Fortifying a nation through bread
How adding nutrients to flour can boost the health of children and women By Meryn Fletcher DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - Isakov Urunboy looks weary. As technical manager, he’s been showing us around his flour mill, but once again there is a power cut. The machinery judders to a halt. We head across a courtyard to his office. Power failures are a common occurrence in Dushanbe. Isakov’s office is spartan and spotless. He sits behind his desk. Against a wall is a small table covered by a cloth and on top of it rests a grey wooden box, the size of a handyman’s large toolkit. The box, and its contents, is what we’ve come to talk about. It is expected to play a significant role in tackling a major health problem among children and women in Tajikistan. Isakov lifts the box and carefully straightens the cloth. The cloth didn’t require this, but he’s a fastidious man. The box is carefully replaced. Its prominent position in the room indicates a kind of reverence. Isakov unclips a metal clasp and opens the lid. Pipettes, petri dishes, and small glass vessels are revealed. Isakov’s demeanour changes.
He slides out two lower drawers to show more glass chemical laboratory equipment and an array of small chemical bottles. This is a mobile lab. Isakov has specially designed it for testing levels of added nutrients to the flour, iron, vitamin B and folic acid. How bread can help Bread is a staple part of the diet in Tajikistan. It’s a poor country and bread is eaten at every meal. The ingredients of bread can significantly contribute to solving one of Tajikistan’s health problems. Four years ago a national survey found that nearly 40 per cent of under-fives and more than 40 per cent of women were anaemic, through iron deficiency. “However, awareness of our flour fortification campaign among the public is not enough. We need the government to act and pass legislation to make it compulsory.” UNICEF Tajikistan has been working closely with Isakov, encouraging him to develop his mobile flour laboratory, so testing can take place more widely. It has helped to fund his research through study visits to Turkey and Morocco. UNICEF has also been advocating for the national flour fortification law. The Just Combe Invest mill where Isakov works already adds the important fortification nutrients to its flour. Each day it carefully tests the final product. UNICEF’s Tajikistan Nutrition Officer, Murtribjon Bakhrudinov, said: “Once we knew the level of anaemia problems across the country, we distributed iron pills through the Ministry of Health. This was very costly and could not go on indefinitely. “Fortified flour is a cost-effective and sustainable way of tackling dietary problems.” Self-raising The issue in Tajikistan is a relatively new one. During the Soviet era all mills were state-controlled and nutrients were added automatically. Once the Soviet Union melted away, many mills ceased to operate. Now, smaller, privately-run mills have emerged to satisfy the demands of this bread-hungry country but their flour is not fortified. The process is cheap. One kilogramme of micro-nutrients costs a Dushanbe mill owner between six and 10 US dollars. This one kilogramme bag is enough for eight metric tonnes of flour. Isakov and UNICEF are now hoping that the politicians will listen and act on flour fortification. He is waiting for the calls to make copies of his grey box, so that his mobile flour-testing laboratory can be used throughout Tajikistan.
News Enriching flour – enriching lives, enriching Kyrgyzstan! 27/06/07 Uzbek Senate approves legislation of universal iodination of salt 05/04/07 Millers to power flour with mineral mix 09/11/06 Fortified food can significantly improve child survival in Kyrgyzstan $2.8 million for fortified flour will help fight iron deficiency in Uzbekistan Resources Related links International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) IAOM Inaugural Eurasia District conference November 10-12 2006, Istanbul, Turkey Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Flour Fortification Initiative Related links |
