Iodine and vitamin A are vital for child development. Frederika
Whitehead reviews two distinct approaches to tackling
micronutrient deficiencies Salt senegal As one of two African
countries that export salt, ensuring that Senegal's salt is
iodised will have benefits for the entire continent. Photograph:
The Micronutrient Iniatitive  Dibocor strides across the salt
plain on the outskirts of his village in Farabougou in the
Kaolack region of Senegal wearing the contented smile of a man
who has done his bit for his community. Dibocor is a proud user
of a portable salt iodising machine, and he now knows that the
few thousand bags of salt that he makes each year on his salt
pan are properly iodised.  Back in 1985 the world's health
authorities agreed a programme of salt iodisation to help the
billions of people suffering from iodine deficiency, the main
cause of preventable brain damage and reduced IQ in children
worldwide. The major salt factories were updated quite quickly
but the hardest part of their programme