Skip to main content
Knowledge4Policy
KNOWLEDGE FOR POLICY

Supporting policy with scientific evidence

We mobilise people and resources to create, curate, make sense of and use knowledge to inform policymaking across Europe.

Publication | 2022

2022: Pakistan: Engaging small producers to fortify wheat for the hardest to reach

Fortification generally utilises large-scale production systems which can exclude the most vulnerable who buy from small-scale mills. Pakistan offers an example of how engaging small mills offers big opportunities.

Food fortification of commonly eaten foods is usually done through large-scale food production systems. However, in many LMIC most people, including the poorest and most at risk of malnutrition, buy their wheat flour from small-scale mills. In Pakistan there are 70,000 small-scale mills, which produce 0.5 to 2 metric tonnes per day and sell directly to local households. The WFP Pakistan Country Office therefore launched a pilot supporting ten small-scale mills to fortify their wholemeal flour initially using a business case for social good. The results were surprising and could assist others as they explore ways to expand fortification initiatives to reach the hard to reach.