Siha district facing higher rate of stunting despite of plenty foods

Siha, one of the East African nation's "bread basket" regions known for its delicious avocados, is afflicted by acute malnutrition, with nearly half of the children there under the age of five suffering from stunted development, officials said.

Speaking with this paper during an official handover of food items donated by the Educational Empowerment Organization (EdPowerment-Tanzania) for the schooling pupils at Namayani Primary school located at Ndinyika village, Karansi ward and the most suffered families, Dr Jonas Kira, a District Nutritional Officer in Siha, said poor nutrition in the region has increased children's vulnerability to health problems, including poor brain development, low immunity, and increased susceptibility to infection.

"Most parents don't give their children good food. They mostly feed them porridge and maize meal, even though there are plenty of fruits and vegetables around," he explained.

Robbed of vital nutrients, the hapless children grow up stunted and sickly, Dr Kira said, adding that some develop mental conditions, unable to grasp teachers' lessons in class.

“Malnutrition, which mostly affects women of reproductive age and underage children, is triggered by insufficient nutrients in foods. The metabolic disorder is responsible for the deaths of 5 million children globally every year,” Dr Kira further explained adding that,

“While Tanzania's economy is steadily growing, the majority of its people are still trapped in the quagmire of poverty, and malnutrition is still rife. Over 34 percent of children under the age of five are stunted, and nearly 45 percent of women of reproductive age are anemic, according to government statistics,”.

The head teacher of Namayani primary school Joseph Massawe thanked EdPowerment Tanzania for their support, explaining that his school has a total of 300 pupils from Maasai pastoralists, and most of them are suffering with malnutrion due to the shortage of foods as for the past three years there were a drought that resulted into food shortages.

“The food items including maize, sugar and cooking oil that have being donated today by EdPowerment organization at our school is vital even for the academic performance of our children as they can even not understand what they taught if they are hungry,” teacher Massawe explained.

For their part, Karansi Ward Executive Officer (WEO), Honest Assey, and Ndinyika Village Executive Officer (VEO), George John explained that apart from drought in past years, the problem of malnutrition is also caused by some Maasai men who abandoned their children with their wives moving to urban areas searching for green pastures.

The executive Director for EdPowerment Tanzania, Godlisten Malle explained that they do support Tanzanian children in education through their educational projects.