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

Table 3.2: Poverty headcount (2002), malnutrition indicators (2000), and per capita food
production by region.
Region
Poverty head count ratio
Urban Rural Total
Food
production,
per
capita Stunted Wasted
Child malnutrition
Tigray 60.7 61.6 61.4 159 55.3 11.1 47.9
Afar 26.8 68.0 56.0 12 47.6 12.6 50.5
Amhara 33.1 42.9 41.8 176 57.0 9.5 51.8
Oromiya 35.9 40.4 39.9 202 47.2 10.4 42.2
Somali 26.1 44.1 37.9 11 46.4 15.8 44.3
Underweight
Benishangul-
Gumuz
28.9 55.8 54.0 530 41.3 14.2 42.3
SNNP 40.2 51.7 50.9 78 55.4 11.8 53.7
Gambella 38.4 54.6 50.5 86 37.0 18.1 39.0
Harari 35.0 14.9 25.8 31 37.3 6.3 27.1
Addis Ababa 36.2 27.1 36.1 6 26.8 4.2 14.1
Dire Dawa 33.1 33.2 33.1 19 30.5 11.1 30.8
NATIONAL 36.9 45.4 44.2 -- 51.5 10.5 47.2
Source: For the poverty head count ratio MOFED 2002, MOFED. The per capita food production is computed
using CSA data on cereal, oilseed, and pulse production for 1996/97-2003/4. For health and health related
indicators, the source is the MOH Planning and Programming Department.
Note: For SNNP root crops and vegetables, including enset, are very important crops but data on their production
is not available for most of the years. For those years where data is available (2001/02 and 2002/03) the total per
capita food production increases to 103 and 114 kg respectively.
hand, communities in the central highlands maintain sedentary agriculture, which is based on
crops and livestock. Separate assessments of food security status in different regions are
required in order to tailor food aid programs to Ethiopia’s geographic, demographic, and
cultural diversity.
Between 2000 and 2004, per capita production of food crops was above the national
average in three of the four major regions of the country (Tigray, Amhara, and Oromia). The
national average for this period was 145.5 kg/person while the regional average was 164, 177
207, and 71 for Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, and SNNPR, respectively (EEA 2003/04). The
regions with the highest food deficits, Afar and Somali, also have the highest level of child
malnutrition (Table 3.2). The prevalence of wasted and underweight children in Afar in 2000
was 12.6 percent and 50.5 percent, while the national prevalence was 10.5 percent and 47.2
percent, respectively. As show in Figure 3.3, using the 225 kg/person/year food crop (grain)
production (or 2.25 quintals/person/year) as a benchmark for measuring the food crop
production deficit, the food deficit in drought prone regions in 2000 was high.
In addition to the magnitude of malnutrition, Table 3.2 shows the poverty level and
the average per capita food production for the 1996/97-2003/4 period by region. It is
important to relate the data in this table to Figure 3.3. Note that Benishangul-Gumuz, a region
with the highest per capita food production in all the reported years – producing above the
FAO recommended yearly per capita food intake – nevertheless has the highest poverty
measure. This indicates that high agricultural production does not guarantee poverty reduction
or a reduction in malnutrition, since poverty is one of its basic determinants.
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