I started reading a report on food insecurity in Tanzania called: Tanzania - Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis 2012. Findings were based on data generated from the 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 Tanzania National Panel Surveys (NPS). The purpose of the study was to track households' food security over the two-year period to obtain baseline information about food insecurity in Tanzania.

“Food security defines a situation in which all people at all times have physical 
and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their 
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO, 1996)."





The NPS interviewed 3,265 households in phase 1 and 3,846 households in phase 2. The information gathered consisted of their expenditures, food security, assets, livelihoods, nutrition, farming practices, and impact of recent economic and other shocks.

Their findings showed 730,000 households were food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity. Of these, approximately 150,000 households were considered "chronically food insecure" (food insecure for phase 1 as well as phase 2 of the study).

The report concluded that food insecurity was improving, but not fast enough to match Tanzania's economic gains. Food insecurity was correlated with a lack of farming tools (low mechanization); insufficient fertilizer; low diversity of seeds/plant types; poor irrigation due to lack of access to water / high costs of irrigation; poor formal education of farmers;  loss of crops due to weather, pests, theft, and wildlife; and lack of loans and financial systems that would allow farmers to obtain sufficient tools.






























Why this is important:

I found this to be a thorough, explanatory report filled with relevant data and statistics. It first outlined the demography, economic growth, and general health status of Tanzanians before delving into the different causes and correlations of food insecurity.


Kisanga, J., Miller, D., & Wadhwa, A. Tanzania - Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis 2012. (2013, September). Retrieved from http://www.wfp.org/content/tanzania-comprehensive-food-security-vulnerability-analysis-2012-august-2013