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After months of preparations, the media campaign on fortified nutritious foods was eventually inaugurated on 29 November 2016 at MoPH’s Sohaila Sediqu Conference Hall. The event was attended by senior officials of Ministry of Public Health, WFP Deputy Country Director, Ms Naoko Fukunaga, other WFO staff and representatives from other stakeholders including the media.

The media campaign consist of broadcast of TV and radio spots in major regional and national media, placing of billboards (see photos below), T-shirts, shopping bags, etc centred in five major Afghan provinces: Nanghahar, Kabul, Mazar, Kunduz and Herat where the fortified wheat flour is already available. It is implemented with funds received from the Government of Canada, through WFP’s Purchase for Progress (P4P) Programme in Afghanistan.

It is a culmination of a series of ground laying activities which included a Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey conducted in June 2014 in five Afghan cities: Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e- Sharif, Kunduz, and Jalalabad. This was followed in 2015 by creation of a certified unifying logo (centre above) to clearly mark fortified food products and then to widely promote that logo through a communication campaign - a strategy used in other countries to help consumers distinguish fortified foods. MoPH authorizes its use on new foods or products it considers healthy, to signify to consumers that it is nutritious and endorsed by MoPH.

Status of malnutrition/micronutrient deficiency in Afghanistan

Good nutrition is the base of human wellbeing. Malnutrition leads to increased morbidity and mortality, as well as substantial economic losses. More than one-third of all deaths among under five children worldwide are attributed to malnutrition. Furthermore, it is recognized that without reducing childhood malnutrition, developing countries such as Afghanistan will not be able to achieve the 2nd and 3rd Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Despite progress made in some indicators of nutritional status of the Afghan population during the past decade, the 2013 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) indicates that the public health burden of malnutrition is still among the highest in the world. The NNS 2013 indicated that micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in Afghanistan.

The prevalence of stunting in children <5 years decreased by about 20%, from 60.5% in 2004 to 40.9% in 2013. Nearly one-fourth of women and young children in Afghanistan are iron deficient, whereas 24% women of reproductive age and 26.1% of children between 6-59

months of age are iron deficient. Anaemia was common in women of reproductive age (40.4%) and among children 6-59 months of age (44.9%). Vitamin A deficiency was markedly more common in children 6-59 months of age (50.4%) than among women of reproductive age (11.3%).

Zinc deficiency was observed in both women and children, with a prevalence of 23.4% and 15.1% respectively. Similarly, Iodine deficiency was fairly common among both women of reproductive age and children 7-12 years of age, with a prevalence of 40.8% and 29.5% respectively. Majority of women of reproductive age (95.5%) and children 6-59 months (81.0%) were found to be deficient in vitamin D with a large proportion of women reproductive age (64.7%) suffering from severe vitamin D deficiency, while a significant majority of children (64.2%) exhibited moderate deficiency