supply of nutrients. there are worrying cases in ldcs including tanzania in which exclusive breastfeeding is only practiced in the first two to four postnatal months. poor breastfeeding also stems from the inequality that exists between developed countries and ldcs, there needs to be equal opportunities to enable children to grow and hence contribute to economies, breastfeeding is for lifelong health for individuals and communities 2. timing of introduction of complementary food complementary feeding as the names suggests is the introduction of other foods including liquids to help cope up with the growth speed of the child. as a result, with complementary feeding children attain good nutrition status and hence growth and being able to attain their full potential 3. complementary food that are poor in nutrition there is available data that majority of children in tanzania are born with weight well above the recommended weight of 2.5 kilograms. but unfortunately, growth start to falter during and after introduction of complementary food. this is because most of the complementary food that are available do not meet the quality attributes in terms of energy and micronutrients. the high cost associated with available complementary food and their accessibility also play a major role here partnership to improve maternal and child health recently, tanzania has experienced an increase in partnership with different un organizations, ngos, the government and health professional communities on improving maternal and child health. the advances in maternal newborn and child health (mnch) that have occurred thus far are the result of programmes and initiatives conducted by government in partnership with un organisations, ngos, and health professional communities. some specific examples of action: the tanzania unicef country office works in line with the global campaign on children and aids to shed spotlight on the impact of hiv/aids on children. it also conducts evidence based programmes in the area of malaria, and child survival with a focus on pneumonia, diarrhoea, malnutrition and water and sanitation. another partner, save the children in tanzania, focuses on interventions in education, healthcare and food security. its strategy is based on close collaboration with the communities. family care international has launched the skilled care initiative in tanzania. this programme aims to ensure that high quality skilled care is available to pregnant women. this project is funded by the bill & melinda gates foundation. engender health in tanzania focuses on family planning and prevention mother-to-child transmission (pmtct). they also respond to needs through counselling and outreach programmes among others. these and other actors are foundation of the partnerships.