Kenya’s adult population faces a malnutrition burden. 27.2 percent of women of reproductive age have anemia and the national prevalence of under-five stunting is 26.2 percent, which is greater than the developing country average of 25 percent.
According to the World Bank, malnutrition is one of the world’s most serious but least addressed development challenges. In Kenya, for instance, the government and stakeholders rarely talk about malnutrition as well as the causes.
The economic costs of undernutrition, in terms of lost national productivity and economic growth, are significant – ranging from 2 to 3 percent of GDP in some countries, and up to 11 percent of GDP in Africa and Asia each year.
In most cases, malnutrition is caused by people consuming food that does not have the right nutrients and vitamins. The cases are more pronounced in counties such as Turkana and Baringo where both food and water are scarce.
But across the country, all Kenyans are being exposed to possible malnutrition from both the maize and wheat flour that they consume on a daily basis. Ugali is a staple food for Kenyans. This means millions of Kenyans feed on Ugali at least once a day.
A study carried out by TechnoServe has found out that majority of popular maize and wheat flour on the Kenyan market do not have the right nutrients as required, hence unfit for human consumption. This is despite having the Kenya Bureau of Standards to enforce that.
It is estimated that around 40 percent of wheat flour and almost 60 percent of maize flour consumed in Kenya is not consistently fortified and thus does not comply with Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) standards.
The fact that such a huge volume of maize and wheat flour not being correctly fortified has a direct implications for the government’s food fortification and safety agenda, as embedded in the Kenya National Food Fortification Program.
These worrying stats mean that Kenyans are unknowingly purchasing and feasting on flour that has effects on their health. There is a need for the government to address this matter as soon as possible.
Fortification is achieved by flour millers by incorporating a mix of micronutrients (premix) during the milling of maize and wheat. The nutritional quality of the flour is thus directly linked to the quality of the premix used and the quantity added to flour during milling.
READ: 40% Of Wheat Flour, 60% Of Maize Flour Not Fortified In Kenya