Fortification of Vegetable oil and Sugar with Vitamin A in Uganda

F. Alternative Fortification Cost Measures: Considering the Consumer’s Perspective
This section presents two sets of results. Section a) presents the results assuming that all
vegetable oil is fortified using Retinol Palmitate 1.0 million IU/g. Section b) assumes that the
fortificant used is Retinol Palmitate 1.7 million IU/g.
a) Vegetable oil is fortified with Retinol Palmitate 1.0 million IU/g
Assuming the price per liter of fortified vegetable oil is 3,133 UGX (US$1.88), the retail value of
all fortified vegetable oil in Uganda net of fortification costs using Retinol Palmitate 1.0 million
IU/g is:
[(3,133 UGX) x (105,000 tons) x (1,098.9 liters/ton)] – [(477,196,438 UGX) x 2] =
361,490,090 UGX
Assuming, all fortification costs were shifted onto the consumer through an increased price (i.e.,
assuming the maximum price increase scenario), it may be estimated that the maximum retail
price increase attributable to fortification is:
[(477,196,438 x 2 UGX) / {(105,000 tons) x (1,099 liters/ton)}]
= 8.28 UGX/liter
which is the equivalent of : (8.28 / 3,133) = 0.26 percent of the retail price of one liter of
vegetable oil.
Drawing on the HIES data, if 57 percent of Ugandans purchase vegetable oil, and, using the
estimated 105,000 tons of oil produced annually by fortifying industries and assuming that
15,000 tons of that output is exported annually, the average Ugandan purchases (i.e., has an
apparent consumption level of) an estimated 15.3 grams per day. The average person consumes
an estimated 5.58 kilograms or 6.14 liters of vegetable oil per year and pays an additional 51
UGX (US$0.031) per year for fortified oil (as opposed to non-fortified oil, other things being
equal). Given an average household size of 5.2 persons, the average Ugandan household that
purchases vegetable oil pays an estimated additional 265 UGX (US$0.159) per year for fortified
oil, or 51 UGX (US$0.031) per year per person.
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