What we do

Fortify Health has a vision for a healthier world where everyone has the micronutrients they need to survive and thrive. We aim to do so by enabling access to micronutrient-rich wheat flour to reduce and prevent iron deficiency anaemia. We currently have operations in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Hyderabad, India, and plan to expand in other states in India in the next three years. 

Fortify Health operates through three work streams:

1. Open Market Support: We support millers to cost-neutrally fortify chakki atta in the open market.
2. Government Partnership Support: We work with governments in India to mainstream wheat flour fortification through social safety net programs.
3. Evidence Generation: We conduct monitoring and evaluation of activities to inform the public about the value of food fortification.

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​To date, Fortify Health has received three GiveWell Incubation Grants totalling $9.5 million to scale up fortification and provide ongoing technical support in our focus states; our operations extend to the open market and government safety net schemes in India.

How  we  started  up

Fortify Health’s founding team received initial funding from Charity Science, with the aim to set up an iron and folic acid fortification initiative that may eventually meet GiveWell’s rigorous standards for the most effective charities.

The first phase from mid 2017 to late 2018 involved setting up operational systems, reading literature on supplementation and fortification, developing a knowledge base, talking to fortification experts, pinpointing several potential approaches, and selecting a project location. In May 2018, we received our first GiveWell Incubation Grant to work on wheat flour fortification in Maharashtra and West Bengal, India.

The second phase during 2019 was about proof of concept: we hired and grew our first team, developed key partnerships, and began implementing our fortification programs in Maharashtra and West Bengal. 

At present, as of mid-2022, we are rapidly scaling our team and programs across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Hyderabad. We are currently partnered with 28 mills in the open market, and are working closely with government safety net schemes in Mahrashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Our growth

Mentorship

Throughout the startup process, we received strong mentorship from Joey Savoie, CEO and Co-founder of Charity Science: Health, an India-based organisation working on SMS vaccine reminders. He is currently CEO of Charity Entrepreneurship, where he has developed and leads an incubation program to launch highly evidence-based and cost-effective NGOs. ​