THE United States government yesterday launched the $40million USAID Lishe (Nutrition) project to expand access to nutritious foods, clean water and nutritional services.

Currently, 30 percent of Tanzanian children face high rates of childhood malnutrition. 

Many communities struggle with access to healthy foods and seasonal shortages and many parents lack awareness on healthy childhood diets and access to local health clinics for nutrition services. 

Rural areas suffer from inadequate clean water and sanitation facilities, contributing to persistent malnutrition. USAID Lishe will work in close collaboration with partners in Tanzanian government and private sector to address these challenges.

“Through USAID Lishe, we are empowering communities to make tangible changes in their health and well-being,” said USAID Mission Director Craig Hart. 

“Together, we are doing more than just raising awareness about nutrition and sanitation; we are investing in projects that drive real, long term change,” he said.

Including this new project, USAID’s investment to improve nutrition in Tanzania now tops $100 million over the past decade. Over the last 15 years, through USAID, the US government invested $3.2 billion in the health of Tanzanians, including in maternal and child health, combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis prevention and treatment, family planning, and malaria prevention and treatment, among other areas. 

The USAID Lishe project will also increase access to clean water supplies, especially in rural areas; improve practices like pit emptying in urban areas; and promote locally available sanitation services and hygiene products such as safe toilet pans designed to reduce insects' ability to spread disease. 

During the next five years, USAID Lishe project will increase access to healthier food, educate communities on nutrition promotion, prevent waterborne illnesses and support 3,000 health care workers in 1,300 clinics to reduce malnutrition.

The project is meant to improve health and lives of more than two million children and women in 29 districts in Kigoma, Katavi, Njombe, Rukwa and Songwe regions.