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Youth-friendly services give adolescents a voice in Tabora
April 15, 2026
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Story
Building stronger nutrition systems in Tanzania
At the 13th Tanzania Health Summit, discussions on data, national ownership and adolescent health highlighted why stronger systems are essential to sustaining nutrition gains.
Posted on October 8, 2026
Speakers at the 13th Tanzania Health Summit in Dar es Salaam on October 5th, 2026.
For Dr George Mwita, Nutrition International’s Country Director in Tanzania, one of the most valuable contributions innovation can make is helping health planners see beyond national averages.
Speaking during the Tanzania Health Summit in Dar es Salaam on October 5, Dr Mwita noted that limited resources make it increasingly important to identify where nutrition needs are greatest. National figures can mask significant differences between communities, leaving decision makers without the detailed information they need to direct support effectively.
The Canada–Tanzania Health Cooperation Dialogue, held at Mlimani City, brought together government representatives, development partners, private sector actors and technology innovators to explore how health partnerships are evolving. For Nutrition International, it provided an opportunity to discuss how better evidence can support smarter investments in health and nutrition.
Dr Mwita highlighted emerging work in Kenya using artificial intelligence (AI) to support forecasting at the health-facility level, while making clear that similar approaches have not yet been implemented in Tanzania. He also pointed to the potential of improved stock management systems to help prevent shortages of vitamin A and other essential nutrition commodities.
His enthusiasm for innovation came with an important reminder.
“AI is only as good as underlying data,” he said.
Continued investment in data and information systems remains essential. Advanced analytics can support decision making, but they depend on reliable, high-quality data.
Working with Tanzania’s priorities
Her Excellency Emily Burns, High Commissioner of Canada to Tanzania spoke about the next phase of a longstanding partnership between Canada and Tanzania, emphasizing support for Tanzania’s health system while creating opportunities for technology, investment and private sector collaboration.
“In this and all respects, we’re following your lead,” she said.
Her remarks reflected a broader theme across the summit: effective partnerships should strengthen national systems and support countries to sustain progress over time.
These discussions have direct implications for nutrition. Successful interventions depend on much more than program design. Supplies must reach facilities, information must reach decision makers and the institutions responsible for delivering services must have the capacity to sustain them.
From partnership to nutrition sovereignty
Another key theme explored at the summit was nutrition sovereignty and what it would take for Tanzania to strengthen ownership of its nutrition agenda over the long term.
During a panel convened by the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) and Nutrition International, speakers reflected on a proposed long-term nutrition plan extending to 2050 and examined how stronger systems, financing and accountability could help sustain progress.
Dr Germana Leyna, TFNC’s Managing Director, acknowledged the progress Tanzania has made in building nutrition institutions and strategies while highlighting ongoing implementation challenges.
“We plan a lot, we implement very little of what we plan,” she said.
She called for stronger accountability across sectors, more predictable domestic financing and greater attention to results.
Luitfrid Peter Nnally, Assistant Director of the Nutrition Unit at Tanzania’s Regional Administration and Local Government Ministry, stressed the importance of local planning and budgeting, community feedback mechanisms and research that responds to local needs.
The need remains significant. Tanzania’s 2022 Demographic and Health Survey found that 30 per cent of children under five are stunted, underscoring the importance of translating national commitments into effective services at the community level.
Nutrition International’s Manager for Nutrition Governance in Africa, Everlyn Matiri, shared lessons from other countries while emphasizing that there is no universal solution.
“There is no single model that works,” she said.
She highlighted lessons from Ethiopia, where interventions are introduced in phases, refined through learning and expanded over time. Kenya’s county nutrition action plans provide another example, bringing stakeholders together around locally identified priorities and helping mobilize resources for nutrition.
Matiri also stressed the importance of tracking resources after budgets are approved. Allocating funds is only part of the process. Governments and communities must be able to see how nutrition resources are being used and whether they are delivering results.
What adolescents can tell us about better services
The BRIGHT, or Building Rights for Improved Girl’s Health in Tanzania project brought another perspective to these discussions by exploring the relationship between adolescent engagement and the quality of health and nutrition services.
BRIGHT is funded by the Government of Canada. Led by Nutrition International in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania, EngenderHealth and the Tanzania Women’s Lawyers Association (TAWLA), the project supports adolescents aged 10 to 19 in Tabora to improve their sexual and reproductive health and nutrition outcomes.
Dr Emiliana Maswi, the BRIGHT Project Technical Director, presented findings from a study involving more than 5,400 participants, alongside focus group discussions, key informant interviews and routine health service data from public facilities across Tabora.
The findings showed significant improvements in how health workers responded to feedback from adolescents. The proportion of healthcare workers applying adolescent feedback increased from 32.2 per cent in 2022 to 76.3 per cent in 2026. Among community health workers, the figure rose from 24.2 per cent to 74 per cent.
These gains point to more responsive health services. They also raise an important question: once young people share their views, do they know whether anything has changed?
The study’s recommendations emphasized the importance of closing that loop.
“Close accountability feedback loops so that adolescents understand how their input changes services,” the presentation urged.
Its conclusions highlighted the need to embed adolescent participation, accountability and responsive service delivery within government systems so that progress can be sustained over time.
For Nutrition International, the findings illustrate that sustainable progress depends on more than policies, funding or technology alone. Strong systems also ensure that the people who rely on services have a voice in shaping them.
The discussions in Dar es Salaam highlighted a common theme: lasting nutrition gains depend on turning commitments into action. A national plan needs resources at the local level. New analytical tools depend on reliable data. And when adolescents are invited to share their views, they need to know that someone has listened and acted.
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