Browsing by Author "Bonatti, M."
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Item Gaps in knowledge and practice on dietary consumption among rural farming households; a call for nutrition education training in Tanzania(Taylor & Francis, 2019) Bundala, N.; Kinabo, J.; Jumbe, T.; Bonatti, M.; Rybak, C.; Sieber, S.Dietary-related conditions are preventable only if people have better understanding of factors that underpin their dietary choices. A cross-sectional study was carried out to examine levels and gaps of nutrition knowledge and practices (KPs) of 663 mothers/caregivers in rural households of Tanzania. Results indicated that, only 14% of the population had received nutrition education prior to the survey. The mean KP score was 6.9 (±2.6) out of 20 with only 17% of the study population had KP scores above the mean. The average proportion of those who had correct responses above mean was 27% for knowledge and 22% practices. Low coverage of nutrition education and poor participation of men in nutrition education activities were frequently reported as the barriers for adoption of desirable dietary practices at households. The KP levels are far below the recommended FAO thresholds and entail high levels of nutrition illiteracy which call for immediate intervention.Item Social organization, constraints and opportunities for kitchen garden implementation: ScalA and ScalA-FS assessment tools in Morogoro and Dodoma, Tanzania(Springer / CrossMark, 2017) Bonatti, M.; Larissa, H. I. R.; Graef, F.; Mbwana, H. A.; Rybak, C.; Lana, M.; Sieber, S.Tanzania is the second largest country in East Africa with about 50 million inhabitants in 2014, and it is also considered as one of the poorest countries in the world. The country strongly depends on agriculture production. Like many other poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania sees food security as a central part of development and poverty reduction efforts. This work aims to investigate the opportunities and constraints of implementing a policy of BKitchen Gardens^ as a practice for two regions of Tanzania. The research was carried out with a qualitative approach through a first round of semi-structured interviews using a Scaling up Assessment Tool (ScalA), and a second round with a questionnaire survey, using a Scaling up Assessment Tool for Food Security (ScalA-FS) by Tanzanian and German experts from the Trans-SEC project. The experts assessed implementation suitability and the institutional requirements of Kitchen Garden across the food value chains in two Tanzanian regions with different climate regions, namely Dodoma (semi-arid) and Morogoro (sub-humid). Kitchen Garden assessments did not differ significantly between these regions. The ScalA tools provided a range of statements that allowed an overview of the structural situation to be obtained, which could enable Kitchen Garden activity to be incentivized and scaled up. However, a number of specific aspects, potentials, challenges, and likely bottlenecks of implementation related to their feasibility and institutional requirements, were indicated, which should be carefully monitored during implementation. Adopting the recommended strategies could help to close gaps in implementation, enhance community empowerment and social network development, reduce food insecurity and improve the health of the communities.Item Status and scope of kitchen gardening of green leafy vegetables in rural Tanzania: implications for nutrition interventions(Springer Nature B.V., 2018) Rybak, C.; Mbwana, H. A.; Bonatti, M.; Sieber, S.; Müller, K.Kitchen gardens in Tanzania are currently facing a variety of threats. However, many households depend on basic farming activities to meet household food needs. The objective of this study was to describe the current status and scope of kitchen gardening for improving the food security situation in the Morogoro and Dodoma regions of Tanzania. A cluster sampling method was used to select 383 households. The main respondents were mothers or caregivers responsible for food preparation. Techniques for data collection were observations, focus group discussions and face to face interviews. A small proportion (2.6%) of residents in the semi-arid Dodoma region had a kitchen garden as compared to the sub-humid Morogoro region (9.9%). Sweet potato leaves, cassava leaves, pumpkin leaves, cowpea leaves and African egg plant were the principal vegetables grown in the two areas. The market provided vegetables to 87% of the surveyed households. Vegetables sold at the market were mostly in the dried form, fresh vegetables in the market being those cultivated near ponds, especially during dry seasons. About 90% and 55% of the kitchen garden produce was used for home consumption in Dodoma and Morogoro, respectively.Women contributed 80% and 75%of the total labor for managing kitchen gardens in Dodoma and Morogoro, respectively. Socio-cultural factors (food habit and demand and supply of food materials), environmental factors (climatic factors, water availability), types of soils and farmers’ local knowledge and understanding (traditional knowledge and practices, formal and non-formal education) were the key determinants of vegetables grown in the traditional kitchen garden. Kitchen gardening was practised by few of the surveyed households and the diversity of the planted vegetables was low. Factors that influenced the presence of a kitchen gardens at household level were: sex of the household head (p = 0.002), literacy status of the mother/caregiver (p = 0.001) and the education level (p = 0.001) of the respondent.