Dar scores high marks on nutrition

                                                    

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is in seventh position among 45 countries that have exhibited political commitment to tackling hunger and malnutrition.

According to the Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index 2013 that was released on Wednesday, Tanzania is the only East African country in the top 10. It rose from position eight in the last index.

One of the strong points that saw the country out-perform its neighbours, according to the index, was the fact that it had a separate budget line for nutrition and improving public oversight and accountability for spending.

The government also promoted complementary feeding practices and 97 per cent of children aged between six and 59 months received two high doses of Vitamin A supplements. Tanzania makes substantial investments in health, with 11.1 per cent of public spending going to supporting access to essential services for children and women…the country also has institutional, legal and market frameworks that allow the majority of poor rural households--including women, indigenous populations and other vulnerable groups--to gain access to secure land tenure, according to the index, which is a project of the Institute of Development Studies with funding from Irish Aid, UKAid and CIFF.

Nonetheless, the index also exposes areas that the country needs to improve on, including Vision 2025’s long term strategy which does not recognise nutrition as a key area of development.  “This is unlike its medium term MKUKUTA 11,” says the report.

The Citizen