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.