Stunting: Njombe schools to farm vegetables, start poultry projects

Anthony Mtaka, the regional commissioner, issued this directive here yesterday at the launch of a five-year broad based nutrition project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), disbursing over 800m/- annually.

He challenged schools to establish poultry farms for pupils to access balanced diets that especially include eggs, affirming that regional authorities will be asserting that the regional secretariat will seek information from schools on how they are implementing that directive.

If land is available this should allow them to establish poultry farms, he said, noting that schools that are ready will be required to pay for 1,000 chicks to start producing eggs.

Such efforts will enable schools to uplift what pupils eat, thus help to curb stunting, he remarked, stating that school managements would decide on the distribution of eggs for pupils.

Dr Joyceline Kaganda, the nutrition project supervisor, said that the project will be providing chicks and nutritious seeds to the schools, as well as teaching women and girls how to prepare nutritious foods.

They will also be educated on proper maize preservation methods as poorly stored maize can ignite aflatoxins, poisonous bacterial growth that contributes to stunting, she said.

Victoria Mwanziva, the Ludewa district commissioner, said the district authorities have been putting up strategies to end malnutrition and stunting, including educational campaigns directed at women and children.

“We have running campaigns to promote school feeding whereas parents are educated on the importance of feeding their children with balanced diets. We also encourage residents to establish home vegetable gardens,” she said, while Claudia Kitta, the Wanging’ombe district commissioner, said that residents are being taught how to prepare nutritious porridge and auxiliary foods.

One in six children aged two to three years is likely to be severely stunted, with stunting higher in the Mainland (35 percent) than in Zanzibar (24 percent).

Reports have it that the rate of stunting among children under the age of five has decreased from 34 per cent in 2015/16 to 30 per cent in 2022, while child pregnancies dropped from 27 per cent in 2015/16 to 22 per cent in 2022, but there is a lot to be done by parents and guardians in keeping children and youth safe, experts affirm.

Launching the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey and Malaria Indicator Survey (2022 TDHS-MIS), President Samia Suluhu Hassan said that 300 children out of 1,000 children in the community have stunting.

This is not a good sign for progress, whereas regions with high levels of stunting were listed as Njombe at 50 per cent, Rukwa (50 percent) and Geita (39 percent).