ZIPO habari katika mashirika ya kimataifa kwamba kisiwa cha Pemba kinahitaji chakula cha dharura.Habari hii imeandikwa katika shirika la IRI...
ZIPO habari katika mashirika ya kimataifa kwamba kisiwa cha Pemba kinahitaji chakula cha dharura.Habari hii imeandikwa katika shirika la IRIN na linakariri watu wenye heshima zao katika utoaji wa taarifa kuhusu dharura ya chakula duniani.
Taarifa hii inayofuata ni makala kuhusu Pemba iliyochukuliwa IRIN ikizungumzia kizungumkuti cha chakula na tatizo la lishe miongoni mwa watoto kisiwani Pemba.Habari hii naiweka hapa kwa kuwa inaonekana ni mpya kwani imefanyiwa mahojiano Juni 9.2008
....TANZANIA: Malnutrition dogs Pemba's fishing communities
ZANZIBAR, 10 June 2008 (IRIN) - Against the idyllic palm-fringed backdrop of Tanzania's tropical island of Pemba,
almost 9,000 children from fishing communities are facing food shortages following sharp price increases, according
to officials.
"Children are always the most affected by food shortages," Caroline Naune, a programme manager with Save the
Children, told IRIN on 9 June.
Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, lies roughly 50 km off mainland Tanzania in the Indian Ocean. On the
Micheweni peninsula, market failures following Kenya's post-election crisis in early 2008, the global food crisis, a
disastrous harvest and exorbitant rice import tariffs mean that at least 1,000 households currently require
emergency food aid.
As an island, Pemba - with a population of about half a million - relies heavily on imports and hence is
particularly vulnerable to increases in the price of commodities on the world market. This problem has been
exacerbated by the 75 percent import duty imposed by the East Africa Community (EAC) Customs Union on the island's
staple, rice.
With food prices rising between 35 to 170 percent from November 2007 to March 2008, Pemba's food security has
gradually deteriorated, mostly due to a combination of environmental, economic and political factors.
Fishing is the most important source of food and income for the majority of Pemba residents, with the main fishing
season falling in December and January. Normally, fishermen would sell much of their catch in Kenya and use the
money to buy rice. However, this year, the market shut down in the middle of the peak fishing season during Kenya's
post-election violence in which over 1,200 died and a further 300,000 were forced to flee their homes.
During the usually lean April-June period, Pemba households rely on cassava and sorghum planted in October and
November but the harvest failed this year following poor rains.
Rice import tariff
In May, in the wake of high food prices, the Zanzibari government called for the rice import tariff to be reduced to
25 percent although this was turned down by the Tanzanian authorities because they said any adjustment to the common
external tariff must be agreed on by all members of the EAC Customs Union.
"The change of tariffs would be temporary and then we will watch closely how the global price of rice behaves; not
only price but also the supply side on the global market," said Hamis Mussa, the principle secretary for the
Ministry of Finance in Zanzibar's semi-autonomous government.
Mussa said: "At the moment we have a global food crisis. The islands in the Zanzibar archipelago are net importers
of food. We have a small economy. We have two issues: one is the availability of food and the second issue would be
at what cost is this available?"
Initially, poor households reacted by changing their diets, eating fewer meals per day and borrowing food from
friends and neighbours. However, these responses proved insufficient. A rapid vulnerability assessment by the
Zanzibar government found that 8,922 children were suffering from chronic malnutrition.
"You can see that a lot of children are stunted," added Naune.
The Zanzibar authorities delivered 10,000 metric tonnes of rice to the district in April; each of the 1,131
households received roughly 100 kg of the foodstuff. In addition, Save the Children distributed specially formulated
nutritional supplements to 1,011 children under the age of two with some success.
"There was a woman who had twins who were under a month old and she couldn't breastfeed them. She and the twins were
very malnourished," said Naune. "We gave her the food supplement and she produced milk and it was a great success
but we haven't got the overall picture yet."
Direct cash transfer
As a solution to the crisis, Save the Children is pioneering a direct-cash-transfer scheme on the Micheweni
peninsula. Previously, cash-transfer schemes in emergency situations involved coupons and some level of
conditionality but the new strategy allows donors to give local currency straight to the families in need.
"It's about giving the households the dignity and trust to make the decision on how they spend their money," Naune
said. "Whether they need food or clothing or whatever it is. We're giving them the autonomy and the dignity to
actually make the decision themselves what they spend their money on."
Significantly, even though men are traditionally the head of the household budgets, the money will be given almost
exclusively to women because Save the Children say that they are more likely to prioritise the needs of the
children.
"It's a very patriarchal society so we'll have to see how successful it is," said Naune.
Taarifa hii inayofuata ni makala kuhusu Pemba iliyochukuliwa IRIN ikizungumzia kizungumkuti cha chakula na tatizo la lishe miongoni mwa watoto kisiwani Pemba.Habari hii naiweka hapa kwa kuwa inaonekana ni mpya kwani imefanyiwa mahojiano Juni 9.2008
....TANZANIA: Malnutrition dogs Pemba's fishing communities
ZANZIBAR, 10 June 2008 (IRIN) - Against the idyllic palm-fringed backdrop of Tanzania's tropical island of Pemba,
almost 9,000 children from fishing communities are facing food shortages following sharp price increases, according
to officials.
"Children are always the most affected by food shortages," Caroline Naune, a programme manager with Save the
Children, told IRIN on 9 June.
Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, lies roughly 50 km off mainland Tanzania in the Indian Ocean. On the
Micheweni peninsula, market failures following Kenya's post-election crisis in early 2008, the global food crisis, a
disastrous harvest and exorbitant rice import tariffs mean that at least 1,000 households currently require
emergency food aid.
As an island, Pemba - with a population of about half a million - relies heavily on imports and hence is
particularly vulnerable to increases in the price of commodities on the world market. This problem has been
exacerbated by the 75 percent import duty imposed by the East Africa Community (EAC) Customs Union on the island's
staple, rice.
With food prices rising between 35 to 170 percent from November 2007 to March 2008, Pemba's food security has
gradually deteriorated, mostly due to a combination of environmental, economic and political factors.
Fishing is the most important source of food and income for the majority of Pemba residents, with the main fishing
season falling in December and January. Normally, fishermen would sell much of their catch in Kenya and use the
money to buy rice. However, this year, the market shut down in the middle of the peak fishing season during Kenya's
post-election violence in which over 1,200 died and a further 300,000 were forced to flee their homes.
During the usually lean April-June period, Pemba households rely on cassava and sorghum planted in October and
November but the harvest failed this year following poor rains.
Rice import tariff
In May, in the wake of high food prices, the Zanzibari government called for the rice import tariff to be reduced to
25 percent although this was turned down by the Tanzanian authorities because they said any adjustment to the common
external tariff must be agreed on by all members of the EAC Customs Union.
"The change of tariffs would be temporary and then we will watch closely how the global price of rice behaves; not
only price but also the supply side on the global market," said Hamis Mussa, the principle secretary for the
Ministry of Finance in Zanzibar's semi-autonomous government.
Mussa said: "At the moment we have a global food crisis. The islands in the Zanzibar archipelago are net importers
of food. We have a small economy. We have two issues: one is the availability of food and the second issue would be
at what cost is this available?"
Initially, poor households reacted by changing their diets, eating fewer meals per day and borrowing food from
friends and neighbours. However, these responses proved insufficient. A rapid vulnerability assessment by the
Zanzibar government found that 8,922 children were suffering from chronic malnutrition.
"You can see that a lot of children are stunted," added Naune.
The Zanzibar authorities delivered 10,000 metric tonnes of rice to the district in April; each of the 1,131
households received roughly 100 kg of the foodstuff. In addition, Save the Children distributed specially formulated
nutritional supplements to 1,011 children under the age of two with some success.
"There was a woman who had twins who were under a month old and she couldn't breastfeed them. She and the twins were
very malnourished," said Naune. "We gave her the food supplement and she produced milk and it was a great success
but we haven't got the overall picture yet."
Direct cash transfer
As a solution to the crisis, Save the Children is pioneering a direct-cash-transfer scheme on the Micheweni
peninsula. Previously, cash-transfer schemes in emergency situations involved coupons and some level of
conditionality but the new strategy allows donors to give local currency straight to the families in need.
"It's about giving the households the dignity and trust to make the decision on how they spend their money," Naune
said. "Whether they need food or clothing or whatever it is. We're giving them the autonomy and the dignity to
actually make the decision themselves what they spend their money on."
Significantly, even though men are traditionally the head of the household budgets, the money will be given almost
exclusively to women because Save the Children say that they are more likely to prioritise the needs of the
children.
"It's a very patriarchal society so we'll have to see how successful it is," said Naune.
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