An assessment of the causes of malnutrition in Ethiopia: A ...

Table 2.9: Gross primary enrollment and net primary enrollment ratios, percent.
Year Gross Primary Enrollment Net Primary Enrollment
Grade 1 - 8 Grade 1 – 8
Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
1994 - 95 28.9 19.0 24.1 20.7 14.7 17.8
1995 - 96 38.8 24.0 32.0 28.0 18.6 23.4
2000 - 01 67.3 47.0 57.1 55.7 41.7 48.8
Source: World Bank 2005a, 191.
primary education level, and finance and administration of primary education. Solving the
problems faced by primary education institutions, particularly through the promotion of
community participation and private sector involvement, will remain the major challenge.
The figures for both Gross and Net Primary Enrollment have substantially improved
for Amhara and Tigray Regions, reaching reported levels of 83 percent for Amhara and over
90 percent for Tigray. 9
Increasing the educational levels and number of teachers will have a significant
impact on the improved quality of primary education. Training of teachers is a key to capacity
building within the educational system.
Progress has been made over the last decade in the provision of health services in
both rural and urban areas. The increased participation of the private sector in the provision of
health services in urban areas allows space for the expansion of public health services in rural
areas through a primary health care strategy. The disease burden in Ethiopia is heavily
associated with ailments of the population that come as a result of poverty, low access to
health service and low utilization. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have
identified four major areas that need particular attention in order to reduce mortality rates
among children and adults. First, they call for halting the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. 10
Second, the MDGs call for halting and reversing the increased incidence of malaria. Third and
fourth, they call for reducing maternal mortality by two-thirds and under-five mortality by
half, all by 2015. These are daunting tasks for a country that is confronting the situation from
the worst position. These and other health challenges are made worse by the burden of
malnutrition and poverty. Consequently, efforts to improve health and provide sanitation and
clean water supply facilities will have a high payoff in reducing the impact of malnutrition.
c) Institutions
Institutions refer to the set of rules, regulations, and arrangements by which society
organizes itself in order to administer itself and to define its relationships in order to ensure its
continued existence.
Ethiopia’s history was dominated by Imperial rule for centuries until it ended in 1974
by a military coup. The military regime that took power sought to develop a semblance of a
modern system of government until its downfall in 1991. Under the present regime of the
9 Gross Primary Enrollment is defined as the number of children enrolled in primary school, regardless
of age, divided by the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the primary level; Net
Primary Enrollment is the ratio of the number of children of official school age who are enrolled in
primary school to the total population of children of official school age.
10 In Ethiopia, the disease has become a threat to the productive labor force and a growing cause of
death among children. (World Bank 2005a, 177)
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