Research on the role of food security in poverty reduction: A case study of Tanzania

1.0 Introduction
1.1Background
Millions of people worldwide suffer from hunger and under nutrition. A major factor contributing to this international problem is food insecurity. This condition exists when people lack sustainable physical or economic access to enough safe, nutritious, and socially acceptable food for a healthy and productive life. In developing countries, the root causes of food insecurity include: poverty, war and civil conflict, corruption, national policies that do not promote equal access to food for all, environmental degradation, barriers to trade, insufficient agricultural development, population growth, low levels of education, social and gender inequality, poor health status, cultural insensitivity, and natural disasters. Therefore, the connection between poverty and food insecurity is important. Food production is significant because, for the majority of the poor, agriculture is the main source of livelihood. However, it is only when poverty can be alleviated or diminished that the level of food insecurity is reduced. Consequently, the long-term solution to food insecurity lies beyond the production of additional food and includes the need to address rural livelihoods in general. Social safety nets of various sorts are also part of the solution to absolute poverty and food insecurity, not only in exceptional circumstances such as drought, but also over the long periods required to arrive at socially inclusive sustainable solutions.

2.0 Theoretical Literature Review
2.1 Definition of food security
According to the FAO definition, food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 1998). Hamm and Bellows, (2002) define food security as a condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance, social justice, and democratic decision-making

2.2 Short history of food security
After World War II, the atrocities that grew both from historical and escalating trade conflicts, and from genocide together with a disavowal of basic human rights, received a heightened level of attention at the international scale. Part of the argument to establish the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was to enhance trade and development as a strategy to secure peace through economic improvement. Concurrently, the newly incorporated United Nations (UN) attempted to charter universally recognized basic human rights. As one integral component of human rights, the right to food was contextualized as an economic right in the nonbinding 1948 UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Article 25 (1) reads that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services . . .”( Bellows and Hamm, 2002)

Both the number and the percentage of rural households headed by women have been increasing worldwide. But the feminization of agricultural work has become particularly prominent in sub-Saharan Africa, caused mainly by sickness, war, and the out-migration of men to urban areas, and all these causes have led to the breakdown of traditional gender-based divisions of labor. An estimated 31 percent of sub-Saharan households are now led by women. The loss of male labor and the inability of female heads of households to hire replacement labor have led to adjustments in women’s cropping patterns and farming systems, resulting in a decrease in production and, in some cases, to production shifts toward less-nutritious crops. For instance in Darfur, thousands of African villagers who have been driven off their land but who are still out of reach of UN food aid now rely on a type of toxic pea known as mukheitt which does little more than fill the stomach, however; it does not provide real nourishment. Even in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, many women have stopped planting traditional food crops such as beans (which are high in protein and nutrients), replacing them with root crops that are easier to produce but are less nutritious (USAID, 2004)

2.3 Magnitude and nature of food insecurity and vulnerability
The United Nations estimates there are 840 million undernourished people in the world. The majority of undernourished people (799 million) reside in developing countries, most of which are on the continents of Africa and Asia. This figure also includes 11 million people located in developed countries and 30 million people located in countries in transition (e.g., the former Soviet Union). The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that nearly 11 percent of U.S. households are food insecure, with approximately one-third of these households experiencing moderate to severe hunger (USAID, 2004)

2.4 The underlying causes of food insecurity
According to FAO, (1998), globally, certain groups of people are more vulnerable to food insecurity than others. Vulnerable groups include: victims of conflict (e.g., refugees and internally displaced people); migrant workers; marginal populations (e.g., school dropouts, unemployed people, homeless people, and orphans); dependent populations (e.g., elderly people, children under five, and disabled and ill people); women of reproductive age; ethnic minorities; and low literacy households. In developing countries, the root causes of food insecurity include: poverty, war and civil conflict, corruption, national policies that do not promote equal access to food for all, environmental degradation, barriers to trade, insufficient agricultural development, population growth, low levels of education, social and gender inequality, poor health status, cultural insensitivity, and natural disasters. In the United States, the primary cause of food insecurity is poverty. Low levels of education, poor health status, and certain disabilities also increase the risk of food insecurity for individuals and households in the United States.
Food insecurity affects millions of people around the world, including these children in Thailand, source is World Food Programme

2.4.1Natural hazards
Drought and other climatic extremes are major factors contributing to vulnerability to food insecurity. For instance in the Horn of Africa there is no year or season in which the whole region receives normal rainfall and is free from climatic anomalies such as flood or drought. Drought is the most catastrophic natural event that causes widespread periodic famine in the region. Periodically, floods afflict localized parts of even the driest areas (as was the case at the outset of the current crisis), and the threat of locust swarms is often present. For example, during 1997/98 severe floods were observed over many parts of the region, and were followed by the drought that has persisted over parts of the Horn since late 1998.The overall degradation of the natural resource base, in particular land and vegetation, has led to increasing rainwater losses through runoff (and associated soil erosion), which in turn has exacerbated the impact of drought. This downward spiral of environmental degradation has resulted in further land productivity decline, loss of biodiversity and continuing desertification (FAO,1998)

2.4.2 Conflicts
For instance, the Horn of Africa has been plagued by conflict since time immemorial. Conflicts in the region undoubtedly exacerbate the famine and food insecurity triggered by drought. It has noted that conflict removes able-bodied men from agricultural production and, incidentally, places an extra work burden on women. It also diverts resources, directly and indirectly, from more productive and socially beneficial uses, and tests the willingness of the international community to provide assistance. It reveled that poor countries, which have few resources to allocate to minorities, to the regions and to remote areas, are particularly vulnerable to internal conflict. Consequently, any measures that promote growth and reduce food insecurity are also likely to help conflict prevention. Conflict also has a much more insidious impact on long-term development efforts, diverting scarce resources, both national and external, away from development activities and into war (FAO,1998)

2.4.3 Population growth
The population of the many of Africa countries has more than doubled since the first of the major droughts of recent times hit the region in 1974, and it is projected to increase by a further 40 percent by 2015. Population growth rates have historically been high, at 2.5 to 3.5 percent, and are still at least 2 percent everywhere. The momentum for future increases in population remains strong because of the age structure and youthfulness of the population.
Population increase has led to a dramatic increase in energy demand and this has been met mainly by wood (from range and forest) and organic matter such as animal manure. The natural resource base has, declined as a result of land degradation and urban encroachment on arable land. To the extent that there has been any increase in the area of land being farmed, this has taken place largely in marginal areas, using systems that may not be sustainable. Shrinking land resources have not been compensated for by increases in land productivity. The result is that, throughout the region, farmers have to cope with reduced productivity and less land from which to feed themselves and to supply food to the ever-expanding cities (FAO,1998)

2.4.4 Poor Economic Policy Environment
Agricultural intensification and the development of product markets and processing industries have not occurred partly because of a poor policy framework that has led to inadequate research, a lack of appropriate technologies and weak dissemination of existing technologies. Many policies persist that neglect the critical role of women in agriculture and restrict their full involvement in that and other sectors. Weak market integration due to both poor infrastructure and domestic and international trade restrictions affect the ability of food surplus countries and regions to export to food deficit countries and regions. Public infrastructure, an important condition for both food availability and access, remains limited in all countries (FAO,1998)

2.5 Women are crucial to Food security
According to FAO, 1998, women and children are not alone in suffering from severe food insecurity. Over 800 million people in the developing world are chronically hungry, including an estimated 185 million children under age 5.But in times of crises—such as periods of prolonged conflict or disease—malnutrition becomes even more acute, especially among women and children. Cultural practices in many societies mean that women and girls eat last and least.
Ironically, however, women in developing countries are indispensable to achieving food security, defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as "access for all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life." Women produce more than half of the food grown worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, they contribute as much as 80 percent of the labor in agricultural production. And not only do rural women in developing countries work in the fields—hoeing, planting, weeding, watering, harvesting, processing—but they also undertake the everyday household management tasks of gathering fuel wood, collecting water, preparing and cooking food, cleaning, caring for children and livestock, and engaging in marketing and business activities.In the best conditions, poor women in developing countries struggle to keep their families safe, fed, and healthy. When a crisis such as Darfur hits, the burden to provide food can become overwhelming

2.6 HIV/AIDS and Food Insecurity
According to World Food Programme, the HIV/AIDS pandemic also hampers food security for the African rural poor. An estimated one-third of Africa’s working-age population is infected with HIV, and AIDS-related deaths among the continent’s farm workers threaten agricultural production, most notable in eastern and southern Africa. The epidemic has also curtailed women’s contributions to household food security and children’s nutritional status—primarily because chronic illness compromises the ability to produce and access sufficient food. Massive deaths from AIDS in Africa have also intensified hardships for family members left behind. In some African communities, for instance, a woman may lose her access to land and other assets when her husband dies.

In general, HIV/AIDS deaths in Africa have led to a loss of technical and local agricultural knowledge in many areas. Parents often die before they can pass on generations of knowledge about farming, crop varieties, and tools to their children. As a result, young people are unable to produce their own food or the income to buy it from others, continuing the cycle of poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. The epidemic has orphaned 11 million children in sub-Saharan Africa alone.

3.0 Empirical literature review
3.1 The situation of food security in Tanzania
In Tanzania, food security is defined predominantly by the developmental issues that face most Sub-Saharan countries. Issues of infrastructure, economic and agricultural policy, governance, education and provision of health care play pivotal roles in household food security. Tanzania is a politically stable country and the biggest and constant threat to food security is the generalized poverty that exists throughout the country. Reoccurring droughts (and flooding in certain locations) also add to the vulnerability. Although a substantial amount of data is available in Tanzania, some gaps have been identified in terms of understanding household food security and vulnerability. Existing reports focus predominantly on poverty, poverty alleviation and nutrition, and the data available doesn’t adequately identify the nature and degree of vulnerability that the households are exposed to. According to World Food Programme, (2007), in Tanzania, 15% of the rural households are food insecure, 15% are vulnerable to becoming food insecure, 5.6% of children under 5 are wasted or too thin for their height, a sign of acute malnutrition, 34.3% of children under 5 are stunted or too short for their age, a sign of chronic malnutrition and 21.1% of children under 5 are underweight. In general food insecurity and vulnerability is present in rural Tanzania but varies regionally. For instance, the central band of the country shows the highest proportion of households that are food insecure. In region such as Dodoma, Singida and Tabora, 45-55% of the households are food insecure. In Mwanza, Manyara and Kagera region food insecurity affect between 20 to 30% of the households. There is a high rate (between 24 to 27%) of households vulnerable to food insecurity in the regions of Singida, Tabora and Dodoma. In Lindi, 21.4% of households are vulnerable.

World Food Programe found that purchase of food is a predominant feature of all consumption groups, livelihoods and regions. For instance in Lindi, Kigoma, Kagera and Iringa the reliance on the purchase of food (55%) is less than the national average and is off set by own production with the notable exception of Lindi where reliance on gifts and food aid is an important source of food. In Tabora and Mtwara, households rely for 10% on other sources of food in addition to their own production and purchase, such as fishing, hunting and gathering. Nationally only 10.4% of the rural households have “very weak” food access. Kigoma, Singida, Manyara, Tabora and Kagera all have between 20-25% of households with weak food access. Dodoma has the highest proportion of households with very weak food access (38%). The poor income group has the highest proportion of households with “very weak” access to food (26%). Handicraft, small farmers, Poor Income, wage laborers, natural resource dependents and remittance dependents have less than 20 % of the households with “good” access to food.

Food consumption is the poorest in the central regions of Tabora (64%), Singida (62%) and Dodoma (48%). Regions in the central belt and most of the coast have high frequency of borderline consumption patterns with Mtwara (42%), Dar es Salaam (39%), Iringa (37%) and Mwanza (36%) with higher levels. Wage laborers, poor income, small farmers and remittance dependents have the highest frequency of households that have poor food consumption patterns. 50-60% of the households in the livelihoods remittances dependents, wage laborers, agro-brewers, small farmers, poor income and natural resource dependents fall into the categories of “poor” or “borderline”.

4.0 Policy review
The international society has acknowledge the importance of nations to have food security whereby, according to World Food Summit which held at Rome from 13 up to 17 NOV 1996, the Heads of States and Governments, or representatives, gathered at the World Food Summit at the invitation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, reaffirmed the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. They pledged political will and common and national commitment to achieving food security for all and to an ongoing effort to eradicate hunger in all countries, with an immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015. Also, they reaffirmed that a peaceful, stable and enabling political, social and economic environment is the essential foundation which will enable States to give adequate priority to food security and poverty eradication. Democracy, promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development, and the full and equal participation of men and women are essential for achieving sustainable food security for all.

They agreed that, poverty is a major cause of food insecurity and sustainable progress in poverty eradication is critical to improve access to food. Conflict, terrorism, corruption and environmental degradation also contribute significantly to food insecurity. Increased food production, including staple food, must be undertaken. This should happen within the framework of sustainable management of natural resources, elimination of unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries, and early stabilization of the world population. They acknowledged the fundamental contribution to food security by women, particularly in rural areas of developing countries, and the need to ensure equality between men and women. Revitalization of rural areas must also be a priority to enhance social stability and help redress the excessive rate of rural-urban migration confronting many countries.

For that reasons, they determined to make efforts to mobilize, and optimize the allocation and utilization of, technical and financial resources from all sources, including external debt relief for developing countries, to reinforce national actions to implement sustainable food security policies. Also they convinced that the multifaceted character of food security necessitates concerted national action, and effective international efforts to supplement and reinforce national action, we make the following commitments:-
· They will ensure an enabling political, social, and economic environment designed to create the best conditions for the eradication of poverty and for durable peace, based on full and equal participation of women and men, which is most conducive to achieving sustainable food security for all
· They will implement policies aimed at eradicating poverty and inequality and improving physical and economic access by all, at all times, to sufficient, nutritionally adequate and safe food and its effective utilization
· They will pursue participatory and sustainable food, agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development policies and practices in high and low potential areas, which are essential to adequate and reliable food supplies at the household, national, regional and global levels, and combat pests, drought and desertification, considering the multifunctional character of agriculture
· They will strive to ensure that food, agricultural trade and overall trade policies are conducive to fostering food security for all through a fair and market-oriented world trade system
· They will endeavour to prevent and be prepared for natural disasters and man-made emergencies and to meet transitory and emergency food requirements in ways that encourage recovery, rehabilitation, development and a capacity to satisfy future needs
· They will promote optimal allocation and use of public and private investments to foster human resources, sustainable food, agriculture, fisheries and forestry systems, and rural development, in high and low potential areas
At nation level, Tanzania efforts to enhance the quality of food and nutrition by considering important aspects such as availability of food, and proper food preparation and preservation began immediately after independence in 1961and were reinforced after the Arusha declaration of 1967. Also there was an effort to develop and endorse a food and nutrition policy for Tanzania in 1996, aiming:-
· To integrate food and nutrition activities undertaken by various sectors
· To enable each sector to play its part in the elimination of the malnutrition problem
· To improve the nutritional situation of the Tanzanian community, especially children and women
· To strengthening the procedures of obtaining and supplying food within the household, villages, and towns by utilizing locally produced foods
· To enable Tanzania to produce and use food which can adequately meet their nutritional needs
· To establish a viable research programme which will facilitate the implementation of food and nutrition in the country
It is clear that Tanzania has adhered the world food declarations, through the ministry of Health to make sure that food is available to all Tanzanian community, this is a good commitment which focus on poverty reduction.

5.0 Conclusion
In general, food security is essential from family level to national level in order to achieve development goals, it has said that for any community which is not secure with food is likely to suffer from peace instability and poverty. This research paper suggests that, for food security to exist at the national, regional, and local levels, food must be available, accessible, and properly utilized. So in order to tackle food insecurity in Tanzania, the following areas need to be considered when planning national food programmes:-
v Impact assessment of programming: Further investigate on how programming has impacted food security in specific contexts/regions/districts and provide lessons learned.
v Integrated approach to food security and education: The lack of education plays a vital role in food insecurity. Nutrition and hygiene should be incorporated into the basic curriculum in schools, providing basic life skills and agricultural knowledge through farmers groups and extension services.
v Integrate specific food security indicators and health data into an Early Warning System (EWS): There is currently enough information available in Tanzania to provide the basis for an effective EWS. A platform for analysis and effective dissemination of the data collected (climatic, cereal prices, livestock body condition, etc) is required.
v Improving access at household level: in particular through better market access and market functioning.
v Diet and crop diversification: Although large scale production and large numbers of small farms producing crops such as maize contribute to food security, mono cropping or poor diversification is problematic.
v Policies for national crop production should also consider household needs and food security issues.
v Drought response system: As droughts have limited food access by reducing the duration of harvest, it is important to consider appropriate rapid responses to drought situations.
v Nutrition: Child and women’s nutrition should be addressed. Although national interventions are targeting the prevention of diseases such as malaria, the importance of health issues should not be forgotten.