Almost a quarter of the people in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from micronutrient malnutrition or ‘hidden hunger.’ This problem disproportionately affects women of reproductive age, infants, and young children, many of whom suffer deficiencies of essential micronutrients such as vitamin A, iron and zinc. Micronutrient malnutrition results in several health problems including weak immune system, visual impairment, night blindness in pregnant women and children, cognitive ability, retarded growth and reproductive potential, increased risk of disease and ultimately affects the general productivity of populations.
This flyer is about the approaches that complement each other to address the complex problem of micronutrient malnutrition. In addition to actively promoting exclusive breastfeeding of infants for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health in infants, other approaches that mitigate against micronutrient deficiencies in young children and women of reproductive age include supplementation, food fortification, dietary diversification and biofortification.