Malnutrition remains a significant issue, with high rates of stunting, wasting, and underweight children under five years old. Stunting affects about 32% of children under five, indicating chronic malnutrition. The causes of malnutrition in Tanzania are multifaceted and include poverty, inadequate access to nutritious food, limited breastfeeding practices, poor sanitation and hygiene, and limited access to healthcare services.
Deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, iron, and iodine are prevalent among young children, contributing to impaired growth and development. Access to healthcare services, including nutrition education, antenatal care, and postnatal care, varies significantly between urban and rural areas. In remote regions, access to nutritious food and healthcare services may be limited.
In partnership with the Doctors with Africa-CUAMM, YAWE implemented the “Guaranteeing the Future Project in Bariadi District” to improve the nutritional status of children under 5 years and women of reproductive age by delivering high-impact nutrition services and improve knowledge on caring practices for infants, young children and women of childbearing age as a necessary component of sustainable efforts to reduce malnutrition.
Specifically, the project sought to achieve three objectives;
- To ensure access to quality treatment for acute malnutrition for children under 5 years old of the district of Bariadi.
- To strengthen local capacities to identify children with acute malnutrition early and, at the same time, to prevent the onset of the same.
- To strengthen in the community belonging to the reference area of the target structures, the importance of the adoption of good hygienic-sanitary practices, early child development, an adequate and diversified diet, in particular for pregnant women and children, and the promotion of correct agricultural practices