Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia
Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia

Author: Kalle Hirvonen

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Poor dietary quality is a significant risk factor for stunting and micronutrient deficiencies among young children and globally one of the leading causes of premature death and disease (Arimond & Ruel, 2004; Forouzanfar et al., 2015). Dietary quality is typically proxied by diversity of the consumed diet. Foods with similar nutritional qualities are first grouped together and dietary diversity is measured by the number of different food groups consumed in a certain time interval. For example, the World Health Organization recommends that children 6-23 months consume at least from four food groups (out of seven) every day. Based on this metric, Ethiopian children in this age range consume one of the least diversified diets in sub-Saharan Africa (Hirvonen, 2016) with only 14 percent meeting the WHO recommendation (CSA & ICF, 2016). Recent analysis of the timing of growth faltering of young children suggests that poor complementary feeding practices, including poor dietary quality, is an important risk factor for stunting in Ethiopia (Hirvonen, Headey, Golan, & Hoddinott, 2019). The available evidence suggests that diets are monotonous also at the household level. For example, in 2011, the average Ethiopian household consumed only 42 kg of fruits and vegetables in a year per adult equivalent (Hassen Worku, Dereje, Minten, & Hirvonen, 2017) – far below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 146 kg per year (Hall, Moore, Harper, & Lynch, 2009). This report is structured as follows. In the subsequent section, we describe the data used in this report. In section 3, we assess the consumption of nutritious foods among vulnerable groups: young children and mothers. In section 4, we assess the production of nutritious foods in the region. In section 5, we study the availability of nutritious foods in rural markets. In section 6, we assess the affordability of nutritious foods in the region. Section 7 concludes and summarizes the findings.

Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia
Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia

Author: Kalle Hirvonen

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-11-11

Total Pages: 39

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Poor dietary quality is a significant risk factor for stunting and micronutrient deficiencies among young children and globally one of the leading causes of premature death and disease (Arimond & Ruel, 2004; Forouzanfar et al., 2015). Dietary quality is typically proxied by diversity of the consumed diet. Foods with similar nutritional qualities are first grouped together and dietary diversity is measured by the number of different food groups consumed in a certain time interval. For example, the World Health Organization recommends that children 6-23 months consume at least from four food groups (out of seven) every day. Based on this metric, Ethiopian children in this age range consume one of the least diversified diets in sub-Saharan Africa (Hirvonen, 2016) with only 14 percent meeting the WHO recommendation (CSA & ICF, 2016). Recent analysis of the timing of growth faltering of young children suggests that poor complementary feeding practices, including poor dietary quality, is an important risk factor for stunting in Ethiopia (Hirvonen, Headey, Golan, & Hoddinott, 2019). The available evidence suggests that diets are monotonous also at the household level. For example, in 2011, the average Ethiopian household consumed only 42 kg of fruits and vegetables in a year per adult equivalent (Hassen Worku, Dereje, Minten, & Hirvonen, 2017) – far below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 146 kg per year (Hall, Moore, Harper, & Lynch, 2009). This report is structured as follows. In the subsequent section we describe the data used in this report. In section 3, we assess the consumption of nutritious foods among vulnerable groups: young children and mothers. In section 4, we assess the production of nutritious foods in the region. In section 5, we study the availability of nutritious foods in rural markets. In section 6, we assess the affordability of nutritious foods in the region. Section 7 concludes and summarizes the findings.

Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the Afar Region of Ethiopia
Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the Afar Region of Ethiopia

Author: Kalle Hirvonen

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Poor dietary quality is a significant risk factor for stunting and micronutrient deficiencies among young children and globally one of the leading causes of premature death and disease (Arimond & Ruel, 2004; Forouzanfar et al., 2015). Dietary quality is typically proxied by diversity of the consumed diet. Foods with similar nutritional qualities are first grouped together and dietary diversity is measured by the number of different food groups consumed in a certain time interval. For example, the World Health Organization recommends that children 6-23 months consume at least four food groups (out of seven) every day. Based on this metric, Ethiopian children in this age range consume one of the least diversified diets in sub-Saharan Africa (Hirvonen, 2016) with only 14 percent meeting the WHO recommendation (CSA & ICF, 2016). Recent analysis of the timing of growth faltering of young children suggests that poor complementary feeding practices, including poor dietary quality, is an important risk factor for stunting in Ethiopia (Hirvonen, Headey, Golan, & Hoddinott, 2019). The available evidence suggests that diets are monotonous also at the household level. For example, in 2011, the average Ethiopian household consumed only 42 kg of fruits and vegetables in a year per adult equivalent (Hassen Worku, Dereje, Minten, & Hirvonen, 2017) – far below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 146 kg per year (Hall, Moore, Harper, & Lynch, 2009). This report is structured as follows. In the subsequent section, we describe the data used in this report. In section 3, we assess the consumption of nutritious foods among young children and also carry out a similar assessment at the household level. In section 4, we study the production of nutritious foods in the region. In section 5, we examine the availability of nutritious foods in rural markets. In section 6, we assess the affordability of nutritious foods in the region. Section 7 concludes and summarizes the findings.

Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia
Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia

Author: Kalle Hirvonen

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Poor dietary quality is a significant risk factor for stunting and micronutrient deficiencies among young children and globally one of the leading causes of premature death and disease (Arimond & Ruel, 2004; Forouzanfar et al., 2015). Dietary quality is typically proxied by diversity of the consumed diet. Foods with similar nutritional qualities are first grouped together and dietary diversity is measured by the number of different food groups consumed in a certain time interval. For example, the World Health Organization recommends that children 6-23 months consume at least from four food groups (out of seven) every day. Based on this metric, Ethiopian children in this age range consume one of the least diversified diets in sub-Saharan Africa (Hirvonen, 2016) with only 14 percent meeting the WHO recommendation (CSA & ICF, 2016). Recent analysis of the timing of growth faltering of young children suggests that poor complementary feeding practices, including poor dietary quality, is an important risk factor for stunting in Ethiopia (Hirvonen, Headey, Golan, & Hoddinott, 2019). The available evidence suggests that diets are monotonous also at the household level. For example, in 2011, the average Ethiopian household consumed only 42 kg of fruits and vegetables in a year per adult equivalent (Hassen Worku, Dereje, Minten, & Hirvonen, 2017) – far below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 146 kg per year (Hall, Moore, Harper, & Lynch, 2009). This report is structured as follows. In the subsequent section, we describe the data used in this report. In section 3, we assess the consumption of nutritious foods among vulnerable groups: young children and mothers. In section 4, we assess the production of nutritious foods in the region. In section 5, we study the availability of nutritious foods in rural markets. In section 6, we assess the affordability of nutritious foods in the region. Section 7 concludes and summarizes the findings.

The rising costs of nutritious foods in Ethiopia
The rising costs of nutritious foods in Ethiopia

Author: Yimer, Feiruz

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2017-06-09

Total Pages: 4

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Given the high prevalence of undernutrition among children in low income countries and the associated high human and eco-nomic costs (Hoddinott et al. 2013), improving nutritional out-comes must be an urgent priority. Improving nutrition is high on the policy agenda of the government of Ethiopia, as stated in the Growth and Transformation Plan II, which aims to reduce young child stunting levels from 40 percent in 2014/15 to 26 percent in 2019/2020. Lack of access to diverse diets is one of the underlying factors contributing to chronic undernutrition (Arimond and Ruel 2004, UNICEF 1998). Despite recent improvements, child stunting in Ethiopia remains widespread (CSA and ICF International 2017). Moreover, Ethiopian children consume one of the least diverse diets in sub-Saharan Africa (Hirvonen 2016). At the household level, food consumption baskets are dominated by cereals and pulses, while the consumption of animal-source foods and fruits and Vitamin A-rich vegetables is rare, especially in rural areas.1 Such monotonous diets are regarded as a major contributor to non-communicable diseases in Ethiopia (Melaku et al. 2016). Recent research suggests that the poor dietary diversity in ru-ral areas can be explained, at least partly, both by limited knowledge about the health benefits of diverse diets and by poor access to food markets. Households in areas in which food crop production is not very diverse but which have good access to mar-kets are found to have more diverse diets than do households in such areas but which have poor access to markets and, so, de-pend primarily on own-production for the food they consume.2 Yet, even with sufficient access to markets and knowledge on the benefits of diverse diets, poor households may simply be un-able to afford nutritionally rich foods (Warren and Frongillo 2017). Indeed, prices and affordability of nutritious foods remains a neglected area of research in efforts to understand poor dietary diversity in Ethiopia and elsewhere.3 In the analysis described here, we explore how prices and, consequently, the affordability of nutritious food have changed over the last decade in Ethiopia.

Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the SNNPR Region of Ethiopia
Consumption, production, market access and affordability of nutritious foods in the SNNPR Region of Ethiopia

Author: Kalle Hirvonen

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Poor dietary quality is a significant risk factor for stunting and micronutrient deficiencies among young children and globally one of the leading causes of premature death and disease (Arimond & Ruel, 2004; Forouzanfar et al., 2015). Dietary quality is typically proxied by diversity of the consumed diet. Foods with similar nutritional qualities are first grouped together and dietary diversity is measured by the number of different food groups consumed in a certain time interval. For example, the World Health Organization recommends that children 6-23 months consume at least from four food groups (out of seven) every day. Based on this metric, Ethiopian children in this age range consume one of the least diversified diets in sub-Saharan Africa (Hirvonen, 2016) with only 14 percent meeting the WHO recommendation (CSA & ICF, 2016). Recent analysis of the timing of growth faltering of young children suggests that poor complementary feeding practices, including poor dietary quality, is an important risk factor for stunting in Ethiopia (Hirvonen, Headey, Golan, & Hoddinott, 2019). The available evidence suggests that diets are monotonous also at the household level. For example, in 2011, the average Ethiopian household consumed only 42 kg of fruits and vegetables in a year per adult equivalent (Hassen Worku, Dereje, Minten, & Hirvonen, 2017) – far below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 146 kg per year (Hall, Moore, Harper, & Lynch, 2009). This report is structured as follows. In the subsequent section, we describe the data used in this report. In section 3, we assess the consumption of nutritious foods among vulnerable groups: young children and mothers. In section 4, we assess the production of nutritious foods in the region. In section 5, we study the availability of nutritious foods in rural markets. In section 6, we assess the affordability of nutritious foods in the region. Section 7 concludes and summarizes the findings.

The rising costs of nutritious foods: The case of Ethiopia
The rising costs of nutritious foods: The case of Ethiopia

Author: Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-08-27

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Costs of healthy diets are worryingly rising in a number of developed and emerging economies. However, less is known on these costs for developing countries. Using price data from a large number of markets in Ethiopia, we find that real prices of all nutritionally-rich food groups increased significantly (between 19 and 62 percent) over the period 2007 to 2016. This contrasts with (1) staple crops (grains, roots, and tubers), which did not show any price increase, and (2) oils, fats, and sugar, the prices of which decreased substantially. Using detailed nationwide datasets and relying on time series methods, we link these price increases to changes in local markets, demand and supply factors, transaction costs, and international trade. We find that prices of nutritionally-rich food groups – compared to cereals – are relatively less affected by international trade and exchange rate changes but more so by rapidly increasing local and city demand. This rising demand is likely due to recent income growth and rapid urbanization and the high-income elasticities for nutritious foods in Ethiopia. Moreover, we find that local production changes affected prices of nutritious items little, but national price rises were found to have been significantly linked with food price rises in commercial clusters in the country. Changes in transaction costs – fuel and transport costs – explained relatively little of the observed food price changes.

Accelerating progress in improving diets and nutrition in Ethiopia
Accelerating progress in improving diets and nutrition in Ethiopia

Author: Baye, Kaleab

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-06-11

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Ethiopia has witnessed significant reductions in child mortality, undernutrition, and communicable diseases, but more substantial and faster progress is still needed. The rise in obesity and in noncommunicable diseases, particularly in urban areas, is alarming and requires urgent policy and programmatic attention. Unhealthy diets drive both undernutrition and obesity and are the underlying cause of significant proportion of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Maintaining the relatively high breastfeeding practices and increasing the diversity of diets will be critical to improving nutrition in Ethiopia. Implementation of effective nutrition messaging that shapes consumer behavior to adopt healthy dietary patterns, while bridging gaps in both the reach and the quality of such messaging is warranted. The health extension program, which is the cornerstone of the transformation of the health sector, may need to be redesigned in a way that improves its reach and the quality of the services it provides and minimizes the risk of burnout of frontline health workers. Interventions focusing on making healthy diets available, affordable, and accessible are urgently needed.

Household food consumption patterns in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Household food consumption patterns in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Author: Wolle, Abdulazize

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-03-16

Total Pages: 14

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Overweight and obesity are rising rapidly in Ethiopia's urban areas, constituting a major public health concern. Dietary choices can be one of the key drivers of adult body-weight. Using data collected from a large household survey in Addis Ababa, we provide a snapshot of dietary patterns in Ethiopia's largest urban area. We find that starchy staples (cereals, roots, and tubers) are prominent in household food baskets, taking up 25 percent of the food budget and providing more than 50 percent of consumed calories, on average. In contrast, the consumption of all kinds of fruits and vitamin A-rich vegetables is very low. For the average household, meat products account for nearly 18 percent of the food budget but provide only 2 percent of total calories. Richer households consume relatively less starchy staples than poorer households, but more animal-source foods and vegetables. However, the importance of fruits in household diets rises very slowly with household incomes. Together, these findings suggest that further income growth will result in drastic changes in the composition of food demand in Addis Ababa. Considering projections for increasing incomes, especially in urban areas, this will have major implications for agricultural production in rural areas connected to Ethiopia’s cities. There is also an urgent need to design cost-effective public health campaigns to reduce the emerging overweight and obesity crisis in urban Ethiopia.

Understanding urban consumers’ food choice behavior in Ethiopia: Promoting demand for healthy foods
Understanding urban consumers’ food choice behavior in Ethiopia: Promoting demand for healthy foods

Author: Melesse, Mequanint B.

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2019-04-04

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Using survey data collected from 996 representative households in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this paper documents several insights to help understand urban consumer food purchasing and consumption choices. The findings can be summarized as follows: 1) We find that households face important dietary gaps; a large proportion eats insufficient amounts of nutrient-dense vegetables, animal-source foods, and fruits. 2) The consumption of ultra-processed foods increases with income and may become a pressing health concern as incomes rise. 3) From a purchasing perspective, we find that consumers buy foods for different purposes at different outlets. Nearby kiosks and informal street markets are frequented for small food items and for fruits and vegetables, while formal open markets and consumer cooperatives are used for bulky food items. 4) Respondents make food and food outlet choices based on their health and food safety concerns, but few consider the nutritional value of food when purchasing it. Concurrently, the availability of a wide variety of healthy and safe foods is highly valued by most respondents for outlet choice. Among consumers in lower income categories, they tend to make food and food outlet choices based on prices and location convenience. 5) Although nutrition is not a primary concern when making choices about food, consumers appear to have reasonable nutritional knowledge. Most respondents considered a healthy diet to be primarily plant-based. Most people are aware that they should eat more fruits and vegetables and less sugary, fatty, and salty foods, but they have limited knowledge on the nutrient content of specific foods and the causes of obesity. 6) Labelling would not be an effective way to increase nutritional knowledge; most respondents have limited understanding of the information that labels provide. Rather, most respondents trust the information provided by health professionals over other sources. In sum, these results are potentially relevant for policy and the design of future programs for improving nutritional outcomes through enhanced diets.