Malang N. Fofana was speaking at the 14th National Alliance for Food Fortification (NAFF) meeting held at the NaNA conference hall recently.
The event also marks the 4th NAFF quarterly meeting this year, a forum which accords stakeholders the platform to address issues affecting food and nutrition security through the Large-Scale Food Fortification project.
The programme under the coordination of the National Nutrition Agency in terms of its implementation, is being funded by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS).
At the meeting, stakeholders reviewed the minutes of the last quarterly meeting and matters arising, updated the implementation of fortification and bio-fortification interventions by stakeholders and planned activities for the next quarterly meetings among others.
Fofana while challenging participants to share the knowledge and experience gained at the meeting, equally reminded them of the pivotal role they play in ensuring that the population has access to adequate fortified food products.
Thus, he said the roundtable meeting would not only enable participants to discuss and address emerging issues, but would also accord them the opportunity to critically look at challenges and chart a way forward in strengthening food fortification in the country.
Marian Appiah, Senior Project Officer for Anglophone West Africa Large Scale Food Fortification Project, shared that the Large-Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) project of the Catholic Relief Services is a regional project aimed at reducing micro-nutrient deficiencies across the populace, especially among nursing mothers and young children through large scale fortification.
“We are supporting The Gambia through the National Fortification Alliance. Through this alliance, we are able to work with partners, such as the NaNA, FSQA and the National Standards Bureau to strengthen their fortification activities.”
Ousman Dem, Programme Manager at the National Nutrition Agency, who also serves as the NAFF facilitator, explained that NaNA is still working in the aspect of fortification and bio-fortification, saying they have also organised capacity building programmes for journalists, from both the print and electronic media on food fortification.
Dem noted that NAFF is a platform where both the public and private sectors share updates with a view to finding solutions.
