Development of a regional food composition table for West Africa

Knowledge of the nutrient content of foods is fundamental for virtually all nutrition-related projects, programmes and policies. Low quality compositional data may lead to inappropriate policies and funds spent unnecessarily. Existing food composition tables (FCT) for most West African countries date back to 1960 and 1970 and contain in general few foods and components without documentation. As a result of the recommendations by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Nutrition forum and other high level meetings, FAO/INFOODS, WAHO/ECOWAS and Bioversity International developed the West African FCT. It contains 472 foods and 28 components. Emphasis was given to include data on food biodiversity by incorporating cultivars/varieties and underutilized foods. The West African FCT enables users to address diet-related health problems, strengthen local development, enhance trade and promote biodiversity. In addition it contributes to poverty alleviation in both rural and urban areas. The FCT needs to be updated regularly and it is the most recent example of INFOODS for regional food composition activities.     

Capacity building in food composition for Africa

Capacity building in food and nutrition involves more than formal training and individual development. Such a process is long term and continues, requiring lasting mentorship, coaching and leadership development, including individual commitment to continued self-development. It expands to include the development of knowledge and skills of an individual within his/her organizational or institutional arrangements, and requires buy-in and support from his/her institution or organization, as well as other funding bodies involved in agriculture and health. It needs to be supported by government and be part of the regional and international agenda for agriculture and health.     

FAO/INFOODS food composition database for biodiversity

Nutrient content can vary as much between different varieties of the same foods, as they do among different foods. Knowledge of varietal differences can therefore mean the difference between nutrient adequacy and inadequacy. The FAO/INFOODS food composition database for biodiversity has been developed with analytical data for foods described at the level of variety, cultivar and breed, and for underutilized and wild foods. It contains 6411 food entries and values for 451 components together with the bibliographic references and other information. The database is in MS Excel format and can be downloaded free-of-charge from the INFOODS website http://www.fao.org/infoods/biodiversity/index_en.stm. It is intended to annually publish new editions, making these data available for national and regional food composition databases. This database could be used to raise the awareness, promote and investigate food biodiversity and help to better estimate nutrient intakes.