Social marketing research to understand barriers to consumption of fortified whole grains in Africa

 

Malnutrition remains a pervasive issue in Africa, with undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight/obesity impacting girls, boys, women and men differently. Fortification of flour and other grain-based foods has been identified by the World Health Organization as a means to rapidly improve the micronutrient status of a population at reasonable cost. The Fortified Whole Grain Alliance has been set up in response to this context, and specifically to address the challenge of barriers to widespread uptake of fortified whole grains due to cost, quality and affordability of nutritious foods in Africa.

The overall objective of this research is to understand consumer rice-eating habits with a view to shifting consumer behaviour to the consumption of fortified parboiled unpolished rice. The research will adopt a gender lens and the scope will cover consumers and consumption patterns inclusive of knowledge, attitudes and practices; gendered influences and disparities of food provision and consumption choices at household level; the school feeding ecosystem; and the supply chain around the production, availability and access to parboiled unpolished rice. The project will consult key stakeholders, including policymakers and nutritional experts, for development of a gender-transformative social and behaviour change communication campaign, including tools for its use in households and schools. In addition to this research scope, the project will support the Fortified Whole Grain Alliance to build partnerships with strategic organizations and to develop policy advocacy strategies and tools.

The project is being funded through the Catalyzing Change for Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems initiative, a co-funding partnership between IDRC and the Rockefeller Foundation.