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Togo's Multivitamin Will Supplement Fu-Fu PSI has been marketing multivitamins since 1999 and already has multivitamin products on the market in Bolivia, Paraguay, Pakistan, Venezuela and Zambia. Like people in most developing countries, the Togolese emphasize "fullness" after a meal as the sign that you have "eaten well." In West African countries, the main dish is fu-fu or boiled cassava that is pounded with a large, wooden mortar and pestle. The finished product, a spongy, mashed potato-like concoction, is served in large balls covered in spicy, oily meat sauce. Though filling, this typical Togolese plate is missing most vitamins found in a diet high in fresh vegetables and fruits. Variety of diet is replaced by the need to quiet hunger pangs. Also, as custom here dictates, the woman of the family (although she prepares the meals) must wait until all members of the family are served first before she can eat. She eats whatever is left over after her husband and family have eaten. It is estimated that 11% of Togolese women suffer from chronic malnutrition. Over 60% of pregnant women in Togo are estimated to be anemic. The precarious health status of mothers before and during pregnancy directly transfers to their children—79% of children 6-36 months old are anemic and one in four Togolese children suffers from chronic malnutrition. In light of this situation, PSI began planning in December 2000 to raise nutritional levels in Togo. Together with the Togolese Ministry of Health and UNICEF, PSI started looking into ways to incorporate a nutritional supplement into existing public health strategies. It was decided to develop a multivitamin designed for women of childbearing age, as this target group could raise health standards for all members of the family. Though multivitamins were available for purchase in some cities in Togo, they were priced beyond the reach of all but the very wealthy. So the new product had to be priced at a level that a normal Togolese family could afford. Vitalite was launched in March 2002 in a bright yellow box, bursting with feminine energy and vitality. PSI/Togo is proud to be the force behind the first socially marketed multivitamin in West Africa. So, now in Togo, though it will be the woman who will carry the water
on her head from the well for dinner... Though it will be the woman
who will peel off the brown exterior of the tubers, cut and boil them
until they are soft... Though it will be the woman who will sit by the
red-hot flames of her charcoal stove and prepare the sauce… Though it
will be the woman who will pound the fu-fu with her daughters…
Though it will be the woman who waits until it is her turn "to
feel full…" Even through all this work and waiting, her body will
be strong because she now has a choice to supplement her diet with the
vitamins and minerals her body needs to take good care of her family.
Vitalite can now be a part of every Togolese woman's life!
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