The Centre comprises of five directorates, namely:

1. Directorate of Nutrition Policy and Planning.

2. Directorate of Finance, Personnel and Administration.

3. Directorate of Nutrition Education and Training.

4. Directorate of Food Science and Nutrition.

5. Directorate of Community Health and Nutrition.

The Directorate of Nutrition Policy and Planning  is responsible for coordinating the Centre’s plans and for coordinating the development of food and nutrition policy in the country. It is also responsible for developing models for food production planning, collection and analysis of data both as part of the national programmes in the country and for the evaluation of the nutritional effects of various intervention programmes. The department is also responsible for compiling data on various aspects of nutrition.

The Directorate of Finance Personnel and Administration is responsible for finance, personnel and general office administration of the organization.

The Directorate of Community Health and Nutrition  has responsibility for the initiation and coordination of  nutrition research in the country and for evaluating and advising on the adequacy of the diets provided in institutions, particularly hospitals, boarding schools, prisons, and day schools (as part of the school feeding programme). Its other major task is to define the causal relationship between malnutrition and medical factors, as they occur in Tanzania in the context of the dependence of health status on socio-economic, ecological and cultural factors, and to assist communities to solve their nutrition problems.

The Directorate of Nutrition Education and Training  has the task of guiding the inclusion of nutrition concerns in education and training institutions and programmes. It also has responsibility for nutrition promotion and communication for increasing the awareness and understanding of the general public and other stakeholders in matters relating to nutrition.

The directorate also provides library services, which specialize in food and nutrition. The Library caters for TFNC staff, academicians from other institutions, students and the general public.

The Directorate of Food Science and Technology is responsible for undertaking and coordinating research and development activities in the fields of food technology and food science. Whether developing or adapting technologies, exploring processing techniques, or investigating storage structure improvements, this directorate examine its work in terms of both village and at industrial levels and determine which findings are best applied and on which scale.

The Laboratory Services section is within this directorate. It has the task of providing laboratory based analysis of samples collected for research purposes. It provides laboratory services to research originating from all the TFNC Directorates as well as from others partners outside TFNC who are concerned with nutrition-oriented work.

The work of each Directorate is coordinated through the management committee and is developed in close co-operation with other national bodies working in related field.