According to Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) 2015 about 42% of reproductive women are Vitamin A deficient, 37% of children are overweight, 36% of reproductive women are iodine deficient, 57% of children are anemic, 34% of children are stunted, 33% of children are Vitamin A deficient and 14% of children under 5 are underweight. Kagera Region is the leading one in the country with high malnutrition rate whereby 42% of children are stunted, 2.3% wasted, 17.4% underweight and 57.2% are anemic and about 40% of reproductive women are anemic.

This leads to children’s poor brain development, low cognitive ability and low agricultural production among adults. The malnutrition in the region and the country causes preventable blindness in children and increases the risks of illness and deaths from severe infections.
Given the current support through IMA World Health and Vitamin Angels programs to improve health and nutrition among reproductive women and children under 5 through nutrition sensitive interventions to promote exclusive breastfeeding for children under age of 5, vitamin A rich-foods feeding habits, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and homestead food production at households level; then TAMA through the Local Initiative for Sustainable Health (LISHE) Program integrates biofortified orange fleshed sweet potato with an overall goal to contribute to the improved dietary diversity, food security and incomes among 5,000 smallholder farmers in Bukoba District, Kagera Region by 2020.
The project will support 500 leaders of farmers groups (FGs) and local extension officers to participate in a fully integrated agriculture-nutrition package as local TOTs and project supervisors respectively.

The trained TOTs will disseminate the gained knowledge and skills on improved methods and sustainable production of commercial orange sweet potatoes, seeds and roots variety preparation, multiplication and distribution, agribusiness and processing. Through the trained TOTs and volunteers, smallholders across Bukoba District council will be fully be sensitized and mobilized to actively involve themselves in the production of biofortified OFSP, consume the vitamin A rich OFSP and gain incomes on marketing the same. This project to be launched soon, will be implemented by TAMA in collaboration with International Potato Centre (CIP) and Building Nutritious Food Baskets Project (BNFB).