Overview
Food systems are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The effects on yields and supply chains are likely to make nutritious diets increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible, and exacerbate existing issues with diet quality and health disparities. In recent years, the cost of nutrient dense foods in Tanzania has increased. Furthermore, reduced crop yields may limit incomes of small-scale producers. Interventions to support fruit and vegetable production, market access and consumption, including for example through micro-irrigation schemes, behaviour change programmes or targeted voucher schemes can reduce vulnerability to climate change, while improving diets of disadvantaged groups.
This project seeks to address the double burden of malnutrition in the context of climate change. Specifically, the project aims to increase fruit and vegetable intake among nutritionally at-risk populations such as women of reproductive age and adolescents in Tanzania. This project aims to add new research facets to the evaluation of FRESH’s end-to-end approach. The collaboration between IFPRI, LSHTM and SUA will leverage each institution’s expertise.
Objectives
This project will address the following research questions:
- What are the characteristics of food consumption patterns in Tanzania (TZ) and what are the major drivers of fruit and vegetable intake in Tanzania?
- What are the priority policy-relevant and feasible interventions to increase F&V intake among households, women of reproductive age (WRA) and/or adolescents, and how could these be tested
in the Fruit and Vegetables for Sustainable Healthy Diets (FRESH) Initiative study? - How can modelling approaches be adapted to analyse the costs, effectiveness and equity implications of scaled-up interventions to increase F&V consumption in Tanzania?
The problem
UK science and CGIAR
UK science institution
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
CGIAR
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Local partners
Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA)
Where the research teams will work
LSHTM, IFPRI and SUA teams will work together in Tanzania.
