Abstract:
Ethiopia still faces a high burden of malnutrition due to environmental,
social, political, economic, and cultural factors. Inadequate agricultural
productivity, post-harvest losses, poor food safety and quality, poor
caring and feeding practices, inadequate access to WASH products
and practices and poor-quality health services, natural disasters such
as drought and climate change, population growth, land degradation
and lack of infrastructure are major drivers of the country’s food and
nutrition insecurity. The problem is further compounded by cultural
beliefs, food taboos and traditional cooking and feeding practices,
which tend to discourage women and children from consuming
nutritious foods.
Nutrition security demands the utilisation of food to generate optimal
nutritional status, wellbeing, productivity, and longevity. Nutrition
security is achieved when the secure access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food is coupled with proper care and feeding practices,
a sanitary environment and access to adequate health services,
thereby ensuring a healthy life for all household members. Hence,
food security alone is insufficient to ensure nutrition security. Thus,
access to clean water, a hygienic environment, and adequate health
National Food and Nutrition Strategy 2 Summary Booklet
care services are central components of attaining nutrition security.
Unhygienic environments, coupled with poor access to health
services, impose a heavy disease burden that makes it difficult for
individuals to properly utilize and absorb the nutrients they consume,
which in turn further increases their exposure to infectious disease.
