Uganda has been one of UNICEF’s priority countries for its vitamin A supplementation programme since 2000.
Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness. It also increases the risk of death from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea. There are several ways to fight this public health threat: giving children vitamin A supplements; promoting more diverse diets; fortifying food; and bio-fortifying crops. Nutrition campaigns can go with these efforts.
It is hard to compare countries when reliable data are missing. But The country has introduced several measures to address the issue. It distributes vitamin A supplements through healthcare channels; fortifies edible oil, maize flour and wheat flour; and breeds biofortified crops such as sweet potatoes.
Many maize mills across Uganda are small to medium in scale, with daily milling capacity below 20 tonnes. Maize mills with a daily production capacity over 20 tonnes are mandated, by law, to fortify maize flour. But violators of the regulation rarely face consequences. Biofortification Biofortification differs from food fortification. It increases target micronutrients in edible parts of the crop during its growth. This is done by applying fertiliser with target micronutrients, breeding crops conventionally, or developing crops with genetic modification.
The research shows mixed results. People say they are not satisfied with the cost, taste and colour of the biofortified sweet potato. Also, Ugandan farming households grow sweet potatoes mostly for subsistence. It doesn’t always reach urban markets.
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