GAIN said under-nutrition remains a huge challenge worldwide and
according to statistics some two billion people are not eating well.
The GAIN's Director, Matt Freeman told East African Business Week
during the meeting on partnerships between the government and business
said in Tanzania the prevalence of stunted children under five remains
high at 45% .
"It is also estimated that under-nutrition is a significant cost to
the Tanzanian economy, resulting in loses of 2.65% each year," Freeman
told East African Business Week.
However he said Tanzania has been successful in engaging business in
scaling up nutrition in several staple foods. Salt iodization has been
particularly successful, presently reaching an estimated 82% of
households.
He said although a number of large food processors are participating
in food fortification, relatively few companies realize the important
role they can play in scaling up nutrition.
Some successful partnerships between government, aid agencies and
business exist, but most lack scale and have not been systematically
integrated into ongoing and planned development activities.
The Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, Dr Florens
Turuka said they have decided to partner with business community so as
to easy the fight against under-nutrition.
Dr Turuku told East African Business Week due to vitamin and
micronutrient deficiencies, productivity of the people is reduced and
implications for GDP are obvious.
"Part of the reason for the GDP loss is that under-nutrition leads to increased illness and lower energy levels.
That impacts business - as it means your workers are not as productive as they could be," he said.
"We need to put efforts together to reverse this.
We have committed to reverse this high level of stunting by ensuring that all stakeholders play their part," he said.
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