Building Resilience in Nutrition Initiatives in Central and West Africa

Approximately 346 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition in a continent-wide food crisis in Africa. Within the general agenda of promoting nutrition resilience, food fortification, and food quality and safety, are critical components: research shows that food fortification is one of the best, most cost-effective investments that can be made, and food quality and safety are catalysts for better health and economic outcomes. In this project, the World Food Programme's Regional Centre of Excellence Against Hunger and Malnutrition (CERFAM) commissioned a SIPA/EPD workshop team to identify good practices for promoting food fortification, and food quality and safety, in West and Central Africa. The workshop team employed various research methods to provide a landscape mapping of potential good practices on nutrition resilience in West and Central Africa. The team's final report highlights eight good practices actively employed by governments, research organizations, non-profits, and other partners in the region to implement successful nutrition initiatives, as well as a series of recommendations for how to improve food fortification, and food quality and safety, in the region.