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Kenya: Rapid Results Initiatives: Project proposal
Mi-Kenya
Background
In recent years, stakeholders from both the governmental sector
and the private food industry have sought to capitalise on the public health
benefits of micronutrient fortification. Efforts to date have created a fairly
robust selection of basic fortified foodstuffs available in the Kenyan market.
Unfortunately, private food companies have faced difficulties in marketing
fortified products to lower income segments of the population. The primary
reasons given for this are cost constraints and weak demand among lower-income
Kenyan consumers who are unaware of the benefits of consuming fortified foods.
In an effort to facilitate further fortification, private and public actors
have come together and formed the National Fortification Alliance (NFA).
As part of its mission to help increase the availability of
fortified foods on the African continent, the Micronutrient Initiative (MI), a
Canadian-based NGO, has commissioned Robert H Schaffer and Associates
(RHS&A) to facilitate a series of Rapid Results Initiatives to support the
Kenyan food industry and its efforts to further expand the availability of
fortified basic food stuffs. Specifically, the RRI's will be used to help the
NFA and its members to achieve the goals detailed in the NFA's Action Plan for
Fortification. All key players and stakeholders in the fortification effort
agree that, for this expansion in availability to take place, the following
critical "next-steps" must be taken:
- The development of voluntary standards and standard-enforcement
procedures that regulate marketing claims about fortification and ensure
beneficial levels of fortification within targeted products. This step includes
the development of an official fortification logo to be used on products that
meet these voluntary standards.
- The implementation of a social marketing campaign that promotes
the health benefits of fortification within the general population and, more
specifically, within the lower income groups.
Government actors view standards and a greater awareness among the
public as effective vehicles for promoting greater health and ensuring the
safety and quality of foods. Private food companies are interested in these
activities as they are an essential part of any campaign to increase consumer
demand for fortified foodstuffs among consumers and are the only way to rid the
market place of dubious claims about fortification from unscrupulous
companies.
Course of Action Proposed by NFA and Other Key
Stakeholders
Proposed framework for coordination and accelerated
progress on key issues
Despite the widespread unanimity among key actors on what needs to
be done to improve the availability of fortified foods, as well as the high
levels of enthusiasm for the effort, little success has been recorded. The lack
of progress is mainly due to the complexity of the effort. The number of
players involved in the effort, the lack of coordinated communication between
the public and private sectors and the need for coordinated action among
normally competing private sector companies, are all factors contributing to
the slower than expected progress on the issue. In order to resolve the current
impasse, public and private actors must develop a new and more robust structure
for coordinating the technical and financial resources that are available for
the successful completion of the prioritised next-steps.
This proposal provides a plan of action that will help actors
achieve this coordination so that they can achieve real results ((i.e. an
increase in consumption and availability of fortified products within
lower-income populations) and accelerate the implementation of the good work
that has already begun, It should be noted that this proposal does not put
forth an exact solution. While there is a high degree of convergence amongst
stakeholders on how the required activities can be undertaken, there are also
many aspects that still need to be negotiated and finalised. MI believes that
it is not their place to determine these details but instead that they can best
support fortification efforts by supporting all stakeholders as they attempt to
accelerate progress towards the achievement of the goals set forth in the NFA's
Action Plan. It is MI's aim to increase the ability of all actors to undertake
coordinated action aimed at increasing the consumption of fortified foods.
The proposed coordinating structure uses a series of RRI's to
unlock the impasse and remove key obstacles to fortification within a 100 day
period. The focus of these RRI will be on achieving real results (i.e. an
increase in consumption and availability of fortified products within
lower-income populations), In working to achieve these results, key
stakeholders will develop mechanisms for greater cooperation and to identify
solutions to the obstacles that currently prevent coordinated action. The use
of RRIs will also accelerate progress towards the NFA's short and long term key
objectives by focusing attention on these critical obstacles. While the exact
nature of the goals will be decided upon in a meeting between senior level
stakeholders, some likely goals are offered here.
How Rapid Results Will Be Used to Implement the
NFA's Action Plan
RRI #1
The first RRI would be centered on the Kenya Bureau of Standards
(KEBS) and the Ministry of Health (MOH). It would focus on creating official
(but voluntary) fortification standards for Vitamin A and a logo signaling to
consumers which products meet these standards. Product testing and quality
assurance checks would also be part of this system. Initial discussions with
private companies have indicated that they would be willing to pay for some
part of the costs associated with product testing (including their own products
as well as those of their competitors).
A possible RRI goal in this area would be the following:
"Certification of 75% of the edible oils market as being compliant or not,
with Vitamin A standards." The exact details of the goal (e.g. numerical
goals, type of fortificant and vehicle) can be tailored to meet the mutual
needs and capacities of all parties. This goal is offered as an example, based
on a "most likely scenario."
The key outputs from this initiative would be the application of a
KEBS fortification logo to products which meet the voluntary standards, as well
as the creation of a robust structure for coordination between public and
private actors. This structure will then serve as basis for extending the logo
system to other types of products and micronutrients after the initial 100 day
period.
RRI #2
The second RRI would focus on a social marketing campaign
promoting KEBS' fortification logo. It would seek to raise awareness of the
logo as well as the health benefits of fortification within a specific
geographical area.. The campaign itself would be created and implemented
through an NGO with experience in social marketing, working in coordination
with the Ministry of Health, the private food companies and Community Based
Organizations (CBOs) working in the targeted area(s). The Ministry of Health's
participation would include approving the campaign's messages and permitting
the use of the Ministry's logo. While the majority of the funding would come
from the private companies, it might be possible for the Ministry of Health,
UNICEF and/or the implementing non-governmental organization (NGO) to provide
some of the financing.
A possible goal for this RRI could be the following: "Increase
sales of Vitamin A fortified edible oils in Zimmerman by 25% in 100 days."
Again, the exact details of the goal (e.g. choice of target area(s)
numerical goals, and type of fortificant and vehicle) can be tailored to best
meet the interests and capacities of all parties. As with the first goal, this
is offered as an example of a likely direction for the effort.
Proposed Time Line:
While the exact time line will be determined at the Strategic
Stakeholders Workshop, the following is a basic outline which can be used for
initial planning purposes:
August 2006:
- Adoption of Vitamin A guidelines by the Ministry of Health
.
August 31st 2006
- Strategic Stakeholders Workshop, attended by the Chief
Executive Officers, Managing Directors Marketing Managers Quality Assurance
Managers and Standards Managers from the involved organisations The goals of
the meeting will be as follows:
- Negotiate mutual commitments in the area of
fortification
- Develop a structure for a more robust public-private
partnership between the MOH, KEBS and private food companies.
- Develop preliminary RRI Goals
- Select members for the RRI work teams
September 6th
- Launch of RRI #1- Work teams comprised of employees from the
MOH, KEBS and the quality assurance departments of the private companies to
begin work on standards/logo system
September 6th
- Launch of RRI #2- Work teams comprised of employees from the
MOH, PSI, KEBS and Marketing Departments of private companies will begin work
on social marketing campaign.
End of October:
- 50 day Review of the Initiatives
Early/Middle December
January, 2007
- "Scale up" Strategy meeting to determine plans for the
following areas:
- expanding the certification/logo system to other
fortificants and vehicles,
- expanding social marketing campaign to a national
level
- Determining what other actions need to take place to increase
the amount of fortified foods available to lower-income Kenyans.
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