UN and Asante Africa Foundation Commit to New Food Health Campaign
Dar es Salaam Tanzania –
Asante Africa Foundation – Tanzania is proud to be a partner with the United Nations – Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s ‘Lishe Bora ni Mtaji’ (Good Nutrition is an Investment) national campaign along with the government of Tanzania and several other national NGOs and CBOs. This campaign is expected to reach 32 million adolescent girls in Tanzania through traditional and social media platforms to increase awareness on the importance of a healthy diet and access to it and aiming to prevent hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition in the context of global pandemic. The project is expected to cover the southern part of mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
As part of this partnership, Asante Africa Foundation will use Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG) for Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar conducting 52 seminars engaging 15,000 young women on healthy diets, nutrition-sensitive practices, and roles they can play in changing behaviors in 23 Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in the Southern Highlands and Zanzibar. Asante Africa Foundation is creating the next generation of changemakers and leaders of tomorrow by equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to live healthy and successful lives beyond the classroom.
In partnership with FAO, Asante Africa will ensure 15,000 young women throughout Tanzania have the knowledge to lead healthy and nutritious lives. This program serves as a complement to Asante Africa’s three main programs 1) Youth Livelihood Program, 2) Wezesha Vijana (Empowering Youth), 3) Accelerated Learning in the Classroom including scholarship provision and digital inclusion for rural youth.
FAO stated that Tanzania is facing a triple burden of malnutrition, including eating too much, not eating enough, and not eating enough nutritious foods with vitamins and minerals, and Dietary Related Non Communicable Diseases (DRNCD). As seen in the recent COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture and food systems are sensitive to shocks. This campaign aims to create resilience in the agro systems of Tanzania as well as nutritious habits for food intake.
ABOUT ASANTE AFRICA FOUNDATION
Asante Africa Foundation, an “on the ground” implementing organization, invests in adolescents and youth (ages 10-24) in extremely rural Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, empowering them with the skills they need to be successful in school and rise above the challenges they face – 95% come from extreme hardship, and 65% from orphaned or single parent homes. Our interconnected educational, life skills and livelihood programs, facilitated within “safe-space” learning clubs, utilize the learn-do-teach methodology to keep at-risk adolescent girls on the path to learning, accelerate academic classroom learning and develop future leaders, confident job seekers, and innovative entrepreneurs. Our young leaders are pioneering the way forward to create a better future in a post-pandemic era for themselves, Africa, and the world.
ABOUT UN FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. FAO supports governments and partners to design the right policies and programs to end hunger, promote food security and promote sustainable agriculture for millions of people around the world. Its Latin motto, fiat panis, translates to “let there be bread.” It was founded on 16 October 1945.