Fortified foufou to prevent malnutrition among school children in Congo
Good health and nutrition allow children to learn and perform better at school, broadening their educational opportunities. WFP’s school feeding programme provides not just calories but also the nutrients needed to grow bodies and brains — while ensuring that served meals are adapted to local taste and boost local production, supporting local farmers.
In the Republic of Congo, the World Food Programme (WFP) is working on the fortification of foufou, a favorite staple food made from cassava flour — to reduce the incidence of nutrient deficiencies and fight child malnutrition. In January 2021, a vitamins and nutrients enriched version of this dish was tested by hundreds of Congolese school children, for a positive step towards introducing fortified cassava foufou into WFP food baskets.
What is foufou and why should it be fortified?
Foufou is a flour made of cassava tubers and a cassava dough prepared by mixing cassava flour with boiling water to form a compact mass. It is used as a side dish in everyday Congolese cuisine. As cassava is the most cultivated crop in the Republic of Congo, foufou is a preferred staple food in the country. In the city, in rural areas or at every street vendor: foufou can be found everywhere.
While this dish is an excellent source of energy (it contains plenty of carbohydrates), it is poor in protein and micronutrients. People depending on diets containing mostly cassava are likely to experience protein and micronutrient deficiencies (such as anaemia), leaving them susceptible to infectious diseases, impaired physical and mental development, reduced labour productivity and increased risk of premature death.
Fortification process and tasting within schools
In January 2021, WFP welcomed two experts from the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), a world-leading research, development and education organisation at the University of Greenwich (UK) whose work focuses on food, agriculture, environment and sustainable livelihoods. This initiative is part of the cassava value chain initiative implemented since 2019 by WFP in Congo and aimed to assist the local team on improving the nutritional value of foufou.
Together with the experts, WFP prepared samples of fortified foufou, adding a premix of vitamins and nutrients to the water before mixing it with cassava flour.
WFP conducted food tasting in two schools in Brazzaville for 757 children aged 6–13 years. Children were asked to score the taste, colour, aroma and texture of the fortified dish and compare it to two other types of foufou.
The results of this “blind test” — the young participants did not know what type of foufou they were tasting — were encouragingly positive. School children enjoyed the fortified traditional foufou as much as the Congolese foufou bought on the local market and the one made from fortified Nigerian industrial cassava flour.
Prospects are bright for introducing fortified cassava foufou into WFP food baskets!
Towards a fortified cassava production chain
As part of its efforts to prevent malnutrition, support smallholder producers and boost the local economy, the World Food Programme has been working on ways to develop and strengthen the value chain of cassava in the Republic of Congo for several years now.
WFP aims to establish a sustainable, market-oriented industrial cassava value chain, linked to national agricultural production and with improved nutritional outcomes, since 2020, through a joint project implemented with fellow UN agencies FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization) and IFAD (the International Fund for Agricultural Development).
Funded through the China-IFAD South-South and Triangular Cooperation Facility, this initiative also intends to ensure that specific industrial requirements are developed and shared publicly with local companies.
Ultimately, these entities should be able to produce fortified cassava flour at a large scale for Congolese consumers and WFP’s programmes such as school meals, making foufou fortification one of WFP’s key actions to reduce the incidence of nutrient deficiencies and combat hidden malnutrition.
Every year, WFP is providing daily school meals for around 100,000 Congolese children.
WFP’s school feeding programme in the Republic of Congo is supported by generous funding from Canada, Japan and the Republic of Congo, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) McGovern-Dole Food for Education Programme, Global Partnership for Education, Mastercard. It is implemented in the most food-insecure regions of the country: Bouenza, Lékoumou, Pool, Plateaux, Cuvette, Sangha and Likouala. This programme has a special focus on indigenous children living in rural areas and target girls and boys equally.
Learn more about WFP’s work in Congo and school feeding.
