The Citizen, a Tanzanian newspaper publishes a series of articles for World Food Safety Day

27/06/2022

In Tanzania, The Citizen newspaper published a series of articles about food safety and World Food Safety Day to raise awareness about food safety issues and about some of the initiatives being implemented across the country aimed at addressing those issues. Representatives of FAO and WHO, as well as other experts and NGOs contributed articles

Dr Nyabenyi Tipo, FAO Country Representative in Tanzania, , describes the global impact of foodborne illness and the aims of World Food Safety Day. “Fortunately, preventive measurements, , are very simple and can be applied by anyone, anywhere, at every stage of the supply chain by following simple food handling and hygiene rules,” she writes. She describes two major programmes that are sponsored in Tanzania. The first, “Agri Connect” is an EU-funded national nutrition campaign being implemented in Zanzibar and the mainland, under the slogan “Lishe Bora ni Mtaji “(Good Nutrition is an Investment). The second program she mentions is aimed at street vendors funded jointly by the Government of Norway and FAO in collaboration with the Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO).

According to Dr Zabulon Yoti, Acting WHO Country Representativeto Tanzaniasays in his article that “there has been good progress in the reduction of malnutrition in the country, particularly among children. The prevalence of acute malnutrition has decreased from 4 percent in 2005 to 3.5 percent in 2018.” However, he says that foodborne diseases continue to be a problem in Tanzania. He describes some of the country’s foodborne disease outbreaks, which, he says “show the need for developing effective strategies to address root causes, including increasing food safety awareness, particularly at the community level.”

Dr Yoti believes that increased urbanization, climate change, and consumer demands for a diverse range of foods from around the world are all putting pressure on food safety systems. He highlights WHO’s efforts to strengthen national food control systems, as well as collaborations with FAO in Codex, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and the United Nation’s Environment Programme (UNEP) to help promote and improve food safety.

A group of experts, including Professor Robinson H. Mdegela from the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health at Sokoine University of Agriculture, Elibariki Mwakapeje, a National Consultant for Antimicrobial Resistance at the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases and Food Security, and Stella Kimambo, a Food Security and Nutrition Specialist at FAO Tanzania, wrote an article titled "The safer the manure, water, and food, the better the health."

They examine the importance of fruits and vegetables in a healthy and nutritious diet but identify “foodborne outbreaks linked to the consumption of leafy greens, tomatoes, sprouts and green peppers” as an increasing problem. They blame low-quality water and manure for a variety of bacterial contaminations – all of which have been shown in research to be “multi-drug resistant (MDR) to at least three antimicrobials” and advocate for the adoption of food safety behaviours and a One Health approach in Tanzania’s food systems.

Mushobozi Baitani, FAO Plant Protection and Integrated Pest Management Specialist,examines an EU and FAO plant pest surveillance, integrated management and data collection programme in his article. Upendo Mwalongo, the National Nutrition Champion describes in her article the organic ecommerce food business she established during the pandemic. Finally, Ine Tollenaers, Communication Officer at Rikolto in East Africa, describes how Rikolto, Agrónomos sin Fronteras, Inades-Formation Tanzania, MIICO Consortium, and the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) in Mbeya are working together to ensure safe food practices in the project areas being implemented under the project titled “Building Inclusive and Competitive Horticulture Businesses in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands.”