Togo launches a major study to put an end to malnutrition

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Extract from the article: The Ministries of Health and Agriculture, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), officially launched the « Fill Nutrient Gap » (FNG) study in Lomé on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. The aim of the study is to decipher the root causes of malnut...

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The Ministries of Health and Agriculture, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), officially launched the « Fill Nutrient Gap » (FNG) study in Lomé on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. The aim of the study is to decipher the root causes of malnutrition and develop concrete solutions to sustainably improve the health and well-being of Togo's populations, particularly the most vulnerable.

                                                                                                                                                                                Photo of the head table  

In Togo, 70% of children aged 6-59 months and 48% of women of childbearing age suffer from iron-deficiency anemia. 35% of pre-school children also suffer from vitamin A deficiency.  Sustainable Development Goal 2 aims to eradicate all forms of malnutrition by 2030, and this study is a prerequisite for achieving this goal. According to Dr. Bouraima Mouawiyatou, Head of the Nutrition Division at the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, and coordinator of the survey, « it is based on the observation that many Togolese, particularly modest households, suffer from significant deficiencies in vitamins, minerals and proteins, elements essential to good health. » This situation has serious repercussions on the development of children and the health of pregnant women, impacting the country's growth potential.  

Objectives : understand and act

The « Fill Nutrient Gap » study has set itself precise and ambitious objectives. It will not only identify missing nutrients, but also analyze the socio-cultural and economic factors that hinder adequate access to healthy food. « This study will identify obstacles and, by proposing solutions to these obstacles, help the population to improve their nutritional situation. An important part of the analysis will focus on the cost of a nutritious food basket and its correlation with household income, in order to determine the proportion of Togolese families who can actually afford a healthy and diversified diet, » explains Amouzou Kou'santa, Professor of Biochemistry and Nutrition at Togo's public universities and President of the Togolese Nutrition Society.

The results of the study will be used to inform and guide national policies and programs, ensuring better coordination of nutrition-related actions.

                                                                   Partial image of the participants in the various survey presentations

The field survey: a rigorous methodology

The FNG survey process is already well underway. A technical committee has been set up by the Ministries of Health and Economy to validate the tools required for data collection. Starting on Thursday, July 10, interviewers will be trained for 3 days, and will go directly to local markets from July 14 to 24. « Our expectation is that, starting on Thursday, the two ministries will train the surveyors who will go out into the markets to collect information. And that the rest of the process goes smoothly, the training, the knowledge of the data go well, so that at the end, the results that will come from this survey reflect the reality at the level of Togo. In the whole country, so that we have real information, » insisted Dr. Bouraima Mouawiyatou.

This direct, collaborative approach will provide reliable, representative data on the nutritional situation nationwide, laying the foundations for effective, sustainable interventions to reduce micronutrient deficiencies.

Esther KOLANI