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

In a more technical way, it is difficult to define malnutrition per se since its face
varies significantly. In some places it is characterized by undernutrition, in others by
overnutrition, while in an increasing number of areas it is characterized by both (Gillespie and
Haddad 2003). Gillespie and Haddad indicated that malnutrition occurs at all stages of the life
cycle.
According to Benson (2005), malnutrition is a physical condition or process that
results from the interaction of inadequate diet and infection and is most commonly reflected
in poor infant growth; reduced cognitive development, anemia, and blindness in those
suffering severe micronutrient deficiency; and excess morbidity and mortality in adults and
children alike. He also restated that undernutrition and overnutrition are two forms of
malnutrition. Undernutrition is malnutrition due to inadequate food consumption or poor
absorption or biological use of nutrients consumed due to illness, disease, or nutrient
imbalances. In this report, this definition of undernutrition suffices to set the goal for the
detailed preparation of the NNS.
3.2.3. Definitional link between nutrition and food
Availability and access to sufficient quantity and quality of affordable food is
necessary but not sufficient to ensure adequate nutrition (NEPAD 2004). Nutrition affects the
availability of food and food availability in turn affects the nutrition status of rural farming
households. The nutritional status of the individual within the household will be a
determining factor of the agricultural productivity of the household, since it is only wellnourished
members of the household who can be productive in a sustainable fashion (Benson
2005). In order to make the definitional link between food and nutrition the energy
requirement for a human being to perform expected daily tasks can be used. An individual,
household, or a nation is judged food insecure if the FAO/WFP recommended intake of 2,000
Kcal per person per day is not met. According to Robinson, in 1998 ‘an estimated 52 percent
of the country was food insecure with an average consumption of approximately 1,770 Kcal
per capita’. In fact, the government’s recommended minimum intake is 2,100 Kcal.
3.2.4. Food and nutrition security at individual, household, community, and
national levels
Achieving household food security depends to a considerable degree on an acceptable
level of national food security. However, national food security or the ability of national food
supplies and reserves to meet the country’s aggregate market demand, does not necessarily
guarantee household food security. Poor families, due to lack of purchasing power, may not
have access to adequate food despite the fact that food might be available in the market place.
A household is food secure if it can reliably gain access to food in sufficient quantity and
quality for all household members to enjoy a healthy and active life. For the urban poor, the
main role of national food security is to assure a continuous supply of the main staple foods to
urban areas at stable prices.
The food side of the nutrition problem starts at the individual level but extends to
household up to national level. According to Benson (2005), although nutrition security is
principally defined at the household and individual levels, the determination of nutrition
security extend far beyond the control of the household itself. To Pinstrup-Andersen, the
amount of food consumed by an individual household member depends on a variety of factors
including the amount of food that the household can acquire, the intra-household food
distribution process, and the appetite and preferences of the individual. An individual’s
appetite, in turn, is influenced by many factors, most importantly health status and energy
requirements. An individual’s nutritional status is related directly to the diet and the health
status of the individual (Pinstrup-Andersen 1987).
39