Nigeria continues to battle widespread micronutrient deficiencies, often called “hidden hunger,” which severely undermine the health, growth, and cognitive development of mothers and young children across the country.
Food fortification is a proven public health strategy that enriches everyday dietary staples with essential micronutrients, helping to close critical nutritional gaps across all socioeconomic groups, health experts say.
One effective approach is the fortification of bouillon cubes, an ideal vehicle for delivering key micronutrients such as iron, zinc, folic acid, vitamin B12, iodine, and vitamin A to Nigerian households.
Fortifying bouillon would strengthen national nutrition initiatives, significantly reduce preventable maternal anaemia and childhood mortality, and deliver sustainable public health benefits in both rural and urban communities.
The Condiment Micronutrient Innovation Trial (CoMIT), a rigorously designed double-blind randomised controlled trial, highlighted the need for mandatory bouillon fortification standards to address inequities in micronutrient intake. Households received either multiple-micronutrient-fortified bouillon (containing folic acid (B9), vitamin B12, iron, zinc, iodine, and vitamin A) or a control bouillon containing only iodine.
The trial identified bouillon cubes as a viable mass-delivery route for nutrients previously reliant on animal-source foods. While Nigeria faces deficits in several micronutrients, folate (vitamin B9) and vitamin B12 present a particularly urgent challenge—one for which bouillon fortification offers a uniquely powerful and proven solution.
The Federal Government has acknowledged the serious impact of micronutrient deficiencies. At the opening of the 2025 National Micronutrient Conference, Dr Iziaq Salako, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, noted that “hidden hunger” remains a major impediment to Nigeria’s development, especially among children, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups.
“Poor nutrition contributes to stunted growth, weak immunity, impaired cognitive development, and reduced productivity, thereby perpetuating a cycle of poverty and underdevelopment,” he said. He cited the 2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, which showed stunting at 40%, wasting at 8%, and underweight prevalence at 27% among children aged 6–59 months.
“These statistics underscore the urgency of addressing malnutrition as a fundamental challenge to human capital development and national prosperity,” the minister added.
Dr Osita Okonkwo, Country Director of Nutrition International Nigeria, described micronutrient deficiency as a “silent epidemic.”
“Unlike acute malnutrition, it operates invisibly, eroding cognitive development in children, undermining maternal health, and compounding cycles of poverty across generations,” he said at a nutrition conference in Lagos.
Okonkwo also highlighted that Nigeria has the second-highest child stunting rate in the world, warning that stunting is largely irreversible after a child’s second birthday.
Among the most serious consequences of folate deficiency are neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida, anencephaly, and encephalocele. These birth defects occur in the first 28 days of pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant.
The CoMIT trial, which included children aged 2–5 years, non-pregnant women of reproductive age, and lactating women, is the most rigorous clinical evaluation of bouillon fortification in a West African context to date. Conducted in a population broadly representative of sub-Saharan Africa, it provides strong evidence for mandatory policy action in Nigeria and the region.
“Bouillon is used in virtually every Nigerian household across income levels, geography, and ethnicity. No other single food vehicle achieves comparable penetration,” the report stated. It also noted six key advantages that make bouillon the optimal delivery mechanism for folate and B12: universal household reach, equity, no behaviour change required, heat stability of the nutrients during cooking, no impact on taste, and population-scale impact at minimal cost.
Nigeria ranks second globally in hidden hunger indices among the most populous nations, with more than 40% of women of reproductive age having inadequate folate intake. Population-level fortification can reduce the risk of neural tube defects by up to 70% without requiring individual action. Since vitamin B12 and folate are metabolically interdependent, addressing both together is essential.
