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

that one third of households are unable to produce adequate food for their own family (EEA
2003/04).
The government should incorporate nutrition and diet issues in its extension
approach. The extension workers that cater for the nutrition aspects of households should
receive regular training in methods of cooking and preserving traditional foods. But currently
there is no additional agent at kebele level to shoulder this responsibility, like those home
economists of the past at the federal level, or those found in kebeles and woredas in Tigray
region.
The transfer of knowledge and technology in agricultural production is the main
mandate of the agricultural extension service, both at federal and regional levels. Due to
traditional attitudes, the extension service has been unable to address certain segments of the
agricultural community effectively. These traditional barriers are in the process of breaking
down and therefore there is an opportunity to ameliorate the situation. The issue of identifying
who owns a property, who undertakes certain agricultural operations, who can borrow credit,
freedom to address only female clients, and so on could be obstacles that have eased over
time. It should be noted that some of the tradition-related problems could be managed better
through female extension agents. Obviously, there have been efforts along this line in the past
and some of the interventions included under Agricultural Extension should be further finetuned
to address this problem directly.
3.6.3.4. Gender
The productive and reproductive roles of women often compete to bring about a huge
labor demand on women in their roles as farmer, fetcher of water and wood fuel, caregiver to
children, the aged and the ill, preparer of meals, and income earner from off-farm
employment. To the extent that women confronting all these roles are already malnourished
themselves, they find it difficult to perform all the roles well. Often what is not done well, as
stated in the FSS ‘is tending to the necessary food intake and nutritional requirements of their
infants and small children'. The time pressure is compounded by lack of knowledge about
good nutrition, and by use of unboiled water, unhygienic living conditions, and the lack of
sanitation.’ Domestic water management is a key responsibility of women and the SDPRP
recognizes their need for specific representation in community organizations managing water.
About 50 percent of the labor force in agricultural production constitutes females.
Despite traditional constraints in labor division between males and females, both at home and
within the house, women play a major role in agricultural activities. There are a number of
areas in technology development that have implications on women farmers and herders.
Women, especially in the “plow-culture” areas of highland Ethiopia, find it hard to use
traditional land preparation equipments. Similarly, women in “hoe-culture” areas, such as the
enset growing areas of Guraghe and Sidama, not only spend a lot of time and energy in enset
processing but also the work is tedious and unhealthy. Another area of concern relates to the
time spent on collecting fuel wood. Developing and disseminating fuel saving stoves could go
a long way to reduce this burden on women. Socio-economic surveys in various areas
adjacent to research centers have clearly indicated these problems.
Obviously, this is a wide area and requires further analysis. Nevertheless, some
programs in agricultural research must deal with issues that affect women in their agricultural
activities. For example, the development of tools and implements that save time and labor.
Implements used in processing crops like “enset” in areas growing areas have been the subject
of research for many years. Although there are some useable results, the issue of cost has been
a major bottleneck for its wide scale adoption. Similarly, the development of systems that
save energy and time in food preparation has been a subject of research, including in crop
breeding. These should be well integrated in the drafting of the Ethiopian NNS by an explicit
recognition of the interdependence of food insecurity, caring, and health determinants of
malnutrition, which often heavily affect children and women.
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