Illness and Food Security in Rufiji District, Tanzania

Abstract

A socio-economic survey was conducted among 225 households comprising 1,193 individuals in Rufiji District, Tanzania, in 2006 to: (a) determine the number of people who were ill; (b) find the commonest illnesses; and (c) compare food security in households where members were ill for fewer days and where they were ill for more days. It was found that 13% of the individuals were ill during the survey and that the top ten illnesses were malaria (29.9%), joints/body pains (19.5%), fever (9.1%), chest/TB (5.8%), headache (5.8%), stomach ache (4.5%), asthma (3.3%), eyes (3.3%), UTI/STI (2.6%), and diarrhoea (2.0%). Multiple one-way ANOVA comparisons of mean differences in dietary energy consumed (DEC) in five groups of the households based on the number of days that the individuals were ill showed significant difference between the fourth and the fifth groups (p = 0.021). It is concluded that with few days of household members being ill food security in terms of DEC is affected little, but that with more days of illness, food security is substantially affected. Therefore, if health services are not improved in rural areas, particularly in Rufiji District, the problem of low food production leading to food insecurity will linger on. It is recommended that the Government and other stakeholders should scale-up health interventions in rural areas, among other strategies, in order to improve food security.

Key words: illness, food security, dietary energy consumed, health services