Abstract:
Food safety is critical but poorly addressed in African countries. A food safety training and
certification intervention piloted in Kenya, India, Tanzania, and Nigeria was scaled and sustained
in India but not the African countries. There is limited knowledge about how contextual factors
facilitated or limited the scale and sustainability of the intervention in African countries. This
research analysed the reach and contextual drivers of scale and sustainability of the intervention
in Tanzania’s informal dairy sector four years post-implementation to draw lessons around the
scale and sustainability of such interventions in African contexts. We utilized a convergence mixed
method study design. We compiled data using document review, surveys with dairy traders, and
key informant interviews with key dairy stakeholders. The intervention reach was limited. Critical
incentives for traders and intervention implementers to engage with the intervention were lacking
due to the absence of government commitment to support the intervention through policy. The
traders and intervention implementers also lacked adequate capacities, compromising intervention
delivery. For the intervention to achieve scale and sustainability in Tanzania and similar contexts,
governments must be committed to food safety and provide enabling policy environments. The
interventions must also consider the capacities of the beneficiaries and implementers.
