Hello,
One of the main traits of investigative journalism is the ability to connect haphazard dots and see a scandal emerge.
When my colleague Shreegireesh Jalihal was flipping through heaps of government files on rice fortification in India, he began to see names of certain global nonprofits pop up with regularity. The official conversation revolved around them. He found it unusual to see the nonprofits commanding heft in policy decisions regarding fortification.
Shreegireesh began following the paper trail as old as 5 years, which was a slow-burn, analogue journalism in the digital era. What he discovered is that at least six international organisations found their way into an Indian government agency to influence decisions and open the Indian market to global suppliers and manufacturers of premixes that are used to produce the artificial fortified rice kernel – a Rs 1,800 crore business opportunity created solely by the Union government’s mandate.
The Collective’s investigation found that all the six organisations are linked to one company based in The Netherlands. Royal DSM NV, one of the world's most prominent producers of fortified rice premix.
In this concluding part of the series, we reveal that these organisations influenced government policy on supplying rice and other food items fortified with micronutrients across the country, collected evidence to buttress the case for fortification, ran pilot projects with governments, worked to set standards and charted countrywide rollout. The private multinational, Royal DSM became the winner. It got a massive boost to its business in India.
If you missed Part 1 of The Collective’s investigative series: It revealed the alacrity with which the Union government pushed rice fortification in India despite internal red flags warning that it is premature and had possible health risks. Part 2 scooped a confidential NITI Aayog report that showed the government bungled the pilot projects aimed at collecting crucial scientific evidence on the impact of fortified rice on human health.