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

indigenous cattle is about 1-2 lit/day for an average annual lactation period of 200 days,
whereas crossbreeds give over 10-15 lit/day for a lactation period of over 300 days. Despite
such advantages, the adoption rate of improved breeds and management practices by the
majority of small-scale farmers is very low. This extremely low adoption rate can be ascribed
to a variety of factors including availability, accessibility, and general lack of awareness
and/or interest. These problems and constraints must be addressed if the country and its
people are to benefit from this huge livestock resource and, in particular, for it to have
relevance to the food security of different target groups and at different locations.
Dairy production in Ethiopia is largely traditional. The production systems can be
categorized as pastoral, agro-pastoral, highland smallholders, urban and peri-urban
smallholders and intensive dairy farming. According to CSA (2004), the number of milking
cow in the country is about 13.9 million. Improved dairy production is restricted to the
highlands where the climate creates favorable conditions for dairy development. In Ethiopia,
small holders account for 75 percent of commercial liquid milk production and even a higher
proportion of national milk production. Most milk marketing occurs through the informal
market in the form of raw milk sold directly to consumers. Yet, with the largest livestock herd
on the continent of Africa and an immense potential for dairy production, the average annual
per capita milk consumption in Ethiopia is limited to about 18 liters. This compares to 161
liters annual per capita consumption in Sudan, 76 liters in Kenya, and is even lower than the
average annual per capita consumption of milk in Africa of 37 liters (FCC and LMA 2004).
Despite the immense agricultural potential of Ethiopia, agriculture in Ethiopia has
been unable to produce enough to feed its population. Among the varied factors that account
for this sad state of affairs, low land, animal and human productivity take the leading
responsibility. It has often been said that Ethiopian agriculture, both crop and livestock, is
characterized by a low-input and low-output system of production. National survey data
indicate that the average yields for cereal crops are a little over one ton/hectare. The CSA
crop sample survey data for 1985-2001 indicates that long term field crop (cereals, pulses and
oilseeds) production amounts to no more than 163 kg/person/year even in the year (2000/01)
of highest production in the country’s history. This is below what is required to meet adequate
nutritional needs and is totally unsatisfactory compared to the 200 kg/person yields achieved
during the 1970s (EEA 2003/04).
3.4.2. Food aid and emergency responses
Ethiopia is a country known for drought and famine with millions of its people dying
due to hunger and malnutrition despite abundant natural resources and a huge potential in
crops and livestock to feed its growing population and for export. Abject poverty and hunger
has made the country continuously dependent on food aid. Furthermore, since the country is
dependent on agriculture, crop failure usually leads to household food deficit. Due to crop
failure and disasters, millions of people yearly rely on food distributed free or under food for
work programmes. The absence of off-farm income opportunities and delayed food aid
assistance leads to asset depletion and increasing levels of destitution at household level.
For the fifteen years up to 2002, Ethiopia annually imported 700,000 metric tons of
food aid in order to cope with food insecurity in the county. Having peaked at about 26.2
percent in 1984/85, food aid imports amount to a significant proportion of the domestic
production of food crops, often 10 percent or more. Following the low 2002/03 harvests, for
example, some 15 million people were supplied under emergency food distribution
programmes. Due to these facts, among the goals and objectives of the New Coalition for
Food Security (NCFS), as stated in the coalition document, are the goals to drastically reduce
the food insecurity faced by vulnerable households, to attain food security for the five million
chronically food insecure Ethiopians, and to significantly improve and sustain the overall
food security for ten million additional food insecure people within five years (NCFS 2003).
Although the focus and higher support will be provided to assist the chronically food
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