Enjoying the traditional food during the gala

This year FAO partnered with Tulia Trust and Singida regional authorities to organize a Traditional Food Gala and other promotional activities in Singida on October 15, 2019 to promote the use of traditional food for healthy diets as part of the celebrations to mark the World Food Day (WFD). The aim to raise public awareness on the possibility of achieving Zero Hunger and eradication of malnutrition in all its forms through the promotion and use of traditional food.

In line with 2019 WFD theme

The gala and the accompanying traditional dances were in line with the 2019 WFD’s theme ‘Our Actions are Our Future. Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World’ and therefore went miles away in promoting healthy diets through local foods which have all along been known to be nutritious and healthy. Traditional dance groups from Mbeya, Mwanza and Singida region took part in the gala with the different types of food from those regions being the main area of focus.

The Chief Guest of the gala was the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania, Hon. Dr. Tulia Ackson. In her speech, Dr. Tulia underscored the key role that traditional food played in our daily lives.

 “Traditional food is so rich in all the essential nutrients that our bodies need. We need to promote them. What a better way of doing it than promoting this through our traditional dances,” she pointed out.

 Milestones

On his side, the FAO Representative to Tanzania, Fred Kafeero, noted that through food fairs, there was no doubt that consumers will see the value of utilizing the variety of nutritious foods produced and prepared in the country.

“We are very grateful to the community of Singida for their efforts, to organize, prepare and feed us with such nutritious foods. Our heartfelt gratitude also go to the regional authorities of Singida, The Tulia Trust in promoting traditional foods as s source of health diets,” he said on behalf of other UN Agencies that supported the food gala and other 2019 WFD including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP) who have worked with FAO in facilitating the food fair.

 He said they were ready to support farmers to increase and diversify the production of nutritious food while pledging to continue our strong collaboration with the Tulia Trust to take the food fairs to other regions in the country in order to sensitize communities on the need to consume traditional foods that are rich in nutrition value.