Macro Nutrient Fortification of first-line food cereals with milk protein to produce affordable value added cereal products in Uganda/East Africa

Most efforts in cereal fortification have been aimed at micronutrients with less focus on macronutrients for some key foods. Macronutrients are essential for the body to perform various roles and functions. In response to the macronutrient deficiency challenge, VAI for the last eighteen months has been undertaking a flour-fortification study using milk protein to increase the macronutrient value of the three dominating cereal flours (millet, maize, and rice). This initiative is intended to produce affordable value-added flours for children and women (pregnant and lactating), and for the general population. There is big progress with some products already produced. This project therefore aims to improve the current efforts for cereal milk protein-fortification. The focus of the research is on improving nutritional value of the current products, exploring food-based processing technologies to scale-up production and exploring ways to make products more affordable and widely commercialized in Uganda and other East African countries.