Without fortified foods, thousands of Tanzanian children are dying

Over 43,000 children in Tanzania will die this year as a result of malnutrition, a new reoprt notes.
The report on the state of nutrition in Tanzania recently released by the advocacy organisation, Uwazi-Twaweza in association with Policy Forum and Sikika says about 6,700 young lives and Tsh153 billion ($110.9 million) per year in economic gains would be saved if nutrition authorities were more upbeat about fortifying foods.

Tanzania is the only country in East Africa that does not fortify flour and cooking oil, despite the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) staff engaging in ample research to demonstrate the benefits of micronutrient supplementation.

Kenya, Uganda and Malawi fortify cooking oil, maize and wheat flour.
TFNC has also participated in a series of meetings and conferences on food fortification since 2002 but are yet to implement the programme in Tanzania.

The lack of interest in food fortification by the nutrition authorities surfaced at a recent press meeting by the World Bank in Tanzania.

World Bank country director John Murray McIntire said his institution would withdraw $2 million in grants earmarked for fortification unless a standard was set by June 2010.

Pointing at the list of almost 10 years of meetings on fortification he wondered whether the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) felt any urgency to resolve the matter.

TBS chief standards officer Faustine Masaga said there were “technical difficulties and that another meeting scheduled for April in Nairobi was needed before advances could be made.”

Harriet Torlesse, a nutrition manager at Unicef said many children in Tanzania rarely die because of lack of food.
“Children die because their diets lack basic nutrients needed to build strong immune systems and to stay healthy. When malnourished children get diarrhoea, malaria or pneumonia, they are more likely to succumb to it,” said Ms Torlesse.

Meanwhile, the governemnt is losing billions of shillings in revenue as a result of reduced productivity owing to poor diets.

The National Food Fortification Alliance estimates that the country loses a whopping Tsh 227 billion ($164.6 million) annually due to reduced productivity.

Hans Hoogeveen, the manager at Uwazi-Twaweza said: “Inadequate energy intake and anaemia limit the ability of farmers and other labourers to exert much effort leading to smaller harvests and lower production.”
Mr Hoogeveen further noted that well nourished citizens would help to avoid waste in public spending.
He said scarce resources in the health sector are often spent on treating diseases which could be avoided through adequate nutrition.

He added that the government’s spending on primary and secondary education could yield a much higher return if children had benefited from healthy nutrition during the critical first two years of their lives to enable healthy brain development.