Answer: The United States government and the United Republic of Tanzania recently announced a new food security activity called Tuhifadhi Chakula (“Let’s Save Food”), a five-year, $24 million initiative that aims to reduce food loss and waste in Tanzania. The project will be implemented by the Tanzania Horticulture Association in partnership with the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) Centre. The project aims to increase food security, improve livelihoods, increase employment, and generate export opportunities for Tanzania, especially among women and youth.
The SAGCOT initiative is a public-private partnership that aims to catalyse large volumes of responsible private investment to deliver rapid and sustainable agricultural growth in Tanzania. The initiative seeks to tackle food security, poverty reduction, and reduced vulnerability to climate change. The goat aid project is a bottom-up aid project that has been used to improve food security for villagers in Babati district in north-eastern Tanzania. The project has provided Toggenburg goats for villagers, which provide up to 3 liters of milk daily that can be turned into other dairy products and sold, benefiting the farmer financially and improving access to safe, affordable, nutritious food supplies locally.
The wheat project helped provide 60% of all of Tanzania’s wheat and created work for 400 people. However, the scheme displaced the Barabaig tribe from their land, which threatened their existence and worsened their food security. The wheat project provided only a small number of jobs, and the tractors were too expensive to maintain. Many Tanzanians could not afford bread made from wheat; therefore, food security wasn’t improved.
In terms of the three pillars of food security (accessibility, availability, and utilization), these projects have different impacts. For instance, the SAGCOT initiative aims to increase agricultural productivity and create employment opportunities for Tanzanians. The goat aid project has improved access to safe, affordable, nutritious food supplies locally. The wheat project helped provide wheat for Tanzanians but did not improve accessibility or affordability of wheat-based products.
In conclusion, these projects have different impacts on the three pillars of food security. While some projects aim to improve accessibility or availability of food supplies, others aim to increase agricultural productivity or create employment opportunities.