Empowering Farmers for Food Security and Climate Resilience - "NOURISH Tanzania"

Ifakara Health Institute has launched a new project titled, "Empowering Smallholder Farmers for Food Security and Climate Resilience" aimed at empowering smallholder farmers to enhance food security across five key regions in mainland Tanzania. Simply named "NOURISH Tanzania", the initiative is poised to transform the agricultural landscape and improve the livelihoods of vulnerable farming households.

NOURISH Tanzania Project Focus
NOURISH Tanzania seeks to address pressing challenges faced by smallholder farmers through a combination of research, targeted interventions, and robust support systems. The primary objective is to achieve resilient food security for smallholder farmer households. The project will focus on regions within Central-northern Tanzania (Singida, Dodoma and Manyara) and Southern Highlands (Songwe and Rukwa).

Baseline research and assessment objectives
The project's foundation is built on conducting thorough baseline research designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. This will guide in understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of smallholder farmers, providing valuable insights to develop tailored, context-specific approaches.

In particular, NOURISH Tanzania seeks to assess:

1. The status of food and nutrition security
2. The factors affecting the food and nutrition security of households 
3. Households (HH) farm planning and nutrition decision-making 
4. Household access to agriculture products, services and markets
5. The barriers to access to agriculture products, services, and markets 
6. Effective communication channels for disseminating nutrition and agriculture information

Data will be gathered through surveys involving 1,740 smallholder farmers, of which will include 40 in-depth interviews and 50 focus group discussions. 

Funding and leadership
The NOURISH project is funded by SNV Netherlands Development Organization through a grant from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), for five years from January 2024 to December 2028.

SNV is a global development partner dedicated to transforming agri-food, energy, climate adaptation, and water systems. With a long-term presence in 24 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, SNV brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the NOURISH Tanzania project.

Ifakara will be implementing the project under the leadership of Dr. Ester Elisaria, the Principal Investigator and Farida Katunzi, the Project Leader.