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Third Almaty Forum 2007: Making Food Fortification Sustainable

The Third Almaty Forum on Food Fortification, which was also the final conference of the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction Project (JFPR) 9052 for Sustainable Food Fortification in Central Asia and Mongolia, was held on 29–30 October 2007 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

This JFPR 9052 (2005–2007) and the preceding JFPR 9005 (2001–2004) for Improving Nutrition of Poor Mothers and Children in Asian Countries in Transition have aimed to mitigate iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA), two of the most prevalent micronutrient deficiencies in the region, by introducing, enhancing, and sustaining food fortification. The five participating countries of the JFPR 9052 - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have agreed to project targets:

• at least 90% of households should consume iodized salt on a regular basis
• at least 33% of domestically consumed wheat flour should be fortified

Kazakhstan has pledged that at least 60% of domestically consumed wheat flour should be fortified.

The achievements by the Government, the private sector, and the civil society were already tangible by the end of JFPR 9005. During the last 2 years, the continuous efforts to sustain salt and wheat flour fortification have further tested the capacity of all involved parties, by showing that sustaining successful interventions are often much more difficult than starting them.

The Forum focused on

• critical review of the progress in achieving the commitments made at the 2004 Almaty Forum and the outcomes of the efforts made by different parties to sustain food fortification
• learning from different countries and set the next goals on mitigating IDD and IDA
• development a clear road map for sustaining food fortification and mitigating key micronutrient deficiencies for the next few years

The Forum was followed by the annual meeting of the Eurasian District of flour millers from 35 countries and Flour Fortification Initiative Leaders' Group Meting.

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The Forum brought together the senior officials and the leaders of the private sector, and civil society that play a key role in salt iodization and wheat flour fortification, from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The Forum was attended by the key partners in food fortification in Central Asia: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Global Alliance for Improving Nutrition (GAIN), International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) and Flour Fortification Initiative (FFI).

View the list of participants [ PDF: 95 kb | 8 pages ]

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• Midterm Project Review Workshop Report 11-14 September 2006, Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyz Republic [ PDF 300kb | 33 pages ]
• Regional Conference on Quality Wheat Flour Fortification in Central Asia and Mongolia (Almaty, 7-9 February 2006) [ PDF 623kb | 36 pages ]
• Second Conference of Salt Producers on Sustainable Quality Iodization in Central Asia and Mongolia (Tashkent, 22-24 November 2005) [ PDF 388kb | 26 pages ]
• Almaty Forum 2004: Towards Sustainable Food Fortification in Central Asia, Mongolia and Azerbaijan (Almaty, 2-3 September 2004) [ PDF 35kb | 6 pages ]
• Almaty Forum 2001: Improving Nutrition of Poor Women and Children in Central Aisia and neighbouring Countries (Almaty, 8-12 October 2001) [ PDF 38kb | 4 pages ]