Stakeholders call for strong partnerships to end malnutrition in Ethiopia
October 16, 2019 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Stakeholders in Ethiopia marked World Food Day, with a call for stronger partnerships in fighting malnutrition and promoting healthy diets.
Speaking at the event that was held at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus in Addis Ababa, Dr Eyasu Abraha, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture called upon stakeholders to "work together to combat all forms of malnutrition and create a healthy and wealthy population."
Dr Abraha said increasing agricultural production and productivity and reducing post-harvest losses were some of the priorities of the government of Ethiopia, intended to address food insecurity and malnutrition.
The message of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General, Qu Dongyu that was delivered by Fatouma Seid, the FAO Representative to Ethiopia also underscored the importance of partnerships in eradicating hunger addressing all forms of malnutrition.
"Farmers, governments, researchers, the private sector and consumers, "all have a role to play in making healthy and sustainable diets accessible and affordable to everyone," he said.
Qu Dongyu also said FAO would continue supporting Member Nations to increase the production and consumption of high quality and nutritious food through investment in agriculture, regulatory frameworks, technologies, and innovations.
Nutrition, a major challenge for Ethiopia
Malnutrition is one of Ethiopia's most pressing health problems and a significant contributor to child mortality and disease. About 38 percent of children under five years suffer from chronic under-nutrition (stunted or being too short for their age), and 10 percent suffer from acute under-nutrition (wasted or having weight too low for their height). These conditions put the children at risk of poor brain development, weak learning, low immunity, increased infections, and, in many cases, death. The increasing production of processed foods and changing lifestyles have also led to a shift in dietary patterns, with people consuming more foods high in energy, fats, free sugars, and salt/sodium.
Multipronged approach proposed
A panel of experts representing the government, United Nations, private sector, and academia emphasized the need to address malnutrition through multi-sectoral nutrition-sensitive interventions, with agricultural sector playing a leading role. They noted that unless greater efforts are made, the scale of malnutrition would prevent Ethiopia from achieving its development objectives, including the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 - 'End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. They emphasized the need to transform the existing food system to support healthier diets by increasing productivity of diversified crops; and improving the accessibility, availability, safety and affordability of nutritious foods. They hailed the United Nations agencies’ strategic partnerships with the Government of Ethiopia and said it was crucial in advancing national development objectives, including ending stunting by 2030. They also underlined the role of research in providing evidence to inform policy and programming. The panel also called on the government to adopt and communicate Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) - recommendations of the balance of foods that populations should be consuming for a healthy diet. They stressed that educating and informing the general population about healthier eating practices would go a long way in improving nutrition outcomes.
Adele Khodr, the UNICEF Ethiopia Representative said to reduce stunting in children, efforts should be made to promote dietary diversity.
“Ensuring that children eat healthy and diversified foods is key to reducing stunting. Here in Ethiopia, only about two in 10 young children aged between six to 24 months eat a healthy diet,” she said.
On her part, Dr Sibonso Moyo, the Director-General of ILRI, emphasized the need to encourage the production and consumption of livestock products because they were vital in addressing nutrition. She added that despite Ethiopia having a rich livestock resource, the consumption of animal protein was low.
"The daily diets of many people in this country contain very few animal products," she said.
Stakeholders also said there was a need for food systems to become more sustainable. To this end, they encouraged the strengthening of local food production and processing, especially by smallholder and family farmers, giving special attention to the empowerment of women.
Role of private sector is critical
The stakeholders also highlighted the essential role of the private sector in addressing malnutrition and urged the government to provide a conducive policy environment to advance their efforts. They said the private sector could leveraging the agricultural sector productivity and processing, invest in the production of healthy food, fortification and biofortification programmes, and providing nutrition education to the consumers of food.
Call for regional approaches
In his remarks, the FAO Subregional Coordinator and Representative to African Union, and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), David Chimimba Phiri, called for accelerated and region-wide approaches in responding to food insecurity and malnutrition because the Eastern African Subregion carries the most substantial burden of food insecurity in Africa. He said the main drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition were climate, conflict, and economic instability.
"Despite having only 15 percent of the population, 50 percent of the 256 million food-insecure people in Africa are in East Africa. The number of undernourished people in our Subregion also increased from 117 million in 2015, to 130 million in 2016 and 132 million in 2017," he said.
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About World Food Day
World Food Day is a day of action dedicated to tackling global hunger. Held annually on 16 October, World Food Day events promote awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all.
World Food Day also commemorates the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945. A specialized agency of the United Nations, FAO aims to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. Ethiopia is one of the 194 Member Nations of FAO, having joined the Organization in 1948. In 1981, FAO opened a Representation Office in Addis Ababa, which also hosts the Organization's Subregional Office for Eastern Africa.
The theme for this year's World Food Day is "our actions are our future. Healthy diets. For a Zero Hunger world."
Contact
Rachel Nandelenga, Communication Expert
FAO Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)
(+251) 900 806 675