“A High-Leverage Bet: $10k to Remove the Biggest Bottleneck in Wheat Flour Fortification” by Tony Senanayake

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TL;DR Fortify Health is seeking $10,000 USD in marginal funding to deploy a solution that has the ability to eliminate the most significant bottleneck for wheat flour fortification, namely: ensuring the right level of micronutrients are being added in close to real time. We would also happily accept pro-bono or in-kind support from individuals or organisations that may have the skill set to deliver this project. The full project budget is $60,000 USD.  The problem: Anaemia is one of India's (and frankly the globe's) most severe public health challenges, affecting 67% of young children and 52% of pregnant women. Across the 16 states where Fortify Health operates, an estimated ~459 million people suffer from anaemia, driving substantial health and economic losses (1.18% of GDP annually). Fortify Health is on a mission to reduce iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) in India. We do this by making it hassle-free to fortify wheat flour. Fortify Health partners with wheat flour mills to fortify flour with iron, folic acid, and Vitamin B12 to address anaemia. Last month, we reached more than 11 million people at an annualised cost of $0.22 per person and estimate we averted 2,928 years of life with anaemia. We estimate that [...] ---Outline:(00:14) TL;DR(03:29) Anaemia is a massive public health issue(04:57) Fortification is a highly cost-effective intervention(07:30) A key bottleneck: quality assurance(09:51) Anticipated impact of an AI-enabled system: Lower costs, improved quality(15:32) Impact throughout the fortification sector(17:10) Major Uncertainties(19:04) Funding Gap and Marginal Funding --- First published: November 18th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/frGyJwQ7nwJTjG44o/a-high-leverage-bet-usd10k-to-remove-the-biggest-bottleneck --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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