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Project Partners

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Two years after its launch, the ADB-backed project to Improve Nutrition for Poor Mothers and Children in Central Asia is making significant progress in fighting widespread micronutrient deficiencies.

Following the break-up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, and the collapse of the system for producing and distributing iodized salt, there was a sharp rise in mentally retarded and physically stunted new-born babies in Central Asia as a result of iodine deficiency disorder (IDD).

At the Almaty Forum in October 2001, the governments of Central Asia forged a landmark subregional agreement to boost production, distribution, and consumption of iodized salt and iron-enriched wheat flour. Participating countries are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Takijistan, and Uzbekistan.

The effort is backed by a partnership of international advisors consisting of ADB, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition (KAN). It was financed by a US$6.85 million grant from ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR).

The project's ambitious scope includes significant institution building both of the private and public sectors, including the quality control system, supporting legislation, food safety and trade regulations, providing incentives for fortification, and promoting an active civil society to monitor the quality of fortified food in the market.

In the two years since the project was launched, its key achievements include:

• Legislation: three out of the six countries now have universal salt iodization legislation, and the other three have drafted legislation for discussion in parliament
• Flour fortification: all six countries have started flour fortification that is expected to reduce anemia, and other mineral and vitamin deficiencies
• Quality control: all countries except Tajikistan plan a quality assurance system
• Public awareness: major progress has been made in public information campaigns and social mobilization in all countries except Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan
• Regulations: Kazakhstan and the Kyrygz Republic have introduced regulations to ensure that wheat flour provided to public social service entities such as hospitals and schools are fortified
• Cost-sharing for wheat fortification by the public and private sectors for most of the countries
• Blood sampling: the first round of blood sampling was done by KAN in all countries

Source: Ian Gill, Nutrition Project in Central Asia: Making Progress Against Micronutrient Deficiency, 2003

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Area Office for Central Asian Republics and Kazakhstan (CARK)

In all CARK countries, measures have been implemented to achieve USI for iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) prevention since the mid-1990s. More recently, countries have begun activities for fortification of wheat flour in an effort to prevent IDA, which is widespread in CARK.

This activity has received support from both UNICEF and the ADB /JFPR "Improving Nutrition for Poor Mothers and Children in Asian Countries in Transition" project. UNICEF and ADB are working jointly to assist countries in achieving USI to eliminate IDD and initiate wheat flour fortification to combat IDA.

The "Agreement on Control and Prevention of IDD" signed by the CIS (which includes the five CARK countries) in 2001 is one step made towards regional co-operation on the issue of trade of non-iodized salt. However, in addition to agreements, information from the presentations made suggest the need for further co-operation between customs, SES and other agencies within and between countries.

In 1996 a Nutrition Action Plan for CARK - including plans for USI and WFF - was developed with the support of KAN and international organisations. In 1996, CARK Parliamentarians called for APC programmes including flour fortification. Some WFF activities were initiated as part of the comprehensive national APC programmes developed and implemented throughout CARK in the late 1990s.

Support from UNICEF and ADB/JFPR is helping to initiate, and in the case of Kyrgyzstan, restart, flour fortification programmes in the area. The aim of these efforts is to enable countries to initiate flour fortification and support achievement of USI. Although Turkmenistan is not participating in this project, it is working towards WFF with UNICEF support.

Initial steps were already taken towards WFF, including the

• processing of necessary contracts
• procurement/installation of equipment and fortificants
• creation of a legislative framework in each of their countries.
• conduct of workshops to train technical staff on WFF issues and in quality assessment methods.

In discussions during the meeting of the Working Group on Micronutrients that followed the VI CARK MCH Forum, issues related to WFF and other elements of APC programmes were discussed in greater detail.

Kazakh Academy of Nutrition (KAN)

KAN has been involved in nutrition programs in all five Central Asian countries for the last two decades and continues to be committed to main program priorities, which are combating nutritional deficiencies and promotion of healthy nutrition for all population groups living in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.

KAN has coordinated a regional anemia control and prevention program as well iodine deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, and several other regional micronutrient initiatives. During the last decade the KAN managed to establish a network of institutions and professionals working in the area of nutrition in Central Asian countries.

The KAN's staff provided assistance to these institutions and professionals to implement health and nutrition programs funded by their governments and international donor organizations.

The Regional Project of KAN is prepared within the framework of realization of International ADB Project on food fortification, takes into consideration mainly those issues, which are general for all the countries covered with the project.

These are the issues of:

• training and improvement of professional skill of the staff by using the uniform training programs
• developing and printing manuals and educational materials
• using the uniform technique for data gathering, monitoring and conducting of researches
• translating echnical specifications and literature
• developing, manufacturing, and providing vitamin-mineral complexes (premixes), which are necessary for wheat flour fortification
• establishing the wide communications
• creating and supporting a web site, accessible to all countries-participants of the project
• using a uniform methodology for estimation of project efficiency
• organizing and conducting training seminars and conferences for discussion of preliminary, stage level and final results, etc.