Memorandum submitted by GAIN—the
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
1. GAIN's vision is for all people, everywhere,
to have the vitamins and minerals they need to live healthy and
productive lives. More than two billion people worldwide lack
the vitamins and minerals they need to live healthy and productive
lives. Lack of vitamin A, iron, iodine, folic acid and zinc in
the body can cause a range of problems, including increased child
mortality, birth defects, poor cognitive development and reduced
productivity.
2. Yet it is quite easy and cheap to correct
micronutrient deficiencies by adding vitamins and minerals to
the foods that most people eat everyday. Which food to fortify
depends on the context and culture—flour and bread in some
parts of the world, corn meal in another, soy sauce or fish sauce
elsewhere. In 2004, the Copenhagen Consensus of leading international
economists deemed the provision of essential vitamins and minerals
the second most cost-effective solution to meeting development
challenges after the control of HIV/AIDS. Food fortification is
a reliable and powerful tool in advancing key Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs)
3. GAIN was established in 2002 as an innovative
public private partnership to promote food fortification aimed
at reaching those populations most at risk of vitamin and mineral
deficiencies. At the global level, members of the GAIN alliance
include UNICEF, the World Bank, World Health Organization, World
Food Program, USAID/A2Z Micronutrient Program, the Micronutrient
Initiative, Helen Keller International, US Centre for Disease
Control and Prevention. GAIN received its initial funding support
from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and it already has
major projects which are fortifying products such as wheat flour,
soy sauce, fish sauce, and vegetable oil in fifteen developing
countries.
THE ROLE
OF THE
PRIVATE SECTOR
4. The GAIN global partnership model is
an innovative one—building programmes with the private sector.
The Business Alliance for Food Fortification (BAFF) is a key part
of the GAIN strategy and provides a partnership between the private
sector and governments. Private sector members at the global level
include Heinz, Danone, DSM, BASF, Tetra Pak, Unilever and Coke
and the BAFF is supported by the Prince of Wales International
Business Leaders Forum (IBLF).
5. The BAFF structure was launched in Beijing
in November, as a platform to extend the production and distribution
of affordable fortified foods around the world, in particular
to poor and at-risk populations. The projects aim to effect regulatory
change to improve diets working with governments, consumers and
the food industry. They are highly innovative because once set
up they are sustainable and financed by consumers and producers,
not aid.
HOW GAIN WORKS
6. At the national level all GAIN projects
are coordinated by National Fortification Alliances, which involve
government, food manufacturers and retailers, and consumer groups
or health groups. These national alliances are currently active
in 15 countries.
7. GAIN provides money and technical advice
to national and sub national programmes targeted to achieve the
maximum benefits for public health. Food fortification programs
are selected through both competitive and non competitive processes
and GAIN's philosophy is to establish self-sustaining, market-driven
programs. Priority is given to developing countries, especially
those in Asia and Africa where there are the greatest numbers
of people suffering for vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Which
mix of vitamins and minerals to add will depend on the needs of
the population.
TEN YEAR
STRATEGY
8. During 2006, GAIN is coordinating the
development of a ten year strategy to eliminate vitamin and mineral
deficiencies. This work is being undertaken on behalf of a range
of UN and other alliance members and will provide a framework
for action for the many groups working in the area. GAIN has set
clear targets:
8.1. To reduce the prevalence of vitamin
and mineral deficiencies by 30% in the areas where GAIN is active.
8.2. To reach one billion people with food
that has been fortified with vitamins and minerals.
8.3. To ensure that 500 million of the people
most in need, such as children and pregnant women, are regularly
consuming fortified foods.
8.4. To achieve these results at a cost of
less than 25 US cents per person, per year.
RELEVANCE OF
THE GAIN PROGRAMME
TO ENQUIRY
ON PSD
9. The GAIN programme is an innovative example
of how to make markets work better for poor people by engaging
the private sector and government in regulatory reform to markets—in
this case a good example of how the donors can leverage big development
dividends from facilitating a more active partnership between
governments, consumers and business in the area of health and
nutrition.
February 2006
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