BY EPHREM ANDARGACHEW
Malnutrition contributes to a significant percentage of all infant and child deaths in developing countries. Hence, nutrition is important during the first 1,000 days from the start of a woman’s pregnancy to her child’s second birthday to avoid the irreversible negative impact on the child’s health, cognitive development, physical growth, and school and work performance later in life.
Food insecurity, poor maternal and child feeding practices, high incidence of infectious diseases, and limited access to quality nutrition services are among the nutrition problems that are usually observed in these countries. Besides, frequent droughts, complicating access to and consumption of nutritious foods is a major obstacle to food security across the country.
Moreover, in developing countries children consume the least diverse diets. Because at the household level, food consumption baskets, in Ethiopia, are dominated by cereals and pulses, while the consumption of animal-source foods and fruits, and Vitamin A-rich vegetables are rare, especially in rural areas.
Ethiopian Former Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn noted the need for an innovative approach in order to transform the agriculture and food systems in Africa, which is identified by vulnerability to multiple and overlapping shocks and threats.
To feed its growing population, Africa spends about 45 billion USD annually on food imports and this trend means that we might reach 110 billion USD in 2025 if nothing is done, especially as we are beginning to experience strains in global supply chains, Hailemariam said.
Hence, “we must find ways to transform Africa’s food systems, which had been defined by vulnerability to multiple and overlapping shocks and threats, taking advantage of the recommendations of last year’s food system summit and assisting member states to implement the African common position on food systems. We must tackle how to improve on food production through increased yield including through ensuring adequate access to fertilizer, seed, and other critical inputs.”
FAO Assistant Director-General Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Hailegabriel explained “Africa is moving backward in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition.” Furthermore, over a billion Africans cannot afford a healthy diet.
More people slide into chronic hunger in 2020 than in the previous 5 years combined, Abebe stated, and underscored “signaling that recovery from the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 is an enormous and ongoing challenge in Africa.” Policy actions to diversify sources of food suppliers and domestic production, improved effectiveness, and efficiencies of social protection programs are the things needed to be implemented currently, according to him.
Ethiopian Health Minister Dr. Lia Tadesse elucidated “as a nation we experience huge nutrition and food security problems, especially stunting, and the government has shown a strong commitment to ending stunting of under two years’ children in Ethiopia through the Seqota Declaration.”
Taking the multi-benefits and contribution of nutrition across the country, Ethiopia Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed launches the national nutrition scheme “Ye Lemat Tirufat.” The scheme is a national initiative intended to implement a balanced diet at a household level drawing experiences from the best practices in the Green Legacy, Wheat, and Avocado Production.
According to Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, apart from ensuring national food self-sufficiency, the program will play a vital role in implementing family nutrition by significantly improving milk, eggs, poultry, and honey production across the nation.
This development campaign focuses on nutritional opulence. The traditional food container, “Lemat,” represents a link between farmers, pastoralists, and consumers. It is about getting adequate nutritional food. Food self-sufficiency is directly linked to national sovereignty and dignity, and the “Yelemat Tirufat” campaign accelerates our efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency at the family and national levels, he added.
Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture Umar Hussain said that the program will be implemented over the next four years and various results will be expected. Accordingly, the current goal is to increase animal production and productivity, ensure food security, create job opportunities, increase export and replace imported animal products with domestic ones.
Hence, the program has now been started with milk, eggs, chicken meat, and honey, and we will expand it to other products after the evaluation of their results. This will help to increase the products that were low by using the country’s vast animal and poultry resources. Besides, the program aims to increase chicken meat from 90 thousand tons to 296 thousand tons, milk production from 6.9 billion liters to 11.7 billion liters, egg production from 3.2 billion to 9.1 billion, and honey production from 147 thousand tons to 296 thousand tons.
Indeed, increasing food production will help to diversify the menus and good access to markets. It also alleviates the malnutrition problems of the country. Therefore, partners, donors, and stakeholders should affirm to make sure the realization of the national nutrition scheme “Ye Lemat Tirufat program.
The Ethiopian Herald November 8/2022
