STATUS of FOOD and NUTRITION SECURITY IN TANZANIA

Status of Food and Nutrition Security

Situation in Tanzania

Joyce Kinabo and Abel KaayaSokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania

Informing Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Practice Workshop

Dakar, 22nd September 2015

Outline• Introduction• Food Security in Tanzania• Food availability vs Food nutrition in Tz• Food nutrition status in Tanzania• Role of Universities in improving national FSN• Conclusions

Introduction• Agriculture is the most important sector in

Tanzania’s economy, contributing on average 25% of GDP and employing about 75% of the workforce, a majority of whom are women.

• The population in Tanzania was at 47.4 million in 2014, an increase from 10.1 million in 1960 (an increase of 371% during the last 50 years).

• Smallholder farmers dominate, with average farm sizes 0.9 – 3 ha

• Livestock production provides risk mitigation, food security and improved nutrition through consumption of meat, milk and eggs but consumption of livestock and livestock products remains low

Food availability• At national level

Tanzania achieves self- sufficiency in production of major food crops. However, there are areas of persistent food shortage as well as areas of regular food surplus.

Food availability vs Food nutritionRegions with high SSR also have high stunting rates (correlation coefficient of 0.5)

Food availability is clearly not a sufficient condition for good nutrition, health and wellbeing, hence the need for addressing both food availability and nutrition together

Source: TDHS, 2011 (stunting) and MAFC 2010 based on 2009/10 Self-Sufficiency Ratio (SSR) data

Adequate care & nutrition security• To ensure nutrition security, adequate care is

crucial • Adequate care is provision of time, attention and

support in the household and community to meet the physical, mental and social needs of growing children and other family members (FAO 1997).

• Care comprises a number of components such as promotion of health, provision of clean water, sufficient knowledge and time, cultural beliefs and practices and food preparation.

• Care also tends to influence the way women implement their multi-tasks at household and community level.

Food Nutrition Status in Tanzania

• Nutritional status of pre-school children (below five years of age) is a proxy indicator for food security, economic and nutritional status of the population of a country. It is also a reflection of maternal care and nutritional status.

• The incidence of LBW is an indication of poor nutritional status of women during pregnancy, which could be due to low dietary intake and infections.

Nutrition situation in Tz

Prevalence of low birth weight in Tanzania 2000-2014UNICEF reports

Undernutrition• Stunting - Proxy of chronic food insecurity was 42%, and 17% severe stunting (in 2010).

• Source: NBS and ORC Macro, 1996, 1999, 2004/05, 2011

Underweight and Wasting• Proxy indicator of

acute food insecurity

• Underweight was 16% (severe 4%)

• 5% wasting (severe1%)

Micronutrient deficiencies• Vitamin A deficiency affects 33% of

children (6–59 months) and 37% of women (15–49 years)

• Anaemia affects 59% of children (6 – 59 months) and 41% of women of reproductive age

• Indicative of low availability and consumption of micronutrient rich foods

Factors contributing to undernutrition

• Age, sex, residence (rural vs urban), wealth status and level of education influenced stunting, underweight and wasting.

• Children of18–23 months old, male children in rural residence and lowest wealth quantile are likely to be stunted, underweight and wasted

Role of Universities in improving national FSN

Prioritizing FSN issues in Universities’ Research agenda and Research policy

Development of Training programmes (curricula) addressing FSN issues e.g. BSc (Human nutrition), BSc (Family Consumer Studies), MSc (Food Security), etc

Mainstreaming FSN topics in the existing curricula Carry out agricultural research and develop technologies

and innovations addressing the whole food value chain

Training & Research programmes at Universities

Sustainable Land Management and

Reliable Water Control

Programmes: Integrated Soil Fertility Management, Crop science, Plant breeding, Horticulture, Soil and soil water

management, Climate change (adaptation and mitigation), irrigation, agricultural engineering, etc

Market Access Programmes: Agribusiness & Entrepreneurship, Consumer studies, International trade, Legislation, etc

Sufficient Food Supply and Reducing

Hunger

Programmes: Crop production, animal production, food science, post harvest & bio-process engineering, human nutrition,

consumer studies, etc

Research Programmes: conduct research, provide education and extension servises, outreach programmes addressing FSN

Agricultural Research

Concluding remark …• On average, the food availability in Tanzania has been just

adequate, hence the need to produce more for surplus and export. Also, the Govt. has to put in place policy and transport infrastructure that will ensure smooth movement of food from surplus to deficient areas

• Despite the availability, there is nutrition insecurity throughout the country – varied levels in different regions. Hence the need for intervention strategies to improve nutrition status

• One of the important roles of the Universities in contributing to the achievement of national food and nutrition security is through integrated agricultural research and building human capacity that is capable of managing the whole food chain sustainably and profitably with emphasis to SHFs (mainly women)

Thank you for your attention!