Unilever’s
biggest brand Knorr unveiled its commitment to help reduce the
prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia in Nigeria, a major public health
issue, by making nutritious cooking more desirable, easy to understand
and afford. This commitment forms part of Knorr’s social mission to
improve the health and happiness of a billion people by unlocking more
flavour and goodness from everyday food.
With the
majority of Nigerians not eating enough food high in iron, the new initiative
will combine a behaviour change programme with the introduction of iron
fortified bouillon cubes. The Knorr
social mission takes a holistic approach, not only ‘Fork’ – championing
nutritious cooking, but also improving livelihoods of the most affected groups
- ‘Fortune’ and helping smallholder farmers-
‘Farm’
The announcement follows the release of the 2014 Global Nutrition
Report which found that almost half (49 per cent) of women of a reproductive
age in Nigeria are anaemic, and according to a dietary diversity assessment
done in six Nigerian states, the majority of Nigerians are not consuming enough
foods that are high in iron. According to the assessment only 38 percent eat
fruits and vegetables, including leafy green vegetables on a daily basis and
only 33 percent consume meat daily.
Professor NgoziNnam, President of the
Nutrition Society of Nigeria, explained “vitamin
and mineral deficiencies are among the largest public health challenges facing
the country right now. Our health system is already overburdened, so we need to
educate people on how they can help prevent deficiencies through healthy
diets.”
Fork
To champion nutritious cooking, Knorr will help drive
behavioural change via introducing an intervention programme – ‘The Green Food
Steps’ – focused on educating mothers and daughters on the importance of an
iron-rich diet through influencing their cooking habits.
Yaw Nsarkoh - Managing Director, Unilever
Nigeria says “Cooking habits are deeply
rooted but we know that mothers pass recipes on to their daughters, so by
educating them on the need for iron-rich ingredients we can drive behaviour
change in the next generation. By incorporating leafy greens and the Knorr
fortified stock cubes into recipes, the programme will help mothers improve the
nutritional value of everyday recipes.”
ToyinSaraki from the Well Being Foundation added “Teenage girls who need 50% more iron than
when they were younger to cope with their bodies changes and pregnant women are
particularly vulnerable to anaemia, initiatives that encourage better nutrition
such as Knorr’s can really have a positive impact on maternal health in
Nigeria, which is among the worst in Africa.”
The Green Food Steps consists of three simple
steps: toss greens into stews, stir them in, and crumble the Knorr iron fortified
cube for a more nutritious dish. As part of this, the Knorr cube will be
fortified with iron, however, the programme goes further than this, recognising
that a change in cooking habits is required for long term impact. The ambition is that these steps will
demonstrate that it is easy for people to change their cooking habits without
compromising on flavour, time, or cost. Knorr’s Green Food Steps will start by
getting 50,000 mothers and daughters to practice the new cooking habits in
Ijebu Ode and Amaigbo, with the ambition to roll out to the rest of
Nigeria.
Multiple award
winning superstarOmotolaJaladeEkeinde,
speaking on her reasons for joining the programme, said “As a mother of teenage girls, I feel particularly touched by this
issue. It’s nice to be able to raise awareness about iron deficiency anaemia
and its consequences. This is a serious issue in Nigeria for many mothers and
teenage daughters, who need more iron for development. If we can persuade
Nigerian women to make these small, yet powerful changes to their diet, there
will be a positive impact on the well-being of not just themselves, but that of
their family and ultimately Nigerian society in the long-term.”
The Knorr
social mission takes a holistic approach, not only ‘Fork’ – championing
nutritious cooking, but also improving livelihoods of the most affected groups
- ‘Fortune’ and helping smallholder farmers-
‘Farm’
Fortune
To improve the
livelihoods of women, the ‘Fortune’
element, Unilever has set up an inclusive business model “Gbemiga” with several
partners in Nigeria, such as the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN),
the Growing Business Foundation and Society for Family Health (SFH). The model
aims to improve the living standards by training the women to sell nutritious
products and reinforcing the dietary changes that can help reduce the
prevalence of iron deficiency in families across the country.
To
help smallholder farmers become part of a sustainable supply chain in Nigeria,
the ‘Farm’ element, Knorr
is partnering with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The partnership will train local farmers in sustainable agriculture to equip
them with the skills required to become part of this long-term sustainable
supply chain and improve their livelihoods. This builds on Unilever’s global
experience supporting smallholder farmers and their communities with training,
finance, nutrition and hygiene programmes.
Globally, Knorr is already set out to
sustainably source 100 per cent of the vegetables, herbs and spices that go
into its products by 2020. The brand believes this makes a big difference to
the taste of the products, the future of the planet and the wellbeing of
thousands of farmers. 96 per cent of Knorr’s top 13 vegetables and herbs were
sustainable as of January this year.
By championing nutritious cooking,
helping smallholder farmers and providing improved livelihoods for women,
together, we can make a positive impact for the future of Nigeria, farm,
fortune and fork.
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