Feed the Future Ethiopia Growth through Nutrition Activity

The project, led by Save the Children in collaboration with six international and five local partners, works with various government ministries to strengthen institutional capacity and influence policy to improve nutrition. Funding for the project is provided by the American people through USAID. The project targets over 1 million pregnant women and children under two, as well as 28,000 most vulnerable households, in 82 food-secure and 20 food-insecure woredas across Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray Regions. The project focuses on improving access to diverse, safe, and quality foods through the promotion of nutrient-dense crops and small livestock, as well as the use of improved inputs, cultivation practices, and post-harvest handling practices. This is expected to economically empower vulnerable households. The project also aims to strengthen nutrition promotion through health and agriculture systems, and implement innovative and evidence-based behavior change approaches to improve maternal, adolescent, and child nutrition. This includes increasing adoption of optimal gender-sensitive nutrition, WASH, and agriculture behaviors, with a focus on the first 1000 days. Additionally, the project seeks to ensure provision of quality nutrition services by establishing quality improvement mechanisms at health facilities, building capacity of health service providers, and improving availability of nutrition commodities. The project's geographic coverage is extensive, with a focus on rural areas where access to improved WASH is limited. According to the Demographic Health Survey, 2016, 43% of rural households lack access to improved sources of drinking water, and 94% lack access to improved sanitation. The consequences of malnutrition on human health, education, and economic development are significant, with 28% of all child mortality in Ethiopia associated with undernutrition, and the country losing an estimated 16.5% of GDP annually due to child undernutrition.