Map of Ethiopia

Nutrition

At a Productive Safety Net Program food distribution site in Tigray, food recipients receive nutrition training.
At a Productive Safety Net Program food distribution site in Tigray, food recipients receive nutrition training.
Robert Sauers, USAID

Twenty-nine percent of Ethiopian women are malnourished, and 44 percent of children suffer from chronic under-nutrition. Both micronutrient and protein-caloric malnutrition are complications for children, may stunt a child’s growth, and have other long-term implications for their development. In conjunction with the Feed the Future Initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other USAID programs to end hunger and improve nutrition, our nutrition activities provide technical assistance in developing national policy, programs, guidelines and institutional capacity to monitor undernourished populations. Nutrition assessment and counseling support is provided by us and our partners to hospitals and health centers, in addition to fortification and supplementation of micronutrients. We also combat malnutrition by providing training and materials for nutrition education on a community level.

Through our non-governmental organization partners, we support nutrition-related activities to reach food insecure households under the Productive Safety Net Program. These activities seek to improve the nutritional status of targeted communities with a focus on improving the quality of health services for pregnant and lactating mothers, raising awareness of healthy nutrition practices, improving the health, nutrition, water and sanitation status of children, developing the capacity of health extension workers, supporting community-based management of acute malnutrition, and harmonizing activities with the Ethiopian Government's health and nutrition initiatives, and providing nutritious food to mothers and children.

Activities Include

  • Solutions for African Food Enterprises: Increase the competitiveness of the Ethiopian wheat-processing sector and expand availability of affordable and nutritious foods in Ethiopia. A public-private partnership between TechnoServe and Partners in Food Solutions (General Mills, Cargill, and DSM), and USAID.

  • Development Food Assistance Program – Productive Safety Net Program: Improve the nutritional status of targeted communities with a focus on improving the quality of health services for pregnant and lactating mothers, raising awareness on healthy practices, and developing the capacity of health extension workers. Through our partners (Catholic Relief Services, Food for the Hungry-Ethiopia, Relief Society of Tigray, and World Vision), USAID is supporting nutrition-related activities to reach food insecure households under the Productive Safety Net Program. These activities seek to improve the nutritional status of targeted communities with a focus on improving the quality of health services for pregnant and lactating mothers, raising awareness of healthy nutrition practices, improving the health, nutrition, water and sanitation status of children, developing the capacity of health extension workers, supporting community-based management of acute malnutrition, and harmonizing activities with the Ethiopian Government's health and nutrition initiatives, and providing nutritious food to mothers and children.

  • Empowering New Generations in Improved Nutrition and Economic Opportunities: Uses sustainable, comprehensive, and coordinated interventions to improve the nutritional status of women and young children. Focuses on strengthening nutrition programs and policy, health care services, community-oriented nutrition and livelihood care and practices, and a rigorous learning agenda.

  • Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance III: Provides technical assistance in nutrition training at national and regional levels in reviewing and updating national HIV/AIDS nutrition policy and guidelines.

  • Growth through Nutrition: Uses sustainable, comprehensive, and coordinated interventions to improve the nutritional status of women and young children. Focuses on strengthening nutrition programs and policy, health care services, community-oriented nutrition and livelihood care and practices, access to clean water, and a rigorous learning agenda.

New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition Activities in Ethiopia

  • Feed the Future Ethiopia Advanced Maize Seed Adoption Program: Help farmers transition from open-pollinated varieties of maize seed to higher yielding hybrid maize. DuPont Pioneer and USAID are investing more than $2 million to provide improved varieties of maize seed and technical assistance. A New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition public-private partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Transformation Agency, DuPont Pioneer, and USAID. Video. Photo Gallery.

Other USAID Activities that Promote Improved Nutrition in Ethiopia

  • Agricultural Growth Program – Livestock Market Development: Support the Government of Ethiopia’s Agricultural Growth Program by improving smallholder incomes and nutritional status through investments in selected livestock value chains. The activity provides technical assistance and grant-supported equipment investments to agro-processors in order to increase the output of meat and dairy products for domestic and international markets.

  • Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity: Promote the commercialization of valuable foods typically produced by smallholders: maize, chickpea, coffee, livestock (meats), dairy, and poultry. Smallholders will improve their productivity, thereby enabling them to consume a greater portion of the nutritious foods they grow as well as earning stronger profits from the goods they sell to local, national and international markets.

  • Pastoralist Areas Resilience Improvement and Market Expansion: Target pastoral areas of Ethiopia to promote the viability and resiliency of pastoralist communities through market development and natural resource management. Graduate 50,000 households (200,000 people) in 16 districts from the Productive Safety Net Program through increased income and creation of assets that enhance their livelihoods potential.

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