Counterfeited agro-inputs unforeseen factor affecting nutrition in TZ

However, underweight factor contributed to 17 per cent of the respective children; and 4 per cent of the under five children died of malnutrition related diseas. According the latest report of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO), the stunting situation, which 2 percent lower than it was five years ago, remained one of the major health related problems in the country. The report highlighted poverty and food insecurity as the main drivers of chronic under nutrition in Tanzania, responsible for the deaths of more than 130 children every day. Further, according to the recent findings that were done by the University of Dar es Salaam School of Business (UDSB), in collaboration with the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT), indicated that rapid emergence of counterfeited agricultural inputs especially seeds, fertilisers and pesticides threaten both food production and nutrients, hence, affecting nutrition status in the country. The findings of their research also revealed that about 40 per cent of all agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, in particular were not genuine. Other findings show that in developed countries the rate of fake agricultural inputs ranged from five to seven per cent, while in African countries it ranging from 15 to 20 per cent. Dar es Salaam School of Business researcher Dr Mutahyoba Baisi recently said that counterfeit agro-inputs involved falsified, adulterated, diluted, substandard or mislabeled materials. He revealed this when presenting his draft of research findings at the forum held in Momba District, Songwe Region. Dr Baisi said that counterfeit agricultural inputs have led to the shortage of food in the country, after farmers who planted the fake agricultural inputs failed to harvest any food crop. According to the research findings, when counterfeit agro-inputs are used by farmers, they produce poor crop yields, which lack essential nutrients essential for human health. “In this case, it’s obvious that the counterfeit agro-inputs have major impact to nutrition…there is a need this issue to be addressed accordingly,” urged Neema Dickson, a nutrition expert based at Vwawa in Songwe Region. For her part, Oliva Mloyo, a farmer in Njombe Region noted that the planting of counterfeit agricultural inputs, did not only lead to poor production of non nutritious food crops, but also was affecting the health of women and under five years children. “We have experienced pregnant women consuming foods from crops grown from fake agro-inputs, suffering after delivering…breast feeding becomes poor to their infants, and they don’t quickly recover their strengths, among other challenges,” she explained. Researcher Official with the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC), Walbert Mgeni said that counterfeit agricultural inputs contributions to malnutrition could be taken in many ways, but basically should be the reduction of the volume of food production leading in affecting nutrition status in the country. Tufanikiwe Sanga, one of the farmers in Njombe Region, whose two hectares of maize crops were destroyed because he planted fake agro-inputs, lamented that he was not aware that the seeds he had planted were fake. Fake seeds had caused maize production in Njombe Region to drop by 4.3 per cent yearly since in 2009/2010. The Southern part of Tanzania is one of the big five food baskets, but unfortunately of recent they have been seriously impacted by the mushrooming of fake seeds, that calls for joint efforts from all stakeholders to arrest the situation. For instance, according to the research that was conducted by UDSB in collaboration with ACT and funded by BEST-Dialogue, revealed that counterfeit agricultural inputs in Njombe Region alone accounted for 30 percent. The major reasons identified by the researchers that had led to escalating of fake inputs to farmers, were because the ignorance of most of suppliers and farmers who cannot differentiate the genuine agricultural inputs from the fake ones; and unfaithful business tycoons who have been colluding with some disloyal government officials to imports fake agricultural inputs into the local market.