Changing Dietary Practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district

While global and national efforts are increasingly aiming at ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030, food insecurity levels are increasingly high among the pastoralist communities in the sub-Saharan Africa. This scenario is attributed to by the existing efforts and strategies, which are predominan...

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Auteurs principaux: Massoi, Lucy, Saruni, Parit
Format: Article
Langue:anglais
Publié: The Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Academy 2026
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Accès en ligne:https://scholar.mzumbe.ac.tz/handle/123456789/2030
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author Massoi, Lucy
Saruni, Parit
author_facet Massoi, Lucy
Saruni, Parit
author_sort Massoi, Lucy
collection DSpace
description While global and national efforts are increasingly aiming at ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030, food insecurity levels are increasingly high among the pastoralist communities in the sub-Saharan Africa. This scenario is attributed to by the existing efforts and strategies, which are predominantly preoccupied with the narrative that, people are food secured when everyone has access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life at all the time. This perspective overlooks the presence of heterogeneous communities with different cultural beliefs about health, livelihoods, and sustainability of food supply. This article argues that, food security does not only concern with food availability but also traditional dietary preferences. This study used a qualitative case oriented design and data were collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Food production among the Maasai is increasingly inadequate, and traditional dietary practices among the Maasai pastoralists is increasingly changing as a result of agrarian transformation in the Kilosa District in Tanzania. This is where large chunks of land are transformed for agricultural activities as a way of increasing food availability in terms of the number of meals intake and the type of meals consumed. Conventional dietary meals such as cereals and green leaves are increasingly consumed with a decreasing number of meals consumed per day and the changing of the type of meals consumed. Therefore, the analysis of food and nutrition security should understand that, cultural food preferences are important because they are interconnected with beliefs about health, livelihoods and sustainability of food supply. This study suggests that policies that address food and nutrition insecurity need to take on board the close relationship between food, nutrition security, and culture. It is important for communities to embrace other alternatives for livelihood, including farming and government support in irrigation to improve food access and availability.
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spelling ir-:123456789-20302026-07-21T10:20:06Z Changing Dietary Practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district Massoi, Lucy Saruni, Parit Food insecurity Pastoral Maasai Changing dietary While global and national efforts are increasingly aiming at ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030, food insecurity levels are increasingly high among the pastoralist communities in the sub-Saharan Africa. This scenario is attributed to by the existing efforts and strategies, which are predominantly preoccupied with the narrative that, people are food secured when everyone has access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life at all the time. This perspective overlooks the presence of heterogeneous communities with different cultural beliefs about health, livelihoods, and sustainability of food supply. This article argues that, food security does not only concern with food availability but also traditional dietary preferences. This study used a qualitative case oriented design and data were collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Food production among the Maasai is increasingly inadequate, and traditional dietary practices among the Maasai pastoralists is increasingly changing as a result of agrarian transformation in the Kilosa District in Tanzania. This is where large chunks of land are transformed for agricultural activities as a way of increasing food availability in terms of the number of meals intake and the type of meals consumed. Conventional dietary meals such as cereals and green leaves are increasingly consumed with a decreasing number of meals consumed per day and the changing of the type of meals consumed. Therefore, the analysis of food and nutrition security should understand that, cultural food preferences are important because they are interconnected with beliefs about health, livelihoods and sustainability of food supply. This study suggests that policies that address food and nutrition insecurity need to take on board the close relationship between food, nutrition security, and culture. It is important for communities to embrace other alternatives for livelihood, including farming and government support in irrigation to improve food access and availability. 2026-06-03T07:22:44Z 2020-06-15 Article APA https://scholar.mzumbe.ac.tz/handle/123456789/2030 en application/pdf The Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Academy
spellingShingle Food insecurity
Pastoral Maasai
Changing dietary
Massoi, Lucy
Saruni, Parit
Changing Dietary Practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district
title Changing Dietary Practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district
title_full Changing Dietary Practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district
title_fullStr Changing Dietary Practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district
title_full_unstemmed Changing Dietary Practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district
title_short Changing Dietary Practices: The new food insecurity among the pastoralists in Mabwegere village Kilosa district
title_sort changing dietary practices the new food insecurity among the pastoralists in mabwegere village kilosa district
topic Food insecurity
Pastoral Maasai
Changing dietary
url https://scholar.mzumbe.ac.tz/handle/123456789/2030
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