Feed the Future Multi-Year Strategy, Uganda, Public

fortification of maize and wheat flour with vitamin A, iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamin B12 and. New
food fortification vehicles will be added that include sugar fortification with vitamin A.
The agriculture team is also looking at improved seed varieties to increase micronutrient content such
as the orange-fleshed sweet potato, which has increased levels of beta-carotene (Vitamin A). The
introduction of fortification of foods will be combined with educational activities that promote dietary
diversity through the community and facility based programs.
As previously mentioned, a key component to treatment of undernutrition in Uganda is the production
of therapeutic and complementary foods. USG’s Feed the Future will expand on previous investments
in local ready-to-use therapeutic food production to increase availability and distribution in health
facilities across the country to treat acute undernutrition.
Enabling Environment
Our program will work to leverage other sectors (e.g., agriculture, water, public/private, etc) to create
demand for fortified foods, adopt good nutrition behaviors, and activities like exclusive breastfeeding
and integrated nutrition/WASH/food hygiene. Advocacy efforts will continue to emphasize the
importance of nutrition among key stakeholders. Uganda is one of the countries that is taking on the
Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) initiative spear headed globally by the Irish Government, U.S. Government
and the UN. SUN focuses on integration of relevant sectors with a view to addressing the window of
opportunity within the 1,000 days (from minus 9 months to 24 months). We will work to harmonize
FTF and SUN activities to maximize efficiency and national coverage in close consultation with MOH,
MAAIF and other stakeholders. Through the existing micronutrient fortification program that has
successfully enriched common staples such as oil and flour, FTF will continue to advocate for
mandatory fortification of manufactured foods.
Capacity Building
Capacity building at the national and district level is critical. Nutrition has only recently become a
priority in the health sector, and without strong nutrition champions and policies centrally, nutrition
priorities will not be realized. USAID will continue to train health workers in new IMAM guidelines
for use in health facilities and will expand technical assistance and capacity building at the national level
beyond the health sector to include Agriculture and other ministries who can contribute to a national
action plan on nutrition. Table 2 summarizes planned activities in nutrition across the four nutrition
program areas.
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