Fortification of staple foods, such as grains and salt, with critical vitamins and minerals is one of the most scalable and cost-effective tools available to combat the scourge of all-too-common micronutrient deficiencies that affect billions of people each year. While many countries have mandated fortification with key micronutrients, other are still considering legislation or exploring additional fortification avenues – decisions which require access to data which is often collated by disparate organizations, of suspect quality, or simply not discoverable.  

This challenge was taken up by several central players in the nutrition and food fortification space. A core group of technical experts conceptualized the idea of developing a public database for high-quality data on food fortification, then calling upon Camber to manage the strategic alignment around shared goals, guide development of the database, and form a longer-term sustainability plan for the platform. Camber supported the early steps of this process, culminating in a formal announcement of the forthcoming database at a large global nutrition conference. Our team then worked to oversee the development of a prototype web-based platform, interfacing closely with an expert development team to co-design the web platform and test the preliminary database tool. 

Camber’s involvement culminated in the development of a high-level communication approach and corresponding materials to accompany the completed data platform. The web-based platform was formally launched to the public by the group of partners and is actively managed and updated by that group. It remains the only consolidated source of data on food fortification legislation status, fortification levels, and other critical information for country governments, donors, industry, and other key stakeholders.