technology be adopted in Botswana as one measure that could considerably help the country in the fight against macro and micronutrient deficiencies such as protein and vitamin A. To develop hammer-mill fortification into a sustainable and cost effective method for improving nutritional status, it is necessary that government facilitates planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the fortification exercise. Most significant of all, legislation should ultimately, be enact and implemented to make fortification of any food item compulsory.