This report explores the importance ofnutrition for Tanzania. It demonstrates that the prevalenceof malnutrition is very high. In fact, Tanzania appears tobe affected by a double burden of malnutrition, with a veryhigh incidence of undernourished children, but with a highprevalence of overweight and obese adults as well,particularly in urban areas. The report highlights the high(economic and welfare) costs associated to such high ratesof malnutrition by discussing the consequence ofmalnutrition for infant mortality, education outcomes, thehealth system and labor productivity. For nutrition to besuccessfully advanced high level support is needed. Effortsto advance nutrition in Tanzania have made before, with theearliest attempts dating back to the late 1970s. Most havenot been very successful. To enhance the likelihood ofsuccess this time, commitment from all stakeholders isneeded. A social contract that is announced at a publicevent by a high level policy maker may be one way to committhe actors to change. Such a social contract would have toset clear objectives and a timeline, it would have to defineroles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders andprovide an accountability framework. The high incidence ofmalnutrition thus presents an opportunity to enhance schoolperformance, reduce maternal and infant and child mortalityand to improve the ability of the labor force to be productive.
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