1. Infant Cereals in Malawi
Impacts of Policy Change:
Infant Cereals in Malawi
Photo credits: Two photos at left are from Mamalita featuring foods by Mary’s Meals ( three at right are from Rachel Gilbert in Malawi (2018)
William A. Masters and Norbert Wilson, Tufts University
USAID Listening Session, Washington DC – 28 October 2019

2. Why focus on infant cereals?
Infants from 6 to 24 mo. have rapid potential growth but small stomachs, so need high density semi-solid foods
Since the 1930s, premixed fortified cereals have been used successfully to complement breastmilk and facilitate transition to family foods
Since the 1960s, modern food aid programs have used similar ready-to- cook premixes (now SuperCereal Plus)
Every country has premixed cereals sold by local food companies -- but without standards or certification brands are not trusted, unless supported by expensive advertising
Photo credits: Pablum image is from Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, at Cerelac billboard is from William Masters in Accra, SuperCereal Plus is from World Food Program, Nootri Toto is from Africa Improved Foods ( Gluco Phala is from Universal Industries (Malawi), posted at

3. Malawi’s proposed national standard could drive private sector led growth
The Malawi Bureau of Standards introduced infant cereal standards in 2017, but not yet implemented
Standards and certification are needed for small, local entrants to compete with established multinationals
To measure the potential impact of these standards, we did marketplace experiments with 359 mothers at 16 locations
We also tested actual quality for 94 samples of 8 brands, to verify nutrient contents and mycotoxin contamination
All photos by Rachel Gilbert in Malawi (July 2018). Food choice photos are from training sessions with survey staff.

4. We found high potential demand
, low actual quality
We found high potential demand
Little current use of premixed cereals (5% in 2015 DHS, 7% in our survey), but most (52%) mothers said premixed cereals were among their ideal infant foods
In auctions, mothers were willing to pay <33% of Cerelac price for local brands, which is well above the estimated cost of production by small food companies
In laboratory tests, actual products sold have wide range of actual contents
Nutrient contents are unpredictable and often low
Mycotoxins often exceed national standards
+50%
+100%
Energy
-100%
-50%
Carbohydrates
Protein
Fats
Iron
Zinc
Test results as percent of labeled values
All test results are for n=94 samples from 8 brands
Fumonisins (ppm)
Aflatoxins (ppm)
Test results relative to current and proposed standards
Results shown are from Gilbert, Rachel; Subedi, Binita; Wallingford, Jessica; Wilson, Norbert; and Masters, William A Nutrient and mycotoxin content of commercially-sold premixed infant cereals in Malawi. MaSSP Working Paper 28. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Also:

5. Implications for nutrition policy
Implementation of draft Malawi standard 90:2017 is needed now
currently-sold foods are unpredictable and often dangerous
many caregivers would buy premixed cereals if available and trustworthy
Standards for infant cereals could be regional or global, to specify
range of nutrient contents
maximum contaminant levels
labeling rules
Certification to ensure compliance could use new field test kits as well as existing laboratory methods, plus inspections
Standards would allow local millers and packagers to scale up production, distribution and use of proven food aid products like SuperCereal Plus
to substitute for plain cereals among infants >6 months of age, and
to complement continued breastfeeding and introduction of family foods
Additional sources and notes are available at

6. Thank you!
Our Feed the Future Policy Research Consortium work on infant cereals in Malawi builds on collaboration with Rachel Gilbert and the IFPRI Malawi country office, as well as Tufts students Jessica Wallingford, Binita Subedi and Ric Baily. We are especially grateful to our survey staff and respondents for our 359 marketplace interviews and 20 key informant interviews.
Ethical review was conducted by the Tufts University Institutional Review Board for Social, Behavioral, and Educational Research (study ) and the Malawi National Commission on Research in the Social Sciences and Humanities (approval number p.05/18/268).
Photo credits: Rachel Gilbert in Malawi (2018), for interview training sessions with survey staff and infant cereals on shop shelves.
Mary’s Meals food and child eating at care center is from MamaLita (
SuperCereal Plus being carried in Zimbabwe is from World Food Program; and Cerelac billboard by William Masters in Accra (2010).

7. The title slide photo is a placeholder that can be easily replaced.