Building nutrition security through local knowledge and community leadership
In Tanzania’s Manyara Region, where dry seasons are long and unpredictable rains can bring devastation, malnutrition continues to affect families deeply. Nearly 40% of children under five are stunted, diets rely heavily on starchy staples, and many households cannot afford diverse, nutritious meals. Smallholder farmers work tirelessly, yet low productivity, limited nutrition knowledge, cultural food taboos, and traditional gender roles often leave families without the varied foods essential for healthy growth, particularly for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and young children.
A community-centred approach to nutrition
While many agricultural programmes focus on increasing yields and linking farmers to markets, the Empowering Smallholder Farmers for Food Security and Climate Resilience (NOURISH Tanzania) project, implemented by SNV Tanzania and Farm Africa, takes a more holistic approach. It combines practical knowledge on balanced diets with climate-resilient farming, using locally available crops such as sorghum, sunflower, beans, and vegetables.
Rather than creating parallel structures, the approach strengthens existing community systems, including government-recognised Community Health Workers (CHWs), lead farmers, and agricultural extension officers. These are individuals whom families already know and trust. They speak the local language, understand cultural contexts, and have long supported their communities, often stepping up during crises such as disease outbreaks or natural disasters.
Building on this foundation, CHWs receive practical, hands-on training in dietary diversity, safe food storage and preservation, and kitchen gardening. The training is tailored to local realities, ensuring it is relevant and easy to apply in everyday life.
A strong example is 59-year-old Daniel Leonce Langai from Gocho Village in Hanang District. A respected community member and father of six, Langai has long supported his community. Trained as a CHW by the Ministry of Health in 2016, he continued serving during COVID-19 and coordinated relief after the 2023 Hanang landslide. In March 2025, his role was further strengthened through specialised nutrition training.
From knowledge to everyday practice
A key feature of this approach is stronger coordination across community actors. Langai works closely with lead farmers, agricultural extension officers, and health centre nurses, linking agricultural practices with nutrition and health services. This integrated approach ensures that knowledge flows from the field to the household in practical and meaningful ways.
Langai facilitates bi-weekly sessions for pregnant women, mothers, and caregivers of children under two, sharing essential nutrition practices across dietary diversity, food safety, and hygiene. However, the greatest impact comes through home visits, where entire families participate, including men, who are often key decision-makers.
By engaging men as part of the process, long-standing norms are beginning to shift. Fathers increasingly support exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months and take part in decisions about food, income, and farming. Younger families tend to adopt these practices quickly, while continued dialogue helps older generations reconsider traditional beliefs.
Learning is reinforced through practical demonstrations. During home visits, “Jiko Darasa” cooking sessions show families how to prepare nutritious meals using affordable, locally available ingredients such as sorghum, milk, carrots, and lemon.
Kitchen gardens are another important element. Working with local partners, Langai helped establish a raised demonstration garden (“Bustani Kihenge”) at the health centre. Households are supported to create low-water gardens using sacks, recycled containers, or raised beds irrigated with greywater, making them suitable for dry conditions. With this support, more than 18 households have established kitchen gardens, ensuring year-round access to vegetables.
These changes are gradually transforming daily practices. Families are preparing more balanced meals, improving food storage, and strengthening child feeding practices. This marks a shift away from reliance on starch-heavy diets.
Now my community trusts me, and they follow my advice on how to properly feed children and practise exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.”
Daniel Leonce Langai from Gocho Village
Sustaining change through community ownership
The impact is most visible in individual stories. One mother arrived at a group session with her severely underweight eight-month-old baby. After referral for treatment and guidance on improved feeding, the child quickly gained weight and began to show developmental progress. In another case, community support helped a grandmother caring for orphaned twins access the nutrition they needed to grow and thrive.
Community health workers such as Langai continue to serve voluntarily, supported with modest resources for transport and communication. This enables them to maintain regular contact with households and sustain their work.
Since early 2025, 437 community health workers across five regions—Manyara, Dodoma, Singida, Rukwa, and Songwe—have reached more than 6,500 households with improved nutrition and agricultural practices.
The most significant shift, however, is less visible. A growing sense of ownership is taking hold. Communities are not only adopting new practices, but sustaining them.
Through this combination of local knowledge, practical action, and strengthened community leadership, it becomes clear that improving nutrition is not only about increasing food availability, but about enabling people to make better use of the resources they already have—now and for future generations.