Anemia is still a main public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Anemic women have an increased maternal and perinatal mortality and anemic adults have diminished work capacity. In sub-Saharan Africa, the etiology of anemia is multifactoral; the major causes are low dietary bioavailability and chronic parasitic infections such as malaria. These causes are likely to interact because infection and infection-associated inflammation may impair the utilization and absorption of iron. Therefore, the control of parasite infections may be important to improve iron bioavailability from foods.