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

consumer markets due to the inadequate road transport infrastructure. Consequently, most
horticultural products are wasted in the field. Raw milk farmers are forced to sell to local
consumers due to similar problems. As a coping mechanism, they process the surplus to
butter and cheese, locally known as Ayib. Since the marketing system is not organized, the
sale of milk products by small producers directly to consumers involves high cost distribution
and results in a deterioration of milk quality.
3.5. Food Security Policy, Strategy and Programs: A Review
3.5.1. Policy
Various policies, strategies, and action plans have been formulated in the past to
modernize agriculture and to increase agricultural production to feed at least the human and
animal populations in Ethiopia, but none has been very successful. Soon after the overthrow
of the Derge regime, the transitional government issued an economic policy document that
covered agricultural policy (Demese 2004). In the mid-1990s, the EPRDF government
developed, the current economic development policy and strategies and implementation
started. This is guided by the Agriculture Development Led Industrialization (ADLI) strategy.
ADLI is a strategy for implementation of the national economic development policy; the
policy pursues the development of a market economy, in contrast to the socialist economic
policy of the Derge regime. Its sectoral strategy document related to the agriculture sector is
the Rural Development Policy and Strategies (RDPS 2003). Currently, ADLI’s mid-term
program implementation is through the Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction
Program (SDPRP). The RDPS and SDPRP documents are quite specific in describing
government’s overriding objectives in “transforming” the Ethiopian agriculture.
In the RDPS, the FDRE Government underscores the basic objectives of the nation's
economic development endeavors:
To build a market economy in which (i) a broad spectrum of the Ethiopian people are
beneficiaries; (ii) dependences on food aid is eliminated; and, (iii) rapid economic
growth is assured.
It is government policy that, to the extent possible, the food insecure should exit from food
aid.
According to the RDPS document, efficient use of labor, land, and water resources
through mixed farming is recommended, especially in the drought-prone areas. Voluntary
resettlement is a main feature of government policy towards these areas, ‘according to a wellconceived
plan and with well-coordinated government support’. The policy also addresses the
need to develop an efficient marketing system. It sees international markets as part of the
answer to the stimulation of agricultural development. It also recognizes cooperatives as
playing an enhanced role in marketing and in the development of rural finance.
In terms of policy, the FDRE government has recently focused on measures that
integrate agricultural production to improve and strengthen agricultural markets and
marketing at all levels. It has planned to improve the post-harvest technologies that are
available to and employed by farmers and to reduce the length of the marketing chain by
expanding the role of cooperatives and associated grain unions (RDPS 2003). Furthermore,
the RDPS states that rapid economic development is to be ensured through agriculture- led
and rural-centered development. Currently, the government’s response to the challenges of
agricultural transformation and rural development for poverty reduction is to provide
extensive technical, vocational education and training in agriculture (TVET).
The agricultural TVET has three components: (i) middle level vocational training; (ii)
farmers training; and (iii) program development. It is considered a cornerstone for
implementing the development strategy for the rural economy. It was established to generate
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