I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions by Prof. Samuel S. Mushi to chapters two, five and eight. I would also like to acknowledge the useful comments on the initial draft received from Dr. Stuart Gillespie, and by the external reviewers Dr. Simon Maxwell, Ms Barbara Huddleston and Dr. Hans Bantje. Useful comments were also received from Dr. Benedicta Mduma and Ms Valerie Leach. The review greatly benefitted from enriching discussions with Dr. Urban Jonsson, Dr. Bjorn Ljungqvist, Ms Laetitia van den Assum, Dr. Ted Greiner, Prof. Michael Latham, Prof. Marjorie Mbilinyi and Mr. Dan Toole. However, I am responsible for any deficiencies that might be noted. A substantial part of the illustrations have been taken from “Women and Children in Tanzania” (URT and UNICEF, 1990) and other reports as indicated under source. I would like to thank UNICEF Dar es Salaam for printing this review. I would like to particularly thank the ACC/SCN for affording me the opportunity to critically review the nutrition situation in Tanzania as part of its series of country-wide reviews and think of options for the 1990s. This opportunity led to an indepth review of TFNC activities and the development of perspectives and strategies for the 1990s. A substantial outcome of the review was also used in the preparation of the country paper for the International Conference on Nutrition and in the development of the National Plan of Action (NPA) for Tanzania to achieve the World Summit for Children goals. It is an important contribution by the ACC/SCN to nutrition related intervention in Tanzania in the 1990s.
This Tanzanian case study provides an example of how a poor country can combat malnutrition through political commitment and choice. It gives hope that while socio-economic development is important to achieve the nutrition goals of the 1990’s, much progress can be made without waiting for the trickle down effects of economic development. Thus nutrition improvement was not only seen as important for development, but as a pre-requisite for development through the incorporation of social issues (moral and ethical) in both the analysis and interventions. Specifically, the factors responsible for success in the Tanzanian case are related to the simultaneous inter-sectoral actions taken on the immediate causes (service delivery); underlying causes (capacity building); and basic causes (empowerment) with a clear conceptual framework and community-focused process approach within an enabling political environment. This kind of analysis was able to capture a more comprehensive set of policies and programmes some of which would traditionally not be perceived as having a nutritional effect. While countries differ in the details of their socio-economic context, we believe that a number of the lessons from the Tanzanian situation can be adapted by other countries with a similar socio-economic profile. More importantly, to Tanzania they provide the basis for more focused and accelerated action in achieving the nutrition goals of the 1990’s.
It is also my hope that this review will challenge the widely held pessimistic view by many people in the west whose media coverage on Africa concentrates only on “bad news” about drought and starvation; wars and refugees; economic crisis; and bad taboos and practices. For most of the western media “good news” about Africa is “not good news” for dissemination. Stories of successes and optimism, like the nutrition-relevant actions in Tanzania and other countries, need also to be documented and capture the headlines of the western media. True the situation in Africa in many aspects is bad and the challenges ahead are enormous; but there is also cause for optimism. It is my hope that the changing economic and political situation in Tanzania and Africa at large characterized by stabilization and structural adjustment programmes, increased democratization and decentralization will provide further opportunities for development and in particular the elimination of hunger and malnutrition. The National Plans of Actions (NPAs) of the World Summit for Children, the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) and the Better Health for Africa (BHA), should strongly draw on the experiences gained from the successful nutrition programmes. The XV IUNS Congress should provide the post-ICN forum for the advocacy for the incorporation of such experiences in the country plans. An important lesson is the need to integrate the WSC, ICN and BHA initiatives into a single National Plan of Action (NPA) rather than separate competing NPAs.
This publication is the first in Africa to be jointly published by ACC/SCN and an African institution, the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC). The joint publication is part of ACC/SCN’s efforts in promoting coordinated nutrition activities through publications aimed at reducing malnutrition in developing countries. The publication also marks the 20th Anniversary of TFNC (1973-1993). The idea of a joint publication which was advanced by Stuart Gillespie of the ACC/SCN also flags off TFNC’s efforts to establish a Monograph Series aimed at critically analyzing various nutrition-relevant actions in Tanzania. Thus it is also published as TFNC Monograph Series No. 1. As Dr. Abraham Horwitz, the chairman of ACC/SCN points out in his foreword, it is hoped that this publication will provide guidance and strengthen future actions for reducing malnutrition in Tanzania and in other developing countries where the lessons learnt could be applied.
Festo P. Kavishe
Managing Director, Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre.
