Critiquing Experts’ Struggles to Amplify the Concept of ‘Nutrition’ among Under-five Children in Southern Coastal Tanzania

Abstract

_{This article analyses experts’ views of the underlying causes of (under)nutrition issues among}

_{children in southern coastal Tanzania by paying attention to the sectors of agriculture, wildlife}

_{and fisheries. This critique is in the light of Harvey’s (2003) concept of ‘accumulation by}

_{dispossession’ and Foucault’s (1976) concept of ‘biopolitics’. While accumulation by}

_{dispossession describes transformations that ensure the coexistence of commodity and non-}

_{commodity relations in southern coastal Tanzania, biopolitics highlights experts’ techniques}

_{with which both, the said relations and experts’ views of nutrition, are legitimized and}

_{reproduced. Using critical ethnography, we conducted in-depth interviews (IDIs) with experts}

_{at various levels and reviewed documents to highlight the techniques with which experts}

_{represent and legitimize their understanding of nutrition. Findings show that, despite struggles}

_{to amplify it, the experts’ view of nutrition remains exclusionist, representing coastal}

_{communities as isolated and restrictive to rational nutrition thoughts, actions and practices. In}

_{particular, the experts’ understanding of nutrition misses critical aspects, namely features of}

_{coastal communities such as production and consumption patterns as well as their views of}

_{nutrition for children. Accordingly, this paper recommends that experts should refashion their}

_{conceptual tools to enable them to capture the social organization, consequent social}

_{conditions of the coastal communities, and their experiences. All these play a critical role in}

_{shaping their understanding of ‘nutrition’ among children in southern coastal Tanzania.}