Investing in local markets to nurture safer and more resilient food systems in Mbeya, Tanzania

Markets are the heartbeat of communities, bridging the gap between producers and consumers. However, they often grapple with significant challenges in ensuring food safety and providing access to nutritious food.

Nestled in the heart of Tanzania’s Southern Highlands, Mbeya’s fertile soils have transformed the surrounding landscape into a major production hub for maize, potatoes, rice, beans, horticulture and various other crops. However, the city also has a population of more than 500,000, and this is set to double by 2030. Rapid urbanisation strains existing infrastructure, leading to overcrowding, waste management issues and inadequate sanitation facilities at food markets, hampering access to fresh and quality food. Moreover, poor food safety practices prevail in the area, with locally sold produce often contaminated with pathogens such as E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, along with heavy metals (Nelson Mandela, 2021 Food Risk Assessment Report).

The situation is exacerbated by fragmented distribution systems, high post-harvest losses and poor traceability as well by fragmented responsibility for food governance among city departments. These factors leave small-scale actors such as farmers and market vendors vulnerable to market shocks and add to the vulnerability of groups such as women, youth and low-income earners in the agricultural sector. Rikolto’s DGD-funded Good Food for Cities programme in Tanzania aims to address these challenges, striving for a safer, more sustainable and inclusive food system.

Enhancing food safety through collective action

Recognising the critical role of food environments in encouraging the consumption of safer and more nutritious food, Rikolto and its local partners – MIICO (a consortium of organisations working with smallholder farmers), TCCIA (Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture) and Mbeya City Council – are focusing their intervention on making Mbeya’s food environments, including its local markets, more conducive to healthy and safer diets.

In 2020, the Mbeya Food Smart City Platform was launched with the support of the EU-funded AGRI-CONNECT programme. The platform brings together different stakeholders, including NGOs, agrifood businesses, government departments and farmers’ associations, who share a common goal: to enhance the safety and quality of fresh fruit and vegetables within Mbeya and its neighbouring areas, while strengthening the city’s food governance system. It serves as a hub for discussion and collaboration to improve food market infrastructure, foster inclusive business practices within shorter value chains and promote knowledge exchange with other urban centres. Thanks to their collaboration, an innovative initiative, the Participatory Food Safety System (PFSS), was launched in 2022/23.

“The implementation of the Mbeya Participatory Food Safety System has significantly increased awareness among vegetable and fruit vendors in local markets regarding food safety standards and the critical importance of selling clean and safe produce.”

‍Lilian Mbilinyi

‍Commodity Platforms Coordinator |TCCIA Mbeya.

The Participatory Food Safety System (PFSS) is a holistic approach that involves multiple stakeholders in the validation and certification of the safety of products in public markets, fostering a collective commitment to food safety. It operates as a cyclical process, aligned with production and harvest cycles. Groups of farmers, market vendors, city officials and other stakeholders are first trained in essential food safety practices using a “training of trainers” methodology, agree on the procedures and then pass on their knowledge and support to additional farmers and vendors – more than 300 so far – organised into cohesive clusters. At the heart of the PFSS is an internal peer assessment process, followed by an external assessment conducted by a committee of the Food Smart City Platform. Those who demonstrate compliance with the safety protocols receive tangible recognition in the form of a “Chakula Bora” certificate, attesting to excellent food safety practices and the higher quality of their products.

Rikolto, in partnership with the food safety expert Kilicert, MIICO, TCCIA and Mbeya City Council, rolled out the PFSS in key public markets in Mbeya such as Sokoine, Soweto and Igawilo, involving production clusters in Mwakibete, Kalobe, Igawilo, Inyala and Igale. Farmers were encouraged to adopt sustainable water management practices and use organic pesticides. In markets, vendors were supported in selling their produce on raised platforms following improvements made to their stalls, and encouraged to wear specific aprons when handling food to prevent contamination. Additionally, the initiative helped improve the availability of clean water for washing fresh produce. The repetition of the PFSS cycles is expected to reduce food contamination but also strengthen field-to-fork safety protocols and ultimately ensure a safer food supply.

A multi-pronged approach to maximise impact

The PFSS is only part of the equation. Collaboration within the platform has also supported other initiatives in order to enhance sustainable vegetable production, improve market infrastructure, raise consumer awareness of food safety and look to the future by investing in and empowering young entrepreneurs.

Eleven farmers’ organisations have been supported in adopting climate-smart farming techniques through the implementation of 72 demonstration plots, including seven solar-powered pumps for irrigation, ten greenhouses, seven drip irrigation systems and three seedling nurseries. Farmers have been trained in good agricultural practices (GAP) to ensure the production of safe vegetables and encouraged to use organic fertilisers and disease-tolerant varieties, especially indigenous vegetable varieties. However, improving the quality of a product does not necessarily result in higher prices. Farmers are often vulnerable to buyers who take advantage of their superior market knowledge to drive down prices. By establishing direct and inclusive relationships with market vendors, farmers were able to secure fair prices for their high-quality produce and increase their profit margins by 10%. Thanks to the PFSS project, which has helped to build trust between them, this positive trend is expected to continue.

Farmers and vendors have also benefited from access to essential quality agricultural inputs, technology, financial support and other business development services (BDS). For instance, Rikolto and its partners helped young entrepreneurs who run commercial seedling nurseries to obtain certification by TOSCI, Tanzania’s Seed Quality Control Institute. This mentoring is part of the Generation Food Accelerator which has supported 70 aspiring agripreneurs in horticultural value chains by providing coaching, access to experts and market facilitation. For instance, the Leo Leo digital food distribution enterprise has successfully facilitated business connections between local farmers and food vendors, contributing to the accessibility and availability of high-quality, safe food in Mbeya’s markets. To date, it has attracted 2,841 farmer users, some beyond the reach of the PFSS initiative, and over 800 food vendors and buyers are actively using the app.

Improving food quality and safety at the production level is only the first step. It will not benefit consumers if the produce gets spoiled or contaminated on its way to the market or at the market itself. A sub-committee of the Food Smart City multi-stakeholder platform, including vendors, visited the Mbeya markets for an initial assessment to determine how to allocate the project’s budget for market infrastructure improvements. It was decided to proceed with small-scale upgrades to individual stalls, with the vendors co-investing in the project. Several meetings were held to identify all risks and needs, during which vendors voiced their concerns and requests at every step of the design process. This not only resulted in appropriate and sustainable improvements for 191 market stalls but also strengthened the ties between vendor associations and the city’s decision-makers.

“Initially, our market used wooden stalls, which were constantly rotting and required frequent repairs. We’re thankful for the co-investment that facilitated the transition to sturdy cement stalls. Not only do they offer ample space, but they also maintain cleanliness and durability. I hope to see all stalls at the market modernised in the same manner.”

Rehema Mwankyuse

Food vendor at Igawilo Market

In addition, we conducted a public campaign on food safety through radio programmes, push messages and cooking shows to raise awareness of the risks of unsafe food among urban consumers and try to boost their demand for safe products, reaching a total of 450,000 people in Mbeya.

“I am a buyer at this market, and I like purchasing from here because it is clean and the food I buy is clean. The vendors no longer place their products on the floor. I specifically choose to buy from this vendor because I know they prioritise food safety.”

Reheme Kyando

Consumer at Igawilo market

What’s next?

By arranging meetings between diverse stakeholders to address Mbeya’s food system challenges through the lens of food security and food safety, Rikolto and its partners have initiated a more systemic approach to the city’s food governance. In the future, our efforts will focus on further strengthening collaboration between actors and facilitating synergies between initiatives that contribute in different ways to ensuring affordable, safe and nutritious food for the citizens of Mbeya.

As a first step, we will improve the PFSS’s data collection and management through digitisation to streamline operations and increase transparency, which we hope will enhance the value proposition of safe products and increase demand. Accelerating this process will require not only investment in logistics and market infrastructure but also increasing the involvement of aggregators and transporters in the PFSS process. At the same time, we will continue mobilising and empowering PFSS partners, farmers and vendors to strengthen their ownership of the system and explore ways to strengthen incentives for its wider adoption.

In addition, we will forge new partnerships with educational institutions to educate the future generation of informed citizens, foster a culture of food safety and build evidence to provide science-based recommendations to guide policymakers and other stakeholders in prioritising their investments.