Malnutrition is a critical development challenge in Tanzania, but a joint project MASAVA (Mafuta Asili ya Alizeti Yenye Vitamin A) has helped to address that by making vitamin-fortified cooking oil more accessible.
“Solving persistence health challenge requires ingenuity and energy. Tanzania has committed itself to the support, exploration and adaption emerging technologies that combat malnutrition and increase food security. The Mafuta Asili ya Alizeti Yenye Vitamin A (MASAVA) fits into this national agenda by examining a persistent problem with an eye towards innovation and scale,” the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ministry of Health, Dr. Ulisubisya Mpoki said during the project closure in Dar es Salaam.
He said that the MASAVA project has demonstrated that it is possible to apply a local solution to a local problem.
In many rural areas diets luck basic micro nutrients needed to build strong immune systems to stay healthy and fight disease. This is mostly the case among the women and children.
In the past decade alone, an estimated 600,000 children under the age of five have died as a result of inadequate nutrition in Tanzania. Vitamin A deficiency is a particular challenge; a third of children under five and 37 percent of women aged 15-49 are suffering from Vitamin A deficiency.
Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), the University of Waterloo, and Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) are concluding a three-year project aimed at reducing Vitamin A nutritional deficiencies using fortified oil.
The initiative, funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), worked with selected local small and medium enterprises in Tanzania to increase production of sunflower oil fortified with Vitamin A.
The project also studied the nutritional impact of fortified oils as well as the economic impact of the initiative, to measure the impact of the private sector in solving local health issues.
Efforts focused on working with children and lactating mothers in two regions heavily affected by Vitamin A deficiency: Manyara and Shinyanga. Moreover, to promote the new fortified oil, an innovative electronic voucher developed in Canada delivered targeted subsidies via cell phone to lactating mothers and others in Vitamin A deficient communities, while jump-starting demand for the fortified oil.
The project contributed to increased food security by using a locally produced crop, processed by local businesses, to solve a local challenge. Expert researchers at Sokoine University of Agriculture measured nutritional impact, and the University of Waterloo measured economic impact and sustainability.
The campaign has mobilized an impressive network of stakeholders to collectively improve nutrition; public and private sector partners; service delivery and demand creation partners; local, district, regional and national government authorities, NGOs, and civil society have all stepped up to participate in this exciting initiative.
The project supports the Tanzanian government’s national food fortification campaign, which was launched in 2013 to increase access to fortified foods. This benefitted over 400,000 individuals, who gained access to the fortified oil, and encouraged local economic growth and business development by working with small and medium enterprises and over 500 retail shops.
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