PL-480 Title II food distributions in Tanzania were not targeted at nutritionally substandard children

480 Title II program implemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Tanzania. Audit report covers the period 3/82-2/83 and is based on site visits and discussions with USAID/T and CRS/T personnel. In response to a recommendation of the 9/80 audit, CRS is implementing an inventory system which appears both adequate and adaptable worldwide. CRS has also drafted an excellent manual for managing Title II programs and is establishing a system to collect reliable data for its quarterly Recipient Status Reports. Several areas, however, still need improvement. Although the target group of the maternal/child health (MCH) program is legally defined as substandard weight children aged 0-5, CRS"s definition encompasses virtually the entire population, making Title II in effect a give-away program. CRS does employ growth surveillance charts in its African programs, but does not use the data they provide to develop criteria regarding those who should be fed. Further, nutrition and health education at the centers is unsystematic, varying widely in quality and quantity. A widespread lack of community projects to grow food or increase income and the lengthy periods for which many centers have been providing food (up to 12 years in some cases) is evidence of excessive dependency on Title II foods. Feeding at day care centers lacks the nutritional monitoring and educational benefits of the MCH program; at the time of the audit it was not known whether the children in these centers actually needed the food. Title II programs operating in conjunction with company benefit programs provide food only to employees and their families, which very often include children not nutritionally substandard. It is recommended that USAID/T work with CRS/T and AID/W to: ensure that food is distributed in the MCH and day care centers only to nutritionally substandard children and is distributed only at centers with a high percentage of such children; formalize and expand coverage of key topics in nutrition and health education programs; design programs to lessen the need for the Title II program; and, together with the Regional Food for Peace Officer, review the advisability of supporting company feeding programs.